Game of Thrones
A woman poses with a picture of Jon Snow, a character in the "Game of Thrones" series, on the opening day of the "Game of Thrones" exhibition in Madrid, Spain, April 29, 2015. The exhibit, which will run until Sunday May 3rd, includes a 4D virtual reality experience as well as interactive displays and original costumes and objects from the series. Reuters/Susana Vera

Why was Jon Snow (Kit Harington) in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” Season 6 poster right after Season 5 ended?

[Spoiler Alert] While everybody thought it was only because the favourite character was not dead and would make his appearance in the next season, HBO’s programming president Michael Lombarbo said it was only to keep the intensity going. As stabbing of Snow was on everybody’s lips, HBO thought of keeping fans interested in the following season.

“I think when we looked at the marketing at that point, the noise, the volume, the frequency with which the Jon Snow question was being asked, and the response to his death in Season 5 was so palpable. To ignore that seemed somehow silly,” Lombardo told Variety.

It was a way of reminding fans that the next season is being produced and that the show will come back. However, when told that if fans really find Snow dead in Season 6 then they would feel manipulated by the poster, Lombardo vehemently said that their motive was not to play with their fans.

“I don’t think it was an attempt to play with the audience as much to remind an audience of where we took them this season and the stakes of the next season,” he said.

Lombardo added that they take “Game of Thrones” way too seriously to toy with their fans. Their sole intention was telling fans to come back. While Lombardo’s statement may be misdirection, fans are left with no other choice but to wait a few more days for Season 6 to return on April 24.

But what does Ser Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale), the man who killed Jon Snow, have to say about killing a larger-than-life character? Teale recently spoke to Radio Times and opened up on Thorne’s motive behind killing Snow, writes Digital Spy.

“I do think it's vengeful. It's due to the shining quality of Jon Snow's untarnished youth. I think, in the background, Ser Alliser has probably seen too much. There is a darkness there. He's a damaged soul and Jon Snow isn't. And he can't bear it,” he said.

Thorne and Snow have always shared a rivalry. The rivalry was always from Thorne’s side and when Snow became the Lord Commander, Thorne took it on his ego. However, letting the Wildlings inside the Night’s Watch was too much for him to handle. He along with few men of the Night’s Watch, including Olly (Brenock O'Connor) stabbed him repeatedly. That’s where Season 5 ended.

“Game of Thrones” Season 6 will air in Australia on April 25 on Foxtel.

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