Sean Bean: “What Do I Know? Jon Snow’s Probably Dead”

HBO says he’s dead. The producers say he’s dead. Maisie Williams says he’s dead. Now Sean Bean, the man who has insisted for years he wasn’t Jon Snow’s father anyhow, has come down in the “he’s dead Jim” category.

Speaking to The Express, Bean seemed doubtful there was any way Jon Snow could have survived last season’s finale.

“It kind of didn’t look like it, I have to admit, but who knows? Anything could happen. I guess that’s the big question. It used to be: Who’s Jon Snow’s dad? Now it’s: Is Jon Snow really dead? But I think he probably is, what do I know?”

Bean wasn’t actually talking on behalf of Game of Thrones in the interview. He’s actually working to promote his own show, The Frankenstein Chronicles, which is a new series airing on ITV’s subscription only channel, Encore. But since Game of Thrones is only one of the biggest shows on earth, naturally he found himself being asked about it anyway. He even compared the new series to Thrones.

I think this is more shocking in an unspoken rather than a necessarily physical way. What you see and what you imagine. I mean there are body parts and stuff like that. That’s the nature of the story, that’s what’s happening in his life, all these children’s body parts. So it is gory in that sense. The social issues and the covers ups sounds familiar and I guess that nothing’s changed because it’s a cover up in the establishment and the Lords and politicians, it’s very difficult to get to the bottom of things.

He also endorsed John Corbyn of the Labour party, which is certain to be the lead quote for most British publications. (For US readers, Corbyn is a very polarizing figure in the UK government.) But we’re more interested in his time on the show. When asked about his tendency to die on film by The Radio-Times, Bean says he doesn’t take it to heart. But he’s actually lost count of how many times it happened.

“I have died quite a few times, to be fair. I’ve seen that reel of clips – it sounds a bit macabre, but I watched that back, and I’d forgotten some of the scenes I’d died in.”

After all, he’s realized he’s found a sort of eternal fame from it, thanks to the internet.

“For some reason, the parts I play, like Boromir or Ned Stark, have a life online long afterwards. I keep seeing, what do you call them – memes? ‘One does not simply ask for a drink’ instead of ‘One does not simply walk into Mordor’ – that sort of thing,” he says, adding: “They’ll probably be my unintended legacy.”

Next: The Mountain fights MMA champion Conor McGregor, and other curiosities

The Frankenstein Chronicles airs on Encore starting November 11th, 2015. As for whether or not Jon Snow is alive or dead, we’ll be waiting until at least April of 2016 to find out for sure.