The 30 most iconic moments from Game of Thrones, ranked

7. Jon is resurrected

Apart from Beric Dondarrion, Jon is the only character on Game of Thrones who successfully cheats death. Though Daenerys attempts to bring Khal Drogo back from the dead, and the Night King raises many of his victims, none of these characters are ever truly who they were prior to their “resurrections.” From what we’ve seen so far, Jon hasn’t been forced to pay a price for coming back. He returns with the same morals and mannerisms he had before being stabbed, and other than some nasty scarring, there don’t seem to be any side effects.

Beric and Jon have this in common, which raises some interesting questions about the Lord of Light, the deity through whom Thoros of Myr and then Melisandre work to achieve these miracles. The exact mechanics remain unclear.

Still, being resurrected puts Jon in rather exclusive company. Could it mean that he could be the prophesied messiah known as Azor Ahai, aka the Prince That Was Promised? Melisandre, who previously gave this marker to Stannis, seems to think so.

And if Jon does have some grand destiny, what is it? Why was he allowed to come back from the dead? Is he destined to save Westeros from the Night King, or to doom it forever? Is he destined to rule, or to die again?

But apart from its importance to the story, Jon’s resurrection is an iconic moment because it was the culmination of a year of speculation about whether Jon, seen being killed at the end of season 5, would come back. This was a cultural touchstone parodied everywhere, and all Kit Harington had to do was open his eyes and breathe.