Excitement was in the air as "Game of Thrones" fans flocked to Hall H on Friday, July 10, at the San Diego Comic-Con to catch a glimpse of the HBO drama's stars. This year, the panel was made up of Maisie Williams, Natalie Dormer, Alfie Allen, Sophie Turner, Conleth Hill, John Bradley, Hannah Murray, Gwendoline Christie, Liam Cunningham, and Carice Van Houten. The actors were joined by executive producer Carolyn Strauss and director David Nutter.
Many were anxious to know about what's going to happen in season 6, and more importantly, if some characters who appeared to have been killed off in the season 5 finale are really and truly not coming back when the show returns.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly at the Comic-Con, Nutter confirmed that Stannis Baratheon is dead. Fans were in doubt about his death because in the episode, when Brienne swung the sword at him, the camera cut away so his death wasn't shown.
"From the very beginning, and [through] the script process, that was the intent — he's dead," said the director of the season 5 finale.
Perhaps one of the most burning questions that anyone could ask the "Game of Thrones" team is whether or not Jon Snow is really dead. The character, played by Kit Harington, is one of the most beloved characters in the series, and apparently, even the President of the United States wondered if Jon is gone.
Nutter said that three weeks before the Comic-Con, he was in the company of President Obama.
"He turned to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and said, 'You didn't kill Jon Snow, did you?'" Nutter recalled.
He added that he told the President that "Jon Snow is deader than dead."
Meanwhile, the cast didn't say anything about the cliffhanger surrounding the fate of Jon Snow, although Williams joked, "We couldn't wait for him to be gone. That hair, so annoying!"
Although fans were hoping for a few season 6 snippets, this year's Comic-Con was remarkably spoiler-free. According to Vanity Fair, the reason why the "GoT" cast and crew are keeping mum this time around could be because the HBO series has outpaced George R.R. Martin's books. The website speculates that this could be a gesture on the part of show creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to protect Martin's story, as his much anticipated sixth novel in the series, "The Winds of Winter," has yet to be released.
Dormer summed it up for all the panelists when asked about season 6, as she told the audience, "To be perfectly honest, a lot of us here at the table are in the same position as you guys and I don't have a clue what will happen."
