Game of Thrones: Did that really just happen? SPOILER ALERT!

This story contains spoilers up to the end of season five of Game of Thrones.

Over five seasons, Game of Thrones has never been shy about killing off major characters. Ever since Eddard Stark lost his head way back when, fans have been aware that in Westeros, nobody's safety is guaranteed.

But it's fair to say that a lot of people are very, very gutted - if you'll pardon the pun - after last night's climax to the latest series. And if you haven't taken notice before now, here's a final SPOILER ALERT both for the series and the books.

Poor, noble Jon Snow.

When he was called down to the courtyard, how many of us were screaming "don't go! You know nothing, Jon Snow!" at the telly? But down he went, only to be stabbed by his sworn brothers, angry at his decision to let the Wildlings through The Wall.

The season ended with Jon bleeding out on the snow, and fans everywhere weeping into their wine. But is there a glimmer of hope? Let's have a look at the possibilities for what actually happened, starting with the most likely, which is that…

1. Jon is actually, you know, dead.

Sorry, but we've got to start here. Let's look at the evidence. He looked pretty dead. Kit Harrington has confirmed in an interview that he's not coming back. Director David Nutter said yesterday "Jon Snow is dead," which is fairly unequivocal, and talked about Kit's emotional last day on set. But are we dealing with some very good liars here? Well if that's the case, let's look at some other possibilities…

2. Jon Snow is not dead.

He's just really, really badly wounded. Olly's final thrust missed his heart. He's about to be carted off - literally - to the Westeros equivalent of casualty and patched up. He'll be back next season and we can all stop crying our hearts out. Or is that a bit too simple for Game of Thrones? If you've read the books you'll know there are some more interesting ideas to explore.

3. That wasn't Jon Snow at all.

A lot of people are noticing that a very significant character arrived at Castle Black just before last night's events. Lady Mellisandre had slipped out of Stannis's camp, still presumably packing some powerful blood magic from the death of Princess Shireen last week. In the books, she "glamours" the Wildling Rattleshirt, so he takes on the appearance of Mance Rayder. Mance survives and, in the books, he's still alive. The TV show chose not to use that plot and killed Mance off - was it because they were saving the whole "glamour" magic idea for Jon?

4. Jon will come back from the dead.

As well as changing appearances, Melissandre also presumably has the power to resurrect people from the dead. In the books, this happened to Beric Dondarrion and later to Catelyn Stark. So could she use her blood magic and reanimate Jon? The TV series has shied away from this in the past, ditching the zombie Catelyn plotline completely - so our money's not on this one.

5. It was all a dream.

Season 6 will open with Jon surprising Ygritte in the shower. If this happens we'll all stop watching.

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