Jon Snow really is dead, says Game of Thrones director David Nutter

David Nutter confirms the bad news: 'He's now deader than dead'

The gruesome death of Game of Thrones' Jon Snow shook fans of the fantasy TV series to the core who also had to watch the brutal demise of many other characters in the blood-spilling season five finale "Mother’s Mercy".

Snow, played by 28-year-old Kit Harington, served his final turn in the series by being savagely stabbed to death by a gang of bloodthirsty Night’s Watchmen.

However, the world of Game of Thrones does have a reputation for resurrecting the deceased and in true fan fiction style Snow’s death set the internet rife with theories about how the star could possibly return.

Countless Reddit threads dissected Snow’s final vow to find hints that there were sparks of life left in the character, while others speculated that he will be brought back to life by the priestess Melisandre or that he never actually died to begin with.

Recent comments from director David Nutter, however, may put a spanner in the works for any hopeful theorists.

In an interview with the American entertainment magazine, Variety,Nutter set the record straight saying: “I can say emphatically that Jon Snow is definitely dead.

“Kit Harington is just a great guy and Kit was sad to leave the crew. It’s an emotional feeling as well. But I felt it was important to set up the sequence as quickly as possible so you didn’t expect it or wait for it. I didn’t want it to linger. I wanted it to catch you by surprise.

“My concern was to take care of Jon Snow, and he's now deader than dead.”

For all those clinging on to the ambiguity of the books, Nutter put a final nail in the coffin: “I have not read the books. As a director, the scripts have to be my bible. That's the only thing the audience will ever have. So I have to translate them as a director. What's in the books or not in the books, I can't concern myself with.”

Harrington himself seemed to also confirm the statement while speaking with Entertainment Weekly: “I’ve been told I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m not coming back next season. So that’s all I can tell you, really.”