'Game of Thrones' Springs Twist on Viewers, Surprises No One

Warning: There are spoilers for the latest episode of Game of Thrones ahead, so if you haven't watched the episode yet and want to be surprised when you do, stop reading now.

Chances are, however, that you won't be any more suprised than most fans were when it was revealed this week that Jon Snow isn't dead any longer. The popular character played by Kit Harrington met his end at the close of last season's finale, and he was still dead in last week's season premiere. But this week, thanks to a little magical intervention from Melisandre, the hero jolted back to life before the close of the season's second episode.

Snow's resurrection happened exactly as the most popular fan theory predicted it would, and the revelation didn't produce much drama. Few fans ever fully bought into the possibility that Snow might really be dead for good, and most suspected that the Red Woman would be vehicle by which he came back to life.

Interestingly, although the GoT life-or-death cliffhanger is not getting high marks from fans for its lack of tension, it's not getting nearly the angry backlash that a similar fake out on The Walking Dead generated. When that series toyed with audiences by making them think that Glenn was dead, only to save him with an implausible plot twist, fan reaction was overwhelmingly negative. TWD didn't learn its lesson, either, as it went on to set up another manipulative cliffhanger with this season's finale. For the moment at least, fans seem willing to give GoT the benefit of the doubt that the Jon Snow twist is not a sign of weak writing to come.