Jon Snow might be “deader than dead” according to Game of Thrones’ creators but the fate of the much-loved Westerosi seems not to have been as final as that last brutal blow to the stomach appeared.

Kit Harrington was this week pictured arriving in Belfast, fuelling speculation he was joining Game of Thrones colleagues who are in Northern Ireland for a script read-through of season six.

The rumour mill has been clanking noisily and billowing out smoke ever since the illegitimate offspring of Eddard Stark appeared to meet his maker at the close of season 5.

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But with the character yet to be buried, and with the appearance of death-defying red witch Melisandre (Carice van Houten) in the vicinity at the 11th hour, hopes among fans that the possessor of the finest hair south of The Wall will return to fight another day have been rising.

The picture, which was published on Thrones fan site Watchers on the Wall, is the clearest indication yet that Harrington will return to the TV adaptation of George RR Martin’s fantasy series – whether he is continuing to play the game of thrones or in flashback form.

Fans reportedly asking Harrington, 28, for pictures were told he “wasn’t allowed”.

In the final scene of series 5 Snow is shown being betrayed by his comrades in the Night’s Watch and stabbed multiple times in the stomach – a series of injuries that a normal person would be unlikely to survive. But then, this is the guy who was smote in the chest with several arrows at the hands of girlfriend Ygritte and lived to tell the tale…

But after Comic Con last week Thrones director David Nutter reported a conversation he’d had with President Obama who’d asked if the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch was really gone.

“He turned to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and said, ‘You didn’t kill Jon Snow did you?’ I said, ‘Jon Snow is deader than dead.’ I thought I was going to be sent to Guantanamo or something, but fortunately I’m here – but he’s dead.”

However, his remarks totally failed to slew the onslaught of fan theories reviving Snow, the most popular being that Melisandre, who is back at Castle Black, will channel the Lord of Light and return him to his former fully-functional status.

Another is that he may Warg into his Direwolf, Ghost as the Starks have been known to be able to transport their minds into that of an animal.