It’s been over two weeks since Jon Snow was shockingly killed off in the Game of Thrones fifth season finale, but the internet is still working through the stages of grief—plenty will probably remain in “denial” until Season 6 rolls around, while others have finally landed at acceptance. The production itself has been giving mixed signals—the producers, director, and Kit Harington himself all insist that Jon is dead, but Emilia Clarke isn’t so sure, and Carice Van Houten (Melisandre) teased that something big is coming for her character next year. In short, there’s plenty of stuff to chew over between now and the show’s return.

The theories as to how Jon Snow could come back are legion: Melisandre will resurrect him, he’ll warg into Ghost, he’ll return as a wight, etc. Something we haven’t really discussed is the theory that, just before the screen cuts to black in the season finale, Jon’s eyes change slightly in color, and that this implies that he will return.

First, let’s establish whether Jon’s eyes actually change color. Here’s a cropped close-up of his face at the beginning of the final shot, before the camera presses inward to focus on his head and the blood pooling around it.

Notice the dark brown eyes, Kit Harington’s natural shade. For contrast, here’s a shot of his face after the camera has pushed in and the blood has started to pool, with the shadows helpfully removed.

And finally, here’s a GIF of the final moment.

At first glance, it does look like Jon’s eyes lighten a bit in color. The more important question is whether this means anything.

There is precedent on the show for eyes changing color. It traditionally happens when a person is warging (remember Bran’s eyes going white when he wargs into Hodor or Summer) or when they awaken as a newly risen member of the army of the dead, in which case their eyes turn ice blue. Clearly, Jon’s eyes toward the end of the shot are neither milky white nor ice blue—at best, they’re a lighter shade of brown than they were before, which could be readily explained by the camera viewing him from a slightly different angle and catching the light in a slightly different way. Still, far be it for me to discourage speculation, so maybe they’re lightening on their way to going milky white or ice blue?

It’s also been suggested that Jon’s eyes are going purple at the end, thus indicating that he is going to rise again as Jon Stark, a new man who’s more in tune with his secret Targaryen lineage. Frankly, I don’t see it, but if it’ll fill the days between now and Season 6, it’s worth discussing.

H/T MTV