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In Game of Thronesseason 6, viewers were unsurprised to see Jon Snow return to life having unceremoniously been slain in the closing moments of the fifth season.
What fans couldn't predict, however, was how death would change the character.
In an interview with The Wrap, Harington - who has starred in the HBO fantasy series since it began in 2011 - discussed the moment, finally revealing he knew Snow wasn't dead all along.
In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6
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He said: "I knew I was coming back to life, but I didn't know if I'd come back as a changed person, as a villain. So I couldn't pre-plan anything, which was hard. I got the scripts, and actually, he comes back as himself, as the Jon that everyone knows. Which at first I found disappointing."
The actor went on to level that his disappointment was short-lived.
"But he has an insight into what lies beyond that very few people in this world do. He knows that there's no afterlife. Which does quietly drive who he is and what he wants to do."
The next two seasons of Game of Thrones will be the series' last, each running with a shortened episode count as only 13 episodes remain.
Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss recently dropped some tantalising hints about what to expect in season 7 which is confirmed to air later than usual in summer 2017.
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