Why the Internet is talking about 'Game of Thrones' actor Kit Harington's hair

“Game of Thrones” actor Kit Harington is causing rumors about the show merely from his haircut.

(“Thrones” fans, don’t read on unless you’ve seen all the recent episodes…) 

Harington got “Thrones” viewers talking after he attended Wimbledon with the long hair he sported as “Thrones” character Jon Snow. Harington’s character seemed to have met his end in the recent season five finale, in which Jon, the commander of the fighting force the Night’s Watch, was attacked by his own soldiers. 

Now fans are breathlessly watching what’s happening to Harington’s locks. He cut his hair earlier this year, before his character's fate was revealed, prompting speculation that something may have happened to his character on “Thrones.” But now his hair is long again, causing rumors in the other direction – that Harington may need it long because his character Jon Snow is coming back.

Harington has said previously that he wanted to cut his hair during the run of "Thrones" but that he wasn't allowed to. "I wanted to cut it – I've had long hair for ages – and [those at HBO] were like, 'No, no, no, that won't be happening,'" he said in 2014.

As for his character's fate, Harington himself, for the record, said in an interview that “I’m dead. I’m not coming back next season,” while “Thrones” actress Emilia Clarke recently said in an interview that she believes there’s a “fifty-fifty” chance Jon will return, though she also said, “I can, with all honesty, say I have no idea what’s happening” with the plotline.

Is it silly to be worrying over Harington's hair length? You bet. TV fans speculating over plot developments is nothing new, though anxiously watching how much a cast member’s hair has grown does seem extreme. It does indicate the pop culture dominance of “Thrones,” however – the program recently became the most-watched show on HBO over such TV landmarks as “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City.”

In addition, the guessing over Jon’s fate represents where viewers are now in the “Thrones” TV experience. The TV show is based on author George R.R. Martin’s novels and before now, book readers had least an informed opinion on what was happening next on the show (though sometimes events were changed). But now the show seems to have caught up with the most recent book by Martin, “A Dance with Dragons” – for example, Jon’s supposed death occurs in “Dragons.” Book readers and “Thrones” newbies alike are now only guessing about what will happen next in the fantasy realm of Westeros.