'Game Of Thrones' Season 5 Finale Spoilers: Jon Snow And Stannis' Fate After 'Mother's Mercy'

Talk about leaving viewers with a cliff-hanger. The "Game of Thrones" Season 5 finale had many shocking moments and death loomed large in "Mother's Mercy." While people may want to know what happened to Myrcella Baratheon, everyone is clamoring for some answers following the shocking final scene regarding Jon Snow. Another surprising twist involved Stannis Baratheon and his siege of Winterfell. What is the fate of these two characters after the "Game of Thrones" Season 5 finale? Unfortunately, "A Song of Ice and Fire" readers don't have many answers.

Warning: "Game of Thrones" Season 5 spoilers and "A Song of Ice and Fire" discussion ahead.

"ASOIAF" readers knew that Jon Snow would be betrayed by members of the Night's Watch in a scene known as For the Watch. Jon's stabbing in the show was different from its "A Dance With Dragons" counterpart. In George R.R. Martin's novel, Jon Snow receives a letter from Ramsay Bolton that details the defeat of Stannis and the imprisonment of Mance Rayder -- the latter was sent on a mission to rescue "Arya Stark" from the Boltons. Jon was planning to go help the Wildlings at Hardhome, but decided to head to Winterfell after the Pink Letter.

As Jon is preparing to leave Castle Black -- and giving up his sworn duties -- Wun Wun the giant kills Ser Patrek of King's Landing. Following all the strife regarding Jon's decision to support the Wildlings, Bowen Marsh and several men of the Night's Watch begin stabbing Jon. As Jon is dying he calls out to his direwolf Ghost. Jon first learned of his ability to warg into Ghost in "A Clash of Kings" and begins to fully explore this skill in "A Dance With Dragons."

The "Game of Thrones" Season 5 finale did not feature any murder by Wun Wun, but did feature For the Watch. Olly tells Jon that a Wildling saw Benjen Stark alive, but that was a ruse and Ser Alliser Thorne leads several brothers in stabbing Jon.

This being "Game of Thrones," there is some uncertainty whether Jon is really dead. While Jon could have warged into Ghost and lived on in "A Dance With Dragons," the HBO series also added a possible way for resurrection. Melisandre left Stannis and arrived at Castle Black prior to Jon's murder. It's possible that she brings him back to life, although the show hasn't established her ability to accomplish such a feat.

Prior to "Mother's Mercy," some fans assumed Melisandre would play a role in reviving Jon and that he could actually be Azor Ahai, the Lord of Light's champion. Jon satisfies most of the requirements based on how you interpret the prophecy. Stannis claims to be wielding Lightbringer -- but there's no magical, glowing sword on the show and the sword Stannis unsheathed looked like a normal weapon. Lightbringer could mean the end of Winter -- as evidenced by Jon's Longclaw killing a White Walker. If the R+L = J theory is true, that also fulfills another requirement as Jon would have dragon blood running through his veins. He also chose duty over love, which was another Azor Ahai prerequisite.

There's also the wonderful quote from Martin himself when "A Dance of Dragons" was released. "Oh, you think he’s dead, do you?" Martin said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2011.

Which leads us to Stannis Baratheon. Since his arrival, he was the assumed champion of the Lord of Light. Melisandre backed him and saw prophecies of his victories in her fires. It all started unraveling in "Game of Thrones" Season 5 after Stannis helped defeat the Wildling army and captured Mance Rayder. Stannis' time at Castle Black was short, but he did try to sacrifice Mance. During his march to Winterfell, there were several natural and man-made setbacks that devastated Stannis' army and supplies. The sacrifice of Shireen led to half of his men deserting him and Selyse Baratheon's suicide.

In the siege of Winterfell, Stannis' army is quickly destroyed by the Boltons. Brienne finds a wounded Stannis and recites her vows to Renly, but the scene cuts away before she delivers the killing blow. There's a scream that could have come from her killing Stannis or of surprise if she was attacked from behind.

Series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss never say Stannis is dead during the "Inside the Episode #10" feature, but they do say "the death of Jon Snow" during the clip. Of course, it's more likely that Stannis is dead, but it wouldn't be the first surprise on "Game of Thrones."

While we may not know Stannis' fate, there's another thing to consider when discussing Jon's death. Before the start of "Game of Thrones" Season 5, contract negotiations became major news. It turns out that Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) all had renegotiated their contracts through "Game of Thrones" Season 7.

Harington does a lot to disprove that bit of news and questions about his fate in an interview with EW. "I’ve been told I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m not coming back next season. So that’s all I can tell you, really," Harington said.

Again, it's good to quote Martin when it comes to the fate of Jon and Stannis. "My readers should know better than to take anything as gospel, unless they see it for themselves, and even then I do sometimes use 'unreliable narrator.' No. They should not take that as the truth," Martin told EW.