Did Jon Snow just drop a major Game of Thrones spoiler?

This is a post about Game of Thrones that is inherently a discussion about a spoiler. If the headline didn't give that away for you, this introduction should.

You've been warned. Do not read anymore, there is a potential spoiler ahead.

Spoiler

io9 points out that Kit Harrington, the actor who plays Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, has a clause in his HBO contract that doesn't allow him to cut his long hair until he's finished with the show. So, if you happen to be his neighbor, you're sort of screwed when it comes to being surprised about when he makes his exit.

Potentially, you're equally screwed if you happened to attend the premiere of his movie Testament of Youth in London yesterday, because he got a haircut.

io9 calls it the "most devastating haircut in history."

Before we all go running around posting stories on game and culture websites saying he's dead, let's reel it in a bit and discuss other possibilities. Maybe he's taking an extended break from the show, one long enough to grow his hair back in time for filming? Maybe he's dead, but will still appear in flashbacks, or somehow show up in some magicky, supernatural way. Maybe, just maybe, while Snow was busy fighting the good folks who decapitated his dad, he took a moment to pop by the local barber and get an in-character haircut?

Only time and a million fan theories will tell.

If you want to see photographic evidence of that newly shorn head, head over to io9.