Could this fan favorite 'Game of Thrones' character hold the key to Jon Snow's fate?

Remember those long summer nights after Game of Thrones Season 5, when the cast and creators tried very hard to convince us that Jon Snow was gone for good after he was murdered by his Night's Watch brothers? Viewers weren't so easily fooled -- after all, we'd already seen a character brought back from the dead.

Way back in Season 3, we watched The Hound defeat Beric Dondarrion in a trial by combat, striking a fatal wound to the leader of the Brotherhood Without Banners. But before his blood had even cooled, Beric was resurrected thanks to his ally, Thoros of Myr, a Red Priest who could channel the power of the Lord of Light.

In fact, Beric revealed to an awed Arya at the time, it was the sixth occasion that he'd been resurrected -- and it was his revival that inspired Melisandre to work the same magic on Jon.

In episode 5 of Game of Thrones Season 7, Jon and his band of merry men finally met up with Beric, Thoros and The Hound, who had apparently been chilling (literally) in the Eastwatch dungeon at the pleasure of Tormund Giantsbane.

The ragtag group are now off to capture a wight to prove to Cersei and the rest of Westeros that the threat of the White Walkers is real and right at their door, and in the newly released photos from episode 6, "Beyond the Wall," we see Jon and Beric sharing words.

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So why is this a big deal? Because Jon's still kind of a skeptic about the Lord of Light and why he was brought back -- last season, he even told Melisandre that he didn't want to be resurrected again if he happened to die during battle, despite having seen "nothing" on the other side.

"There’s a release in death, there’s a release in sleep – he’s gone through the wringer in this series," star Kit Harington says of Jon's desire to rest in peace. "He’s not scared of death, he’s not even scared of the nothingness he saw, now. But to think that you’ll just constantly be resurrected every time you die, is a terrifying thought. When he goes, he wants to go. He can’t go into a battle thinking ‘oh, I could come back,’ otherwise he might not be protecting himself in the way that he needs to."

But maybe that will change now that Jon has crossed paths with Beric, who is a true believer in the Lord of Light -- even if he doesn't particularly relish being resurrected over and over again either.

"He could teach him about the Lord of Light, because I don’t think Jon believes in anything apart from human integrity, so Beric could teach him that there is a purpose behind everything, that there is a greater purpose," says Richard Dormer, the man behind Beric's eyepatch, of Jon and Beric's new alliance. "He couldn’t actually teach him that much, because I think Jon Snow is a dude, and a real warrior, and he’s got a good heart. I think Beric respects that, the way he did with Ned Stark. I don’t think Beric has ever come across anyone like Jon apart from Ned, who he loved and respected. So I think he sees in Jon a real warrior and a real leader."

Could Jon convert to the church of R'hllor in Season 7? We can't see Jon putting his faith in a higher power when human loyalties are already so unpredictable -- he's too practical for that.

But maybe Beric and Jon's meeting will signal the answer to another lingering mystery on Game of Thrones and in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels: Who is Azor Ahai, the Prince(ss) That Was Promised?

Supposedly, Azor Ahai was a legendary warrior who fought the White Walkers when they first attacked the world, defeating them with the help of his flaming sword, Lightbringer. A prophecy says that the hero will be resurrected as a champion of the Lord of Light when the White Walkers come again:

There will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him.

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There are many potential candidates for the Prince That Was Promised (and none of them are Stannis Baratheon, sorry dude) -- with most folks believing that the reincarnated hero will be Jon or Daenerys, or a combo of both, seeing as how both of them have been "reborn" in one way or another. (Our personal favorite theory is that it's actually Jaime.)

But it'd probably take a warrior like Beric -- who has looked into the abyss just like Jon has, before being pulled back from the brink of it -- to convince him about this potential grand destiny. Knowing Game of Thrones, that probably means that Beric will die in a more final way in Season 7, but maybe that will pave the way for Jon to embrace his role as Azor Ahai... or to help Dany achieve it instead.

Either way, George R. R. Martin recently gave us a hint about the toll that being resurrected has taken on Beric -- which could be bad news for Jon too.

"His memories are fading, he’s got all these scars, he’s becoming more and more physically hideous, because he’s not a living human being anymore," Martin told Time. "His heart isn’t beating, his blood isn’t flowing in his veins, he’s a wight, but a wight animated by fire instead of by ice, now we’re getting back to the whole fire and ice thing."

That's the kind of tease that could launch a hundred theories. Start speculating!

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.