Jon Snow had a secret code name on the set of Game of Thrones

Sure, we’d all pretty much guessed what was going to happen to bring Jon Snow back from the dead, but the US network kept the revelation so well hidden that even we were starting to doubt that Kit Harington would be back among the living.

And now that Jon is breathing again, we’re beginning to learn the lengths of their deception, going beyond the denials from Harington and the showrunners and video takedowns that we already knew about and including a secret “code name” used for the actor on set.

In fact, according to EW there was no reference to Jon Snow at all on the production of Game of Thrones season six, with the character instead always referred to as LC (standing for Lord Commander) in the scripts, scene breakdowns, call sheets and prop lists.

And the secrecy didn’t stop there. “No one was allowed to say ‘Jon Snow’ on set, ever, everyone had to refer to me as ‘LC,’” Harington said, with the imposition even apparently extending to the show’s producers in case any third parties were listening to their conversations.

Just about the only time the words “Jon” and “Snow” were spoken on set, then, were when actors actually had to say them on screen – and we’re betting even that was a risky decision.

Still, it sounds like the cast didn’t have too hard a time working under the oppressive cloak of secrecy, with co-star Carice van Houten (Melisandre) finding plenty of time to make fun of Harington as she washed his naked corpse.

Apparently she decided LC should stand for something else altogether less flattering, and while EW wouldn’t reveal exactly what it was, we’re sure it was just down to the cold and nothing to be ashamed of. Right, Kit?

Game of Thrones continues on Sky Atlantic next Monday at 2am and 9.00pm