Game Of Thrones: Hand Of The King Officially Confirms Return Of Jon Snow

Published Sep 15, 2026, 12:30 AM EDT

Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond. 

Jon Snow has one of the most compelling and tumultuous character arcs in the entirety of Game of Thrones, and while we still don't know what's in store for him in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, HBO's television series cemented him as a legendary figure who rose from Ned Stark's supposed bastard to Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and, eventually, King in the North.

Book readers have been waiting patiently for years to see how Martin treats Jon Snow's official return, though as frustrating as it may be, his fate remains undetermined until Winds of Winter eventually releases. Fans of HBO's adaptation almost saw an official Jon Snow return with the planned Game of Thrones sequel, with Kit Harington involved in shaping the project and expected to reprise the role.

However, Harington later confirmed that the series had been shelved because the creative team could not find a story they felt was strong enough to justify continuing Jon's arc, leaving the project "firmly on the shelf" for now. And while there still aren't any major updates on the Jon Snow sequel, the upcoming release of Hand of the King will usher in the King in the North's triumphant return on September 23 (via GoTL).

Jon Snow will be making an official return in the upcoming seasonal update to Game of Thrones: Legends, Hand of the King, a new Summons for the game featuring iconic Stark Legendary Champions Ned, Sansa, Arya, Robb, Catelyn, and of course the King in the North variant of Jon Snow. The Hand of the King Summon will be available starting September 23 at 4:00AM ET to October 21 at 2:00AM ET and will require exalted tokens.

Legendary Champions are the highest character rarity in Game of Thrones: Legends, with players building teams around their unique Skills, Passives, Factions, and combat synergies. Rather than simply receiving a complete Legendary Champion from most Summons, players generally earn Champion Shards, which are used to unlock characters and continue powering them up.

Summons such as this one essentially function as Legends' character-recruitment system, with different banners offering their own pools of available Champions and requiring specific currencies or Summoning Tokens. Hand of the King specifically uses Exalted Tokens, a newer premium Summoning currency introduced in June 2026 as the primary method for accessing newly released Champion Summons.

Exalted Tokens can be earned through activities such as Material Trials and Proving Grounds, while additional tokens are included among Goldroad rewards as well, and players can also spend Gold on Exalted banners. Zynga notably increased the incentive for these Summons by giving Exalted pulls twice the probability of awarding Legendary Shards compared with the previous Splendid Token Summons.

September is a stacked month for Legends, with The Lady of Bear Island Summon, bringing back the beloved Bella Ramsay as Lyanna Mormont, which runs through October 7, while the new Endless Winter Kingsroad season begins September 14 and offers Night King Shards through its premium Goldroad track.

Further, a new PvP season featuring Aemond Targaryen Shards also begins September 14, while Battle of Blackwater Bay follows from September 17–21, accompanied by a Summon featuring Davos Seaworth, Daario Naharis, Daemon Targaryen, and the Night King. Finally, Assault on Rook's Rest returns again on September 24–28 alongside a Summon featuring Oberyn Martell, Sunfyre, Tywin Lannister, and Gregor Clegane, rounding out September's busy slate for Game of Thrones: Legends.