Did you see a body? It only counts if you saw a body.

Game of Thrones fans may be the latest victims of that TV producers' speciality: the ol' fake-death scene.

We all know how it goes. A prominent character, loved or hated by all, is killed in a season finale only to return the very next season with only a scratch or two.

Remember in the season one finale of Revenge when Victoria Grayson was in a plane crash, but then she wasn't in a plane crash because she wasn't even on the plane? Or the time Derek Shepherd was shot in the heart at the end of season six Grey's Anatomy but was still back the next episode with a fun new adrenaline junkie personality. Hell, if you haven't fake-died within three episodes of The Walking Dead then you aren't a major character.

To be fair, the season five finale of Game of Thrones ('Mother's Mercy') had a lot of bodies and wounds. But for show that prides itself on spatters and sinew, wasn't it a little suspicious that not a droplet made it on-screen when Stannis Baratheon was 'killed' by Brienne of Tarth?

Stannis was shown slumped against a tree surrounded by the remains of his army, which had just been conquered by Ramsay Bolton's soldiers. Brienne asks Stannis if he has any last words before swinging her sword down menacingly.

But there was no blood, no scream, not even a squelch. Just a cut to the next scene.

Now a comment made by the author of the series George R. R. Martin on LiveJournal confirms that the middle Baratheon is still alive.

A fan with the screen name Arthur Merinovich asks "alright mr Martin, lets cut the crap, is Stannis alive or dead?"

"In my books? Alive, beyond a doubt," came the response from Martin, who has to date only released preview chapters of book six in the series.

Given the recent divergence in plot between the books and the TV show, it is possible - though not likely - that the TV producers have gone rogue beyond expectation and killed Stannis.

Or Martin could also have been foxing. He could have been referring to a different part of the series. With book six still a mystery, Martin could have been talking about the end of book five, the preview chapters of book six. Or maybe he was dropping a real game-changer for the un-published novel.

The other option (and, let's face it, the most likely) is that nobody has any sodding idea what is about to happen so the producers are just saving their behinds in case Stannis comes back with a fun new adrenaline junkie personality just like Dr. Shepherd.