We give our best predictions about the series endgame in Game of Thrones Season 8.
Find out where we think all the pieces will fall.
This article contains major spoilers from all ofGame of Thrones.
Intriguingly, this is so far playing out more or less how we predicted.
Below is an article we originally published right after season 7 ended.
There are no real subplots left.
So as we approach that bitter end, here are our predictions for how it will fade out.
A War to End All Wars…
Between the Starks and the White Walkers.
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This struggle will undoubtedly be what most of the final six episodes deals with.
Martins world has never been Middle-earth.
As for that war itself, Benioff and Weiss have perhaps too heavily foreshadowed how it will go down.
And the role of the dragons might define which order this occurs in.
It is for that reason that I think they will return to Winterfell first.
This provides enjoyable drama as Sansa and Arya meet Daenerys, and size up their supposed new queen.
Arya herself has a long overdue reunion with the Hound too.
read more: Who is the Night King?
If Sams book (as well as maybe Meera Reeds father?)
Suddenly she should be required to bend the knee to him.
And yet, the inclusion of the Night King riding Viserion will likely cause this to be a massacre.
It will be the last stand for the living.
But a few things definitelyneedto happen.
Bran needs to fulfill his Three-eyed predecessors promise that hell fly.
Admittedly, we have never seen Bran warg into a White Walker before, nor a wight.
Also during this epic showdown, Jon Snow will kill the Night King with Longclaw.
The battle against the White Walkers has always leaned heavily into epic fantasy tropes.
It is Martin basking in the kind of Tolkien-esque fantasy hes otherwise skewered.
Americans thought they earned peace for a generation after nuclear bombs fell over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Not even five years later, our country was embattled on the Korean Peninsula.
It will be during this grim continuation of a war Cersei lied about pausing.
However, I dont think Daenerys can die… at least not this point.
Stannis Baratheon believed he was the Prince Who Was Promised, and look what happened to him.
Cersei, however, has created a self-fulfilling one for herself.
Consequently, she ultimately killed Margaery and cost herself Tommens life in the process.
Queen you shall be.
Yet nay, they were both innocent.
The term valonqar means little brother.
Plus, it has to be Jaime who takes Cerseis life.
Not when she completes her possession of the Mad King Aerys IIs soul.
Jaime wont let her do that.
Standing before the Iron Throne, theyll burn with the power Cersei covets.
Allowed to build her new world from horrible scratch.
Where will he land when all of these storylines are done?
Does he go to war with Daenerys and claim the Iron Throne as his own?
However,I do notthink Jons happy ending lies in Kings Landing, if anywhere.
Additionally, season 7 has repeatedly underscored how much of Ned Stark is still in Jon Snow.
He then doubled down and repeated Ned Starks foolish error by telling Cersei Lannister the truth.
read more: Whats Next for Sansa and Tyrion?
So what happens to Jon?
Either way, Danys arc will be about somewhat putting her familys history behind her.
The Mother of Dragons will have to give up her mythic mystique and embrace a fleshy reality.
But if this does occur why would Jon Snownotride south and be miserable in Kings Landing?
Which brings us to my prediction: Jon Snow does not survive season 8.
The Bastard of Winterfell will die and still be known to the world as Ned Starks son.
It doesnt matter if he has Targaryen blood.
Like the rest of his real family, Jon can only bloom in the cold of winter.
He does not want it, and his role will have been completed by killing the Night King.
Perhaps he will even die before the Northern lords ever knew he was really part-Targaryen.
Hows that for your bittersweet ending?
Still, since this is all conjecture, Ill add an alternative scenario.
Jon and Daenerys are joined together.
He is the icy rose she foresaw in the House of the Undying.
Maybe Jon isnt the one who will have to leave their union.
What if Dany is the one to die?
It could make sense.
As technical cousins, could they be the Stark couple who choose not to go south?
Learning from Ned and Cats mistakes?
Sure, George R.R.
Jon has had his whole life prepare him for martyrdom.
Dany has readied hers as one of a philosophical queen.
So let her rule begin.
Build that better world.
This is where we must kill our darlings and say goodbye to their journeys as everything heads into night.
An what is almost as sickening is if Bronn plays a role in Briennes death.
In that case, maybe theyre stranded at the top of the ruined Eastwatch.
Sandor can win the duel but still be taken by the flames he always feared.
Sansa is destined to rule Winterfell.
If Jon dies, she keeps Winterfell due to tragedy.
I also think Arya is unlikely to stick around in Winterfell after the spring comes.
While winter is a time for wolves, all things must pass.
Yet, just maybe, Gendry will also live, offering the romantics another lifeline.
If that does happen, it wont change Aryas destiny.
Shes not sticking around Westeros and neither will Gendry.
As for why I insist on Tyrion and Varys living?
They must be around to talk Daenerys down from the edge after Jon dies.
Some viewers are already speculating that Tyrion betrayed Daenerys off-screen.
This is why he looked sad when Jon and Dany were hooking up.
This is possible and would be arealwarped George Martin inspired twist.
But I dont see it.
He betrayed Tommen for Daenerys when he sought the Dragon Queen out in season 5.
It will be one where she rules alone, without Jon Snow or any other husband.
Shell instead take on the pose of Elizabeth I, offering a golden age of peace for Westeros.
Medieval religious power will be replaced by secular reason.
Again, this will be baby steps toward democracy.
And the guy there to document it all will be Samwell Tarly.
Its bitter, bittersweet, yet true to the worlds aesthetic.
A Westerosi Renaissance to the very end.
… Or at least thats our guess.
