Well HBO has made it officially official; Game of Thrones will be ending after season eight. The rumors had been around for a while, but now we know for sure. There will only be 13 more episodes of the hit show, spread out over the course of two shortened seasons.
While it is disappointing news for fans, it was bound to happen eventually. So the journey to the Iron Throne just got a bit more interesting, as there will be plenty of ground to cover in a short amount of time. For those who are not caught up on the show, I want to throw out a SPOILER warning going forward. There will be references and explanations of events that have occurred in the first six seasons, starting right now.
At the end of season six, Cersei Lannister found herself on the Iron Throne. After she blew up all of her enemies in King’s Landing, her son, King Tommen jumped out a window and committed suicide. These events led to Cersei starting her path down the road of becoming the Mad Queen. She represents one of four major parties left in the series, whom I will refer to as team Cersei. Other main players who are on her team include Jamie, the Mountain and Qyburn.
Then we have the North. Jon and Sansa took down Ramsey and the Boltons to regain the North, with some help from Littlefinger. They are more concerned with the coming of the White Walkers (more on them shortly) than taking down Cersei at the moment. Season seven will likely see their team coming together in preparation for that arrival. Two Stark children, Arya and Bran are still out there and should find their way back home soon enough. Brienne and Pod are also out there on a boat somewhere, and will likely get back to Winterfell. Then there is Sam, Jon’s best friend, who will probably learn some vital information while reading countless books.
The White Walkers are still a bit of a mystery. We know Winter is here, and they are coming. We also know they are going to be tough to take down. When they do arrive, expect them to be the main focal point. This is why I would guess they do not come until the last episode of season seven.
The big time team is led by Daenerys and her three dragons. She has built up a major force to support her as she is on a mission to take down Cersei and take the Iron Throne. She has Tyrion Lannister by her side as her hand, as well as Varys as her ears. The teams ships were provided by some of the Greyjoys.
There are plenty of other wildcards still out there as well. But with only 13 episodes remaining, things are going to get real interesting real quick. So here are five bold predictions for the last two shortened seasons.
We will get the Cleganebowl, and the Mountain will win
Last season many people were expecting to see the battle of the brothers. Those brothers are Sandor “The Hound” Clegane and Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane. Both men are monsters in size, and a fight between the two would be an instant classic.
With Cersei facing a trial by combat for a good portion of last season, and the reintroduction of the Hound, who was thought to be dead, many fans saw the Cleganebowl, what the battle is known as, to be a given. But then Tommy had to go and ban trial by combat.
At the end of the season, the Mountain was still standing by Cersei as her main bodyguard, while the Hound joined up with the Brotherhood without Banners. The Hound has a bone to pick with the Lannisters, and a trip to King’s Landing is likely in the cards for him and the Brotherhood.
It would be hard to see where else the Hound would fit into the plot as a whole. So a showdown with his brother is likely still in the cards. I expect the Brotherhood to show up to King’s Landing early on in season seven, and the battle we have all been waiting for will come to fruition.
And it will be one of the best fights in the history of the show. The two big men will go blow for blow, and things will begin to finally sway towards the Mountain. He will end the fight by cutting off the head of the Mountain, giving him a death he surely won’t come back from.
The Mountain serves a purpose as Cersei’s muscle, while the Hound is a wild card. So having the Mountain take him down eliminates one string that needs to be wrapped up, while also giving fans a classic moment.
The Mountain will finally be taken down by … Arya
The Mountain may win his battle with his brother, but that does not save him from death. Arya Stark is on a mission, and knocking off the Mountain is a part of her plan.
Arya was last seen killing Walder Frey in what was one of the best scenes of the entire season (series actually). Her two season arc with the Faceless Men finally paid off, and Arya slit the throat of the man who was responsible for the death of both her brother and mother, after serving him pie with the body parts of his sons. Bottom line, she has gone full on assassin.
Now she is likely going to end up in Winterfell with the rest of her siblings, but on her way she will have a stop to make. King’s Landing is the home of several people who are on her kill list. And last I checked, an assassin’s goal is to kill those on their kill list. Two of the more prominent names on said list are Queen Cersei and her bodyguard.
We will get to Cersei in a bit, but right now let’s focus on the Mountain. The Mountain has tortured and killed people, and Arya wants him dead. During the Cleganebowl, Arya will be watching, and likely taking some mental notes on his fighting style. She will see him kill the Hound, who was on her kill list, but then she formed a rather strange friendship with. She has somewhat forgiven the Hound, and seeing the Mountain kill him will be the final straw.
Arya will end up impersonating Cersei and get the Mountain alone in a room several episodes after the epic showdown. The Mountain will not see it coming, and Arya will exploit a weakness she learned during his battle with his brother. Once she has him where she wants him, she will reveal her true identity, and cross another name off her list.
Cersei will be killed by … Jaime, not Tyrion
Cersei is going to die at the end of this season. It is just bound to happen. And if you think back to the very first scene of season five, Cersei was given a prophecy as a child. She was told several things, and the first few have already come true. But we are going to focus on the very last part of that prophecy.
To keep it simple, she was told she would be killed by her “little brother”. Now, given Tyrion’s height, many would assume that was a reference to him. Tyrion is also a part of team Dany, who are on their way to take the Throne. So it would seem very logical that Tyrion would be the one who finishes off Cersei.
Now part of me really wanted to say Arya was going to be the one to kill the Mad Queen. That theory was she would disguise herself as Jamie, and kill her when she least expected it (As this would keep the prophecy true if Cersei thought it was actually Jamie). And I am not going to give up on that theory completely, but there are several factors that make me lean towards the actually Jamie doing the deed.
First off, Arya would reveal herself to Cersei before actually killing her. And that would go against the prophecy that is on target to being entirely correct. So for that reason, I lean away from my Arya theory.
But the real kicker comes in the form of the look we see Jamie give Cersei as she takes the Iron Throne at the end of season six. He slowly realizes power is consuming her. He knows she is responsible for Tommen’s death, and she is simply not the same person he loved.
Then factor in his feelings for Brienne. In the beginning, he was a total baddie on team Lannister who only cared for Cersei. But as the seasons have gone on, fans have had some sympathy for Jamie. His relationship with Brienne has something to do with that, and I am convinced those two will see each other once more.
Finally, Jamie’s claim to fame is that he killed the Mad King. So why would he not do the same to the Mad Queen? He is realizing she is not the same person, and he is losing his love for her. She is not his sister anymore, and she needs to be stopped. Therefore, Jamie will end up sticking his sword right into Cersei’s stomach, ending the Lannister’s reign of power, and Jamie will end up joining team Stark and Brienne.
The White Walkers will kill Daenerys and her dragons
Dany has a dominant team, and it appears she will be unstoppable. I mean, she has three dragons. So she will likely end up on the Iron Throne at some point in time. My guess says that happens at the end of season seven, following the death of Cersei.
But this will all go down before the White Walkers come into play. And the White Walkers are going to be a force to be reckoned with. Jon Snow will call upon his aunt (weird I know, but this is Game of Thrones) in an effort to fend off the White Walkers. Jon will be able to ride one of the dragons given his true heritage, which we learned thanks to Bran.
But if Cersei is on the throne at the end of season seven, it would be pretty boring to have her remain there. And the White Walkers are going to need a big kill, as they have been hyped up for so long. So Dany and her dragons are the perfect candidates.
It would provide the show with the shock factor that will have fans buzzing. Everyone expects Dany to end the show on top, but the ending has been promised to be a true shocker. The show will rip the hope of Dany standing tall away as the White Walkers take down her dragons one by one. And when all is said and done, Dany will go down with them.
Bran will end up on the Iron Throne
So Dany is out of the picture. So who gets to end the show on the Iron Throne? The White Walkers are the bad guys, and I do not see the Night King winning in the end. Most would guess Jon is the next logical guess. He is seen as the King of the North, and would be a logical bet. But he is not the true King of the North, Bran is. No one knows Bran is alive, but he is technically the only living Stark boy. So that title technically belong to him.
The Starks are the ones who are poised to take down the White Walkers. They have knowledge on how to kill them as well as Sam. Sam’s journey to read a bunch of books needs to factor in some how. So having him learn a way to kill the Night King and end the White Walkers is a good bet. Therefore, after the White Walkers take down Dany, the Starks (Sansa, Jon, Bran and Arya) will finally be together and have a formidable crew behind them. Paired with Sam’s info, they will win the battle.
Jon will not feel he should be king, and pass the title down to his brother, Bran, who will also be integral in taking down the White Walkers thanks to his abilities. Sansa could be the other option, but I think Bran, the one who essentially kicked the events of the show into motion, ends up capping it off.
The show started with the Starks as the main players, and it will end with one of them on the Iron Throne.
Conclusion
So there you have it. I could be right on the ball with these, or wildly incorrect. There will be only one way to find out however, and that is to watch the final thirteen episodes. It is a fatal four way at the moment. I expect season seven to eliminate team Lannister. One more prediction I will throw out there for season seven will be Sansa killing Littlefinger, as he will grow power hungry. He will need to be taken out at some point, and there will be too much going on in season eight for him to be a factor.
Season eight should be the time for the White Walkers to shine. Dany will get her time on the Iron Throne from the end of season seven to the beginning of season eight, meaning having her end the series there less likely in my opinion. Dany provides them their big kill, only to have team Stark come out on top.
What do you think will happen in the last two seasons? Who will wind up on the Iron Throne? Tell us in the comments!