The premiere is nigh and tonight will be one of the final six Sunday nights we have left with one of the greatest shows ever. There has never been a show that I can remember that has had this much hype and expectations behind the final season. Breaking Bad was pretty incredible but I feel like Game of Thrones is on a completely different level. This show has transcended just fantasy fandom and broken into the mainstream to compete with movie franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel. It is a TV show with an epic movie budget and this final season will be an incredible ride. Whether this season can be as good as some of the original seasons like the first or even three or six is yet to be seen. Either way though, this finale will be filled with emotion and heartbreak as we watch our favorite characters that we have grown to love for almost 10 years now either die or rise to become the new rulers of the seven kingdoms.
So in celebration of the new season starting I want to throw out some of my last minute predictions that I have regarding the final season. For the record, I have read the books and I have watched/read tons of interviews by the cast from this season so many of my predictions will stem from that (along with what I have seen in the show). I haven't gone on www.reddit./r/freefolk to look at spoilers because I want this season to truly mess with my emotions. Make me see things I never saw coming. I want it to make me cry in all the best and worst ways. So I'd say that all of my theories are educational speculation (it's like an educated guess). I'll start obvious predictable, basically ones that I think everyone has, and then go to ones that I have barely seen out there and ones that I think will happen based on the shows recent seasons.
1. Jon will ride a dragon. This is a 100% guarantee at this point since he now have confirmation that Jon is Aegon Targaryn, son of Rhaegar. Plus with only two dragons left, someone else has to ride the other dragon that Dany can't ride.
2. Speaking of Dany, I don't think her or Jon are going to die. George R.R. Martin, despite all of his subversion, is a real fan of fantasy at the heart of everything. He believes in good triumphing over evil no matter how icky the steps to getting to that finality are. So I believe that Dany and Jon will beat the Night King and they will rule Westeros together in harmony. There are tons of characters in A Song of Ice and Fire who have blurred the lines of good and bad over and over again in this show, but when it comes down to it, the characters who are inherently good will side with Jon and Dany and those are bad will side with Cersei or the Night King.
3. Next theory. Jon will defeat the Night King. I know that isn't shocker but I believe that Game of Thrones won't try to do anything clever with this battle. Jon (and Dany to some extent too), at this point, is Azor Ahai (the prince who was promised) and the show needs to have this prophecy finally pay off. Azor Ahai, with his sword Lightbringer was the one who ended the Long Night and defeated the Others (White Walkers) before. It seems like the show it setting up for Jon to do that again.
So how does he create Lightbringer? Well it's a bit problematic. In order to forge the sword, Azor Ahai spent "a hundred days and nights" making it and then, to finish it, "he drove it through Nissa Nissa's (his wife) breast. Her blood, soul, strength, and courage went into the steel of the sword". This created Lightbringer. You can deduct that in order for it to be made again, Jon would need to stab his sword into his his wife - maybe Dany? That would be truly tragic and be in the theme of the show but I think the show can think of a clever cop-out. Jon will stab the sword into Melisandre. She is a fire priestess of Asshai and she mentioned to Varys in Season 7 that she needs to return to Westeros "to die in this strange country". She still has a role to play in this show and what better way for her to fit into the final part of this story than to have her sacrifice herself? This will also, like I said, serve as a way to get of killing Dany.
4. Jon and Dany will venture north to meet the Children of the Forest. In the Season 8 trailer we see both Jon and Dany clearly north of the Wall.
So what are they going North for? Old Nan says to Bran in the first book "A Game of Thrones": "the last hero determined to seek out the children, in the hopes that their ancient magics could win back what the armies of men had lost. He set out into the dead lands with a sword, a horse, a dog, and a dozen companions...For years he searched until he despaired of ever finding the children of the forest in their secret cities". The common consensus among book readers is that the last hero and Azor Ahai are the same person. I'm in line with that belief. Jon fits this description perfectly. He has a dog (Ghost), a horse (a dragon), and a sword (Longclaw). He could also have a dozen companions who die along the way. The story also mentions his dog dying so I'm sad about that. But Jon fits this story as well as anyone. This is why I believe Jon will travel North with Dany, I don't know when, but they will at some point in order to find the Children of the Forest for help defeating the Night King.
5. The battle with The Night King will be resolved around Episode 4 (whether in defeat or victory), maybe even 3. The show-runners promised the longest battle in cinema history which means that the battle at Winterfell will last multiple episodes at least. However, I do not think it spans into Episode 5 or even 6. I also think the final battle with the Night King will be at Winterfell and the battle will be resolved there. Winterfell has its name for a reason. Is it because that is where Winter literally falls. The others were fought back before and Bran the Builder (a Stark) built both the Wall and Winterfell. Could he have planted some magic in Winterfell to help ensure our heroes' victory? I believe he did and I believe that the magic or the way to beat the Night King is buried in the Crypts of Winterfell. Since Episode 1 of this show, we have been told how important these crypts are. I believe they will serve a bigger purpose than just simply being the location where the buried Starks are kept. The first teaser for Season 8 showed all of the Stark children (minus Bran) together in the crypts as ice approached them. That was not an accident. This story is about the Starks and they will have the most important role to play in the resolution of this story.
6. We will get a pretty good amount of flashbacks filling in a lot of the details we need. I know that people consider this cheap story-telling but I think the show-runners will need to do this in order to answer questions about the Night King, the Wall, and the religious prophecies ever present in this show. This is what Bran is for too. He is the internet that tells us all the answers to all the questions we have.
7. Bran will not be the Night King. I hate this theory, I see why it could be true I just don't like it at all. So I predict that he won't be because I refuse to be part of this movement.
8. Jaime will die up North to the Night King. Cersei will get word of this and she will be absolutely heartbroken about her decision to not help them. It will be the final straw in Cersei's long line of actions she took that resulted in the death of the only people she loved.
9. Cersei will surprise attack Winterfell after they have fought off the Night King's army. Whether they defeat the Night King or not, I don't know. I have a feeling though it is in Cersei's nature to say "screw the end of the world", "I want to kill my brother and all of these other nobodies who think they can take my throne". She may even end up killing Jaime in the act of her surprise attack. So I still believe Jaime will die in the north.
10. We will get Clegane Bowl. Like I said before; I think the battle with the Night King is resolved earlier in the season than we expect which leaves times for a battle at King's Landing. While at King's Landing these two will clash in the most epic of conflicts ever. Also the Hound promised this to us last season. He tells the Mountain, to his face, "you know who's coming for you".
11. While at King's Landing, Arya will take the opportunity during the chaotic battle to kill Cersei. She will use Jaime's face and Cersei will be happy and then traumatized when she realizes he is trying to kill her. Cersei will think it is Jaime killing her, she will think it is the Valonqar prophecy being fulfilled in a way she didn't imagine. Then Arya will reveal herself, and in the cruelest twist of fate for Cersei, she will realize that the prophecy she had been trying to prevent all her life means nothing because he actions to prevent it have led to her death in this moment.
12. Littlefinger will not be alive in Season 8. He did not pay a faceless man to use his face and fake his death. Arya would have been able to see through that with her training.
13. Everyone will come back for this final season. Whether being raised by the Night King as a wight or being raised by Melisandre and other red priests to fight along side the heroes, we will get a reprisal of many old GOT roles. Also everyone who dies via the Night King will come back as a wight. Like I said, everyone will come back this season. Also Dario will come back because why not?
14. All the B plot and C plot story-lines will be resolved. This includes Arya fighting off some faceless men who try to come after her and kill her. Arya will have a beautiful reunion with Gendry and a weird one with Melisandre. Sam will become a maester. Sam's dad, and no other Tarly, will come after Sam for stealing the family sword. Bron will get his castle and his wife. Baric will probably save Gendry in some way so that he can replay the fact that he sold Gendry to Melisandre. The Dornish people will also be in this season for a bit so that we do not forget about them. Although they will probably mainly be around to remind us that Rhaegar left Ellia Martell because she couldn't have children and he was obsessed with becoming Azor Ahai which meant he needed to have three children, not just two. Rhaegar was obsessed with the prophecy because his son Aegon (who was killed by the Hound) was born amongst smoke (at Dragonstone) and salt (Dragonstone is an island in the Narrow Sea).
However, now it is obvious that Jon and Dany are Azor Ahai. Jon was literally born amongst smoke and salt when he was resurrected by Melisandre. Mel is a fire pristess (smoke) and Davos served as Sannis's hand at Dragonstone - plus he's a known smuggler who sailed the narrow seas (salt). If you need even more evidence, here is a direct quote from the last page of "A Dance With Dragons" - when the Night's Watch stabs Jon: "Then Bowen Marsh stood there before him, tears running down his cheeks. 'For the Watch.' He punched Jon in the belly. When he pulled his hand away, the dagger stayed where he had buried it. Jon fell to his knees. He found the dagger's hilt and wrenched it free. In the cold night air the wound was smoking." The tears are salty and it literally says the air was smoking. There is a ton of evidence that Jon is Aor Ahai.
Why is Dany Azor Ahai? At the end of Season 1, when her dragons were born, a bleeding star (a comet) appeared across the realm for all to see. When Aegon (Rhaegar's first Aegon) was conceived a comet appeared across the sky. Dany's rebirth is eerily similar. Plus Master Aemon straight up tells us everything we need to know "A Feast for Crows". After Sam tells Aemon of Dany's dragons, Aemon responds by saying: "No one ever looked for a girl..It was a prince that was promised, not a princess. Rheagar I thought … the smoke was from the fire that devoured Summerhall on the day of his birth, the salt from the tears shed for those who died. He shared my belief when he was young, but later he became persuaded that it was his own son who fulfilled the prophecy, for a comet had been seen above King’s Landing on the night Aegon was conceived, and Rhaegar Targaryen was certain the bleeding star had to be a comet. What fools we were, who thought ourselves so wise! The error crept in from the translation. Dragons are neither male nor female...The language misled us all for a thousand years. Daenerys is the one, born amidst salt and smoke."
This is all the evidence you need to prove that both Dany and Jon are Azor Ahai. I know that explanation was long winded and took a while but I thought it was important in order to prove my point.
That is all for my theories. I have some truly crazy ones that I have heard from friends and colleagues but I can't say them here. Some of them are game changing so I truly can't.
Well anyway enjoy the premiere tonight! It will be incredible.
***everything I quoted in here is either from the books or from the Song of Ice and Fire wiki. The people working that cite are truly incredible.