The long wait for Game of Thrones Season Eight has begun, but thankfully there's a lot of content to occupy fans' time. While a number of big secrets were revealed in Season Seven, there's a lot more in store for the final batch of episodes. And since fan theories seem to be writing this entire show at this point, it's important to pay close attention to those predictions out there—unless, of course, you're worried about spoilers. If that's the case, stop reading this, and everything else Game of Thrones related, right now, and find another way to occupy the next million years until Season Eight. Otherwise, go ahead and have fun with the best Game of Thrones fan theories going into Season Eight.
Tyrion is actually a Targaryen, too
Now that we know Jon Snow is a Targaryen, the next surprise sibling will be none other than Tyrion. This comes from the popular A + J = T theory, which means Aerys plus Joanna equals Tyrion. The books detail the Mad King Aerys's obsession with Tywin Lannister's wife, Joanna. According to the theory, Aerys impregnated Joanna, who died when giving birth to Tywin (similarly, so did two other Targaryan siblings: Jon and Daenerys). It would also explain Tywin's final words to Tyrion—"you're no son of mine"—along with his general disdain for his youngest son. And remember how chill Tyrion was with those little dragons?
Tyrion made a deal with Cersei and will betray Daenerys
While this would make the previous theory pretty complicated, many fans believe that an important conversation went down between Tyrion and Cersei that wasn't shown in the Season Seven finale. Remember when Tyrion was convincing Cersei to work with Jon/Dany and noticed that she was pregnant, then the next scene cut to them back in the Dragonpit? During that gap, Tyrion might have made a deal with Cersei to ensure that her unborn child would be the king/queen to succeed Daenerys, who Tyrion believes is unable to have children. That would explain his concern while listening to Jon and Dany have sex on their steamy romance cruise in the finale. If she has a baby, that would really mess up his plans.
Arya will become Littlefinger
Although news seems to travel inexplicably fast in Westeros, it's possible that most of the south is unaware of Littlefinger's demise in the Season Seven finale. This would make it pretty convenient for Arya to travel to King's Landing (where Littlefinger used to have a great deal of power) using his face as a mask. Since she's the one who carried out the execution, it's likely Arya can use his as she did with Walder Frey's in the season premiere. Even if Littlefinger isn't exactly welcome in King's Landing at this point, it could be a convenient way for Arya to get close to the people on her kill list down south.
Bran is the Night King
While there's little evidence going into the final season of Game of Thrones, fans are convinced that Bran could be the Night King. They're comparing the two characters' wardrobe, and the man whom the Children of the Forest used to create the first White Walker (largely believed to be a Stark). Anything can happen on Game of Thrones, and Bran actor Isaac Hempstead Wright told Esquire.com he thinks it would be pretty cool to be the Night King—even though he thinks it's a stretch.
Bran Built the Wall
Season Six revealed that Bran Stark can not only see the past—he can manipulate it, too. There are a number of theories that consider the endless possibilities of his powers. Overall, they seem to connect Bran to every key moment in Westeros history. Bran already accidentally destroyed poor Hodor's mind by traveling to the past, and some speculate that he'll do the same thing to the Mad King Aerys Targaryen, who was known to "hear voices." To go back even further, it's been theorised that every person named Bran in Westerosi history is actually our Bran—meaning he actually built the wall.Fans often point to this passage from George R.R. Martin's books:
"I could tell you the story about Brandon the Builder," Old Nan said. "That was always your favorite." Thousands and thousands of years ago, Brandon the Builder had raised Winterfell, and some said the Wall. Bran knew the story, but it had never been his favorite. Maybe one of the other Brandons had liked that story. Sometimes Nan would talk to him as if he were her Brandon, the baby she had nursed all those years ago, and sometimes she confused him with his uncle Brandon, who was killed by the Mad King before Bran was even born. She had lived so long, Mother had told him once, that all the Brandon Starks had become one person in her head.
It's the Cleganebowl ... bowl ... bowl ... bowl
Even though it didn't happen in Season Seven as everyone predicted, the epic showdown between Gregor and Sandor Clegane is almost certainly going to happen in the final season. In the Season Seven finale, The Hound tells The Mountain: "What did they do to you? Doesn't matter. That's not how it ends for you brother. You know who's coming for you. You've always known." This is almost certainly foreshadowing for the duel to come. The Cleganebowl, one of the most beloved Game of Thrones fan theories, has been brewing since Season One, when it's established that the two have hated each other since they were children, and The Hound's face is disfigured when The Mountain shoved him into a fire as punishment for playing with his toys.
Jaime will kill Cersei, his lover/sister
It would be tragic, and beautiful, and satisfying all at once. Jaime must kill his sister/lover Cersei as she becomes the Mad Queen. In the Season Seven finale, Cersei tells Jaime that she plans to betray Jon and Dany even if it means the destruction of the human race. That was the last straw for Jaime, who finally left Cersei to head North—as actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau told Esquire.com in an interview—before she could kill him. Now that they're on opposite sides of a war, Jaime might be forced to face, and even kill, his own sister. And there have long been hints to this happening: When Cersei was young, a seer named Maggy the Frog made the prophecy that Cersei would watch all her children die—only to be murdered herself. As the prophecy goes: "And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar [High Valyrian for 'little brother'] shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you." This would make for a rather bloody parallel to Jaime killing the Mad King during Robert's Rebellion.
Jon or Daeneys is the Prince(ss) Who Was Promised
Throughout George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is the legend of Azor Ahai, "a hero who fought against [the darkness] with a red sword" and "arose to give courage to the race of men and lead the virtuous into battle with his blazing sword Lightbringer." According to prophecy, "When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone." Melisandre has been holding out for the return of Azor, whom she believed was Stannis Baratheon. Since Stannis didn't work out all too well, it's likely that her new hero is Jon Snow, whom she helped resurrect in Season Six. This theory took a twist in Season Seven, when it's pointed out that the translation of the prophecy could also mean the Princess That Was Promised, meaning it could be either Jon or Daenerys.
What if Sam is the one telling this whole story?
Who is telling this story? Is the narrator Jon? Is it George R.R. Martin? Is it Bran? In an interview a couple of years ago, John Bradley—who plays Sam—noted that it could be his character who is narrating the story. "One theory is that what we're seeing now and how we're experiencing Game of Thrones is Sam telling the story of Game of Thrones," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "If you take the logic of the story now, the story of Westeros and the story of the battle for the Iron Throne, it would be a book in that library." Fans have noted that in his scenes in the Citadel library in Oldtown, Sam can be seen standing under a gyroscope similar to the one shown in the Game of Thrones opening credits. In Season Seven, a conversation between Sam and Archmaester Ebrose seemed to confirm this theory, when Sam suggests a more poetic title for The Chronicles of the Wars Following the Death of King Robert I.
Look, the White Walkers are probably going to win
As we know all too well on Game of Thrones, our heroes almost never win. They die tragically and suddenly. Real justice is rare, if ever. So why should the ending of this saga be any different? And, let's face it, things aren't looking too good for Team Human. At the end of Season Seven, the Night King turned one of Daenerys's dragons into a White Walker dragon, then used it to demolish The Wall that had been keeping them out for thousands of years. So let's consider this for a second. If the Night King now has the ability to A) travel wherever he wants in Westeros by dragon and B) raise armies of undead using dead humans, what's stopping him from flying to every graveyard in the Seven Kingdoms and creating armies that overwhelm, surround, and destroy humans? At this point, given the constant bickering and manipulation in Team Human, who's to say the White Walkers shouldn't win?
