You can actually trace the first theory about Jon Snow being a Targaryen to an old forum in the mid-90s. Truly dedicated Game of Thrones fans were able to connect the dots in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire very early on. And ever since then, these same fans have pretty much been able to predict every other major plot point.
That's what made the twist in the fifth episode of Game of Thrones Season Eight pretty expected to anyone who has been following the millions of fan theories about the final season of the show. Daenerys became the Mad Queen and burned King's Landing to the ground after Cersei's forces had already surrendered.
The Simpsons, as it's done with seemingly every major life event in the last 30 years, also predicted this Daenerys twist.
In a 2017 episode titled "Serfsons"—in which the show parodies Game of Thrones—The Simpsons family is standing on a hill watching as a dragon burns their town to the ground.
"Look, the dragon is burning our village," Bart yells.
"I love our town," Homer responds.
I actually spoke with The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean about this phenomenon back in 2016—after the show predicted Trump's election win. He chocked their knack for telling the future up to a combination of luck and reading the tea leaves of comedy:
You know, I think it is a little bit of just in seeing coincidences. There's usually a logical explanation. For Trump, it was that he was talking about running for president as a reform party candidate in 2000. So the idea that he would be running for president was not a complete [fiction]—it was a joke that had a basis. And, you know, we predicted that Germany would win the world cup because we thought it would be funny if Brazil lost in our show. And then, if they lost, Germany was the likeliest winner. So that made sense, too. The one that was really odd—and I can't understand how this happened, it was so bizarre—in our New York show before, in 1998, there was a pamphlet that said, "New York on $9 a day," and then the World Trade Towers were right behind the nine, and it looked like 9/11. If you had designed something to reflect it, you couldn't have made a design that would've made it look any clearer. So that one—that spooks me to this day. That is really odd.
Now, can The Simpsons also tell us what happens in the final episode of Game of Thrones? Does Jon Snow start a plowing business up north?
Matt Miller is a Brooklyn-based culture/lifestyle writer and music critic whose work has appeared in Esquire, Forbes, The Denver Post, and documentaries.
