Winter has finally arrived.
The full trailer for the final season of Game Of Thrones has been released, and the series looks to be ending in icy armageddon, with Cersei cooly sipping wine as Westeros freezes.
Game Of Thrones always delighted in subverting expectations, but wrapping up this long, complex story with a satisfying and surprising twist will be quite the challenge – George R. Martin will surely be taking notes. Half the fun is predicting the plot points of this series, just so one can be proved horribly wrong as a beloved fan-favorite meets their gory demise.
Here are my eight predictions for season 8 of Game Of Thrones.
1. Jaime will die a martyr
Jaime’s arc has been one of the strongest in the series, with the character starting his story as a violent, incestuous sociopath, before blossoming into a noble knight.
As Jaime seeks to fill his embarrassingly blank page in the White Book with a heroic deed or two, I have a strong suspicion that the man has become too good to survive. What better way to leave an indelible mark on history, other than to die a martyr?
If he lives, Tyrion will surely be tasked with writing the history of his sordid family, and his big brother might be the only member that he depicts flatteringly.
2. Cersei will (almost) drive humanity to extinction
“Everybody dies” is too bleak an ending for even this story, but I can’t help but suspect that Cersei’s stubbornness will have catastrophic consequences for the inhabitants of Westeros.
The White Walkers and the Long Night acts as a direct parallel to our modern-day calamity, climate change, and Cersei’s willingness to ignore and ridicule the problem is, unfortunately, far too accurate a reflection of our current leadership.
The Night King is too empty a villain to close this story on; it’s Cersei who will prove to be the real supervillain of this season, by turning her back on humanity.
3. Jon Snow won’t escape death
While it appears that Daenerys and Jon are all set to ride their dragons together, and eventually get married and have unhealthy, inbred babies, as per Targaryen tradition, surely their story can’t end so smoothly.
Jon Snow already escaped death once, in a plot twist that surprised even Melisandre. Why exactly did the Lord of Light (if it was even him), choose to resurrect the man? It seems that Jon’s life has a purpose, but that doesn’t mean he gets to settle down, happily ever after.
Jon might end up being the key to defeating the White Walkers, but he owes a debt to the Many-Faced God, and that guy doesn’t forgive, or forget.
4. Daenerys will survive everything
No matter what happens, I simply can’t imagine Daenerys dying. If the series was to single out one central protagonist, it would definitely be her; the character is integral to the plot, the one responsible for the return of dragons, and ironically, the melting of The Wall. In retrospect, this entire situation is all her fault.
She’s too important to die, but the story surely won’t allow her a fairytale ending; thus, the demise of her lover, Jon Snow, is all but inevitable.
5. Tormund and Brienne will be granted a happy ending
After the trailer revealed Tormund to be alive and well, it seems likely that his adorable romance with Brienne might just come to fruition.
