Spoilers ahead, etc.
Game of Thrones‘ sixth season ended with a literally explosive episode that brought a huge number of twists, deaths, and surprises. But in the end, almost all of the main characters who weren’t killed sorted themselves into three camps: Team Jon, Team Cersei, and Team Daenerys. Jon has the support of every faction in the North, Cersei rules King’s Landing unopposed after killing off all her rivals, and Dany has gobbled up almost every other character and remaining army into an unstoppable force. But peace never lasts on Game of Thrones, alliances are made merely to be ripped apart, and new twists are bound to come up. Here are some major questions to mull over until season seven arrives.
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When Will the White Walkers Finally Invade?
Winter is coming… but it’s taking its damn time. Game of Thrones‘s first episode opened with the White Walkers and Ned Stark’s ominous warning, yet six seasons later they still haven’t reached the Wall, much less invaded Westeros. Given that the show will only have two truncated seasons left, I think safe money is on the White Walkers invading in season seven. However, given all the other storylines that need to be wrapped up, most likely we won’t see the White Walkers invade until halfway through the season or possibly not till the last two episodes. The Wall tumbling down would make a pretty killer final shot.
How Will the Wall Come Down?
Like Anton Chekhov said, if you introduce a gigantic ice wall that magically repels zombies and demonic frost elves in the first act, it has to come down in the third. So the question is how? Perhaps Bran will accidentally bring it down when he passes through, now that he has the mark of the Night King on his arm. But it would be pretty silly if Bran was dragged north and trained to be the Three-Eyed Raven just to accidentally knock down the wall.
A more interesting possibility is that the old warhorn that Sam found among the White Walker–killing dragonglass back in season two can bring down the Wall. Perhaps Sam brought it south with him, and perhaps he’ll learn about its power in one of the books in the gigantic Citadel library. What evil character would dare blow such a thing though? Perhaps a certain crazy murderous king of Cthulhu-worshipping Vikings, Euron Greyjoy?
Will Cersei Marry Euron?
Throughout the entire show Cersei has fought to rule by her own accord without men telling her what to do, so why would she marry the Westerosi equivalent of Donald Trump? Well, Cersei was just crowned queen of Westeros, a title that a certain Mother of Dragons is coming over to take. By my count, Daenerys has an army of elite Unsullied soldiers, the largest Khalasar of Dothraki screamers the planet has ever seen, half of the Iron Fleet, two of the largest remaining Westeros armies courtesy of Dorne and the Reach, and, oh yeah, three fire-breathing magic dragons.
On the other hand, Cersei has… one zombie knight, some street urchins with kitchen knives, and whatever scraps are left of the Lannister army that spent the last several years fighting a multi-front war. Point being, she needs some allies, ASAP. Euron Greyjoy is a maniac who just wants to watch the world burn, and Cersei is a mad queen who wants to light the flame. Could this be a match made in the seven heavens?
What Will Jon Snow Do When He Learns Who His Real Dad Was?
Jon Snow has already been through a lot. He’s been Commander of the Night’s Watch, assassinated by his own men, resurrected with magic, and named King in the North. But as the season six finale showed, he still has to learn who he really is: the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. He’s lived his whole life thinking of himself as Ned Stark’s son. What will he do when he learns—presumably through Bran—that his life has been a lie and he is actually the rightful heir to the Targaryen throne? Perhaps he’ll just mope about as he is wont to do, or perhaps he will use the knowledge to team up with (perhaps even marry) Daenerys to get her to bring her dragons north to fight the army of the dead. Yes, Dany is technically Jon’s aunt, but remember that the Targaryens married brother to sister for centuries.
What Will Bran Fuck Up?
As I said above, I don’t think Bran will be the one to bring down the Wall. However, we know he is going to fuck something up. Bran has been very reckless when time-traveling through the weirwood tree internet, already causing the death of the Three-Eyed Raven and the Children of the Forest by allowing the Night King to burn his mark onto him. Bran seems to believe people in the past can hear him. There’s a good chance he will try to tell someone something in the past… only to have it backfire. He’d do well to remember Abe Simpson’s advice.
What Will Sansa Fuck Up?
The finale ended with the North triumphant and united behind Jon Snow, the bad guys (south of the Wall at least) finally vanquished. Hooray! Except the show made sure to show Sansa and Littlefinger looking fairly displeased. Will Sansa fuck up the peace in North? She already let countless loyal soldiers die because she forgot to tell Jon about her secret Vale army (though she did say “my bad” in the finale). The creators have hinted that more mistakes and moments of mistrust will come between Sansa and Jon. If she does mess things up, you can be assured that Littlefinger will be involved somehow. I also expect her to kill Littlefinger once she gets over his constant manipulations… but that may not happen until the final season.
Will Someone Steal a Dragon from Dany?
Whether Euron marries Cersei or not, it’s a safe bet that he will fight Daenerys and most likely will do it at sea. We haven’t had a true naval battle yet, and Euron is going to be pretty pissed that his niece and nephew ruined his whole “woo Daenerys with a giant fleet” plan. But could he also steal one of her dragons? While the show hasn’t introduced it (yet at least), Euron Greyjoy in the books owns a dragon-binding horn that he claims to have stolen from the ruins of Valeria. Even if it isn’t Euron or a magic horn, it would make plenty of narrative sense to have Dany lose one or more of her dragons before the season is done. Can Bran warg into a dragon?
Will We Be Forced to Watch More Essos Politics?
Dany did it! She finally sailed for Westeros, leaving only her boy toy Daario to keep the peace in Meereen. Arya also made her trip back from stick-fighting camp. Does this mean we’re finally done with Essos, which, let’s be honest, contained many of the most boring plot lines? Well… there’s still Ser Friend Zone, Jorah Mormont, searching for his greyscale cure, and perhaps the show will force us to watch a few more scenes in Meereen. But given how few episodes are left, it is probably safe to think that our time in Essos is almost entirely done.
Who Will Kill Cersei: Arya, Daenerys, or Jaime?
Sorry to rain on the “Yaaaaas Mad Queen!” parade, but Cersei is going to die next season. She’s bereft of allies, surrounded on all sides by enemies, and has been on a moral downward spiral for several seasons (and she hardly started out as Mother Theresa). So who will kill her? One possibility is Arya Stark, who has had Cersei near the top of her murder list for many years. So far, Arya has killed a couple people on her list—the others dying at other hands—and the only people left on it are Cersei and zombie Gregor Clegane, since the Hound has been pardoned.
Another possibility is Daenerys, almost certainly the “younger, more beautiful queen” who a wood witch prophesied would cast her down. However, the best bet might be her own brother (and incestuous lover) Jaime. In the books, the witch’s prophecy also mentions that she will be killed by the Valonqar, or younger brother. Jaime is Cersei’s twin and was born slightly after her. He also killed the Mad King Aerys to prevent him blowing up King’s Landing with wildfire. Will he do the same to the Mad Queen Cersei, who has already blown up one part of the city with wildfire?
I guess we’ll find out in, oh, about a year.
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