SPOILER ALERT: Warning, this article contains finale spoilers from Season 7, Episode 7 of Game of Thrones, entitled “The Dragon and The Wolf.” Proceed at your own risk.
Now that the dust has settled on the Game of Thrones Season 7 finale, you’ve probably been contemplating the various cliffhangers we’ve been left with. While we most likely won’t get a resolution to any of these for TWO YEARS when Season 8 finally airs and the show sings its swansong, FANDOM has been speculating about the possible outcomes of five key puzzlers.
1. What’s the fate of the Eastwatch three?
Caught up in undead Viserion’s obliteration of the Wall, it looked unlikely that Tormund or Beric would get out alive. But, crucially, we didn’t see them die despite the Night King’s heinous attack. If they’re still alive, they’ll likely be behind enemy lines, with any other survivors.
And if this is the case, perhaps they’ll put into operation some type of Suicide Squad-style plan to harry the Night King’s army from the rear.
Worryingly for Beric Dondarrion fans, he’s on his last life with his Red Priest gone (Thoros froze overnight, if you remember, after being attacked by a dead bear). But he surely still has a major role to play. As for Tormund, we need to see that reunion with Brienne. After he confessed his lust for her this season, we’re surely due a scene which brings these two fan-favourites back together.
And what about Gendry? Robert Baratheon’s bastard son was last seen running to the Wall and collapsing in a bad state. Has he been resting up in bed and missed it all? We don’t know his whereabouts at this stage, but we could feasibly end up with the three of them in communication with Bran via ravens, sending information back to Winterfell on the march.
2. Will Theon manage to save Yara?
Theon was last seeing vowing to make amends, and rescue his sister from the clutches of his evil uncle Euron. Yara is likely being held prisoner aboard Euron’s ship.
Euron is the king of the Iron Islands now so if Theon does manage to rescue Yara, defeating Euron in the process, will his claim then be stronger than Yara’s, seeing him become the King of the Ironborn? And if he kills Euron, he takes the Iron Fleet. If the Iron Fleet has the Golden Company on board at this point, we could see Theon getting the entire fleet and army and becoming the hero when he sails in and saves everyone.
Theon has a redemption arc to fulfil, and this could mean that we see him die at the end of it.
3. Is Cleganebowl still to come?
An epic showdown between the warring Clegane brothers is something fans have been clamouring for. We were hoping to see what’s been labelled ‘Cleganebowl’ this season. We didn’t. But it could still happen next season.
In the finale, we saw the Hound come face to with face his brother, the Mountain, for the first time since Season 1. The theory constantly changes about why they could fight but at the end of the day, the Hound just really wants to kill his brother. Will he?
When the Hound approached his brother at the Dragonpit location where Cersei met with Daenerys, his demeanour was of somebody who knows how things are going to pan out. Of a man resigned to his fate. The message he delivered to Gregor suggested as much.
“That’s not how it ends for you, brother. You know who’s coming for you. You’ve always known,” says a measured Sandor.
Did he see more in his fiery vision from the first episode than he’s letting on?
He definitely seems to have a clearer sense of who he is and what he’s doing. You could read that as if he knows he’s not going to die here. Could he have seen a vision of his brother’s death, and even his own? Possibly – and it could mean he won’t be the one to end Gregor’s life.
4. Can Dany have children after all?
It could be that Cersei isn’t the only woman in the show currently cooking a new life inside her. When Jon suggested to Dany that the witch who told her that she would never be able to have children isn’t the most reliable source, he cast doubt on her supposed infertility.
Having just made love with Jon in the season finale, we could be due to find out in Season 8 that the witch’s diagnosis was wrong. And that she’s pregnant with Jon’s baby. We could discover that because she’s now done the deed with her nephew, it puts a different spin on things. After all, the Targaryen bloodline is awash with incestual liaisons.
But there’s a case for magic to play its part. It could be that because she’s the mother of dragons she can have a magical baby – but only if the circumstances are right. And thus, in this coupling with nephew Jon/Aegon, she would rebirth the Targaryen dynasty.
5. What about The King’s Landing crew?
There are only a few significant characters at King’s Landing now. There’s Cersei, who is intent on staying in charge.
There’s also Bronn. Now that Jaime has left to head north, Bronn may take charge of the armies, or claim a position higher up the military chain, at least.
The other main character still there, apart from Gregor Clegane, is Ellaria Sand. Presumably still chained up in a dungeon. Will we be seeing her again or is that her done?
It’s difficult to see what significance she may have in Season 8, unless they bring the Dornish back into it. But it feels like the entire southern portion of the map is now closed off so could we see her meet her end next season? Or could it happen offscreen? Maybe when we return to Westeros, we’ll see her withered husk of a body alongside her decayed daughter’s, who was killed via Cersei’s poisoned kiss.
We’ll get answers to all these questions and more when Game of Thrones returns for its final season, probably in 2019.