One of the best theories I’ve heard is that the Grand Weirwood is the source of all magic. To defeat the White Walkers, the Great Weirwood had to be burned. The problem with this is that it would have also killed other things with magical connections, meaning Bran Stark, Beric Dondarrison, and Jon Snow would have been in jeopardy.
Depending on how deep the magic lies, dragons could also disappear. If this was the only way to defeat the White Walkers, Game of Thrones could have had a truly devastating ending (in a different way).
One theory came up with the idea that Bran was evil. Basically, the Three-Eyed Raven has lived for centuries, and he watched the worst parts of humanity. Tired of mankind, he allowed the fire between the Night King, Cersei, and Dany to be stoked.
It would then force one fo the Stark kids to kill one of their own. This theory is somewhat supported when Bran says he's no longer himself.
We’ve found out that Dany and Jon were nephew and aunt, but actor Alfie Allen suggested something even more by calling it a “Luke Skywalker” situation. The theory is that Daenerys wasn’t King Rhaegar’s sister, but one of his children with his first wife Elia Martell.
After Rhaegar’s death, Dany as smuggled into Dorne the same way Jon was spirited off to Ned Stark. This would have made audiences reinterpret all sorts of events throughout the series, and even look at them in comparison to Jamie and Cersei.
Who was the infamous Prince That Was Promised? There were a few theories, with the most popular being Dany and Jon Snow. Daenerys was born on dragon stone and brought dragons back into existence. However, fans thought that Jon Snow had a much better chance of being
The Prince. Jon was born under a “Bleeding Star” in a way, and he’s a Targaryen, so he should be just as capable of waking dragons. While he didn't wield a flaming sword, Snow certainly had the chance to use Beric’s weapon during the battle with the Night King.
When a Stark passes, they're brought back to the North for burial, so their bodies are accessible via the crypts. In the trailer for the final season, we watched as Jon, Arya, and Sansa were walking through the crypts; then, it cut to Arya running terrified.
The dead are scary and all, but her dead father coming back would have been so much better. Not only would it have been great to have the characters come back, but it would've also been a great strategy for the Night King.
Way back in season five, Cersei went to visit a woman named Maggy the Frog. There, she prophesized that Cersei would be Queen for a time until a new one came along, and Cersei would have three children that would all die. For the most part, all of it was true.
In the book, there’s an additional prophecy that reads, “the Valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.” Valonqar means “little brother” in High Valyrian, which could've meant Jamie, who was born a few minutes after his twin.
This idea is a little more twisted and goes with the above theory. A Valonqar killing Cersei doesn’t necessarily have to be one of her brothers at all. Arya had a chance to strike two names off of her list if she killed Jamie and took his face during the battle against the Night King.
Then, she could use his face to travel to Cersei and strangle her for revenge. It would've been poetic justice, for sure.
So, this one turned out to be true, and we all realized that when she started to burn everyone. That being said, fans expected it to be a slower process. Since the writers and creators didn't care, they made Dany go from 0 to 100.
As a note, if you're going to have someone go mad, don't literally flip a switch. It should have started with Cersei and ended with her going completely made over the course of a full season.
“Rise” in a word. Some fans believed that Daenerys would turn into the new Night Queen. According to legend, there was a woman in the Haunted Forest with bright blue eyes – a female White Walker. Dany doesn’t look unlike a White Walker, and in some scenes, she had piercing blue eyes.
One example is when she exited the House of the Undying in her vision from season two. Some theorized that her dragons will be killed, and she’d join the Night King so she could be reunited with her children.
Mad King Aerys II Targaryen was infatuated with Joanna Lannister – so much so, some have speculated that the two had Tyrion as an illegitimate son. Even though Tywin made it seem as though he hated Tyrion because he took Joanna away from him, it could also be the fact that he questioned Tyrion’s parentage. Need more proof?
Despite the Lannister being “family first” (in more ways than one), Tywin refused to name Tyrion his heir to carry on the name. He is the only male option since Jamie was a member of the Kingsguard and couldn’t marry. Tyrion could have been the one to take the throne.
This one goes along with the idea that Tyrion takes the throne. Whether Tyrion is a Lannister or Targaryen, the idea of him being King is certainly possible. It’s theorized that Sansa remarried Tyrion, and she became the Queen of Westeros.
Considering her character development, it made total sense. Not to mention, Sansa refused to bend the knee for Dany, so she was head-strong enough to become a leader. Out of all the characters, Sansa and Tyrion grew to be the most adept at ruling and politics.
The Prince (or Princess) That Was Promised should have been Jon or Dany – without a doubt. Some say it should have been Dany because no one would suspect a woman to be “the Prince That Was Promised.”
If you accept that, then it isn’t a huge jump to the idea that Jon Snow would sacrifice himself so Dany could create Lightbringer and slay the Night King. That being said, it could have been the other way around.
When Bran was younger, one of his favorite stories was the one about Bran the Builder, who created Winterfell and raised The Wall over 8,000 years ago. Some fans thought that Bran was the man in the story.
It was established that Bran could see into the past and future, and he could influence events by using his “warg.” It’s entirely possible that he was the one that went back in time to build the wall, knowing that it would keep the Night King at bay until mankind was ready.
Sure, it could happen the other way around, but Jon Snow proved himself to be loyal to a fault. Alternatively, Dany would do anything to complete her quest – that will probably include betraying the man she loved. If you need further proof, we got it.
A prophecy from the book stated that Dany must light three fires – life, death, and love. She must also ride three mounts – bed, dread, and love. The final is three treasons she will know – blood, gold, and love.
This one may seem a little farfetched, but by the end, I may convince you. Bran was able to travel through time and inhabit other people’s bodies. This theory started when Bran went back in time to stop the Night King from being created. He takes over the body but is unable to stop the ritual. When he attempts to leave, he can’t, so he’s stuck in the body as the Night King.
The proof could already be in the series. Bran tensed up when he saw the Night King stabbed, almost as if he was in pain. Bran was also laying in the same position in the tree as the Night King when he was being created. Not to mention, this could also create a George R.R. Martin classic twist where Jon Snow would have to kill his brother.
Even though the White Walkers were panned as the villains, it could've turned out that they were good. We didn't know much from their perspective other than the fact that they busted through the Wall, and they’re going south.
If you subscribe to the idea that Bran is the Night King, that means that could've been good and possibly the single greatest tool to remove Cersei from the Iron Throne.
This series loved surprise pregnancies and parallels between characters. We knew that Cersei and Dany were parallels to each other. We also knew that Cersei was pregnant, so that could've meant Daenerys was pregnant with Jon Snow’s child. Even though she was told she was barren, the source wasn’t reliable.
Plus, the series seemed to push the idea that Dany couldn't have children a little too hard, you know? We also had the scene with Ser Jorah when he told Jon to keep the ancestral Mormont sword Longclaw for his kids.
Way back in season five, we watch as a 10-year-old Cersei visits Maggy the Frog for a prophecy. The woman tells her that Cersei will have three children with golden hair and shroud. This means that she’ll have three blonde kiddos that’ll all die. But wait! Cersei was pregnant again. Everything else Maggy said came true, so Cersei would have to lose the child.
Either the child would die before it was born, would be stillborn, or both would die during childbirth. This could have spurred Cersei into fighting back harder than she ever had before, but nope. She had to be crushed by stones, something that may not have happened if they stepped five feet to the side (according to when Tyrion finds their bodies).
Fans believed they knew who the Night King was – a Stark. There was a ton of proof fans couldn't deny. The Starks were known as Kings of the Winter. Well, the Night King wore an icy crown.
Plus, there was that connection between Bran, Jon Snow, and the Night King. Some theories went as far as believing that the Night King created a pact that kept him out of Winterfell as long as a Stark remained on the throne.
The other theory, one I personally believed, was that the Night King was a Targaryen. The best proof was that only Targaryens could ride dragons. The Night King stole Viserion from Dany and rode him into battle like the Father of Dragons.
After episode two of season eight, three people rode dragons. Dany and Jon Snow were definitely Targaryens, so where did that leave the Night King? Maybe this one is a reach, but the spiral also looked a lot like the Targaryen multi-headed dragon.
My favorite theory was that Nymeria, Arya’s direwolf, would for season eight. In season seven, Nymeria was revealed to be alive and running with a pack of wolves.
The show didn't usually bring up characters to leave them hanging in limbo – at least, not before season eight – so, we hoped Nymeria and her buddies would return to wreck some havoc on White Walkers. At a minimum, I wanted to see her come back to get Arya out of a tough spot.
One of the most anticipated events in Game of Thrones was the battle between Sandor Clegane, the Hound, and Gregor Clegane, the Mountain. While it did happen, let's be honest: it was disappointing.
Apparently, zombies are invincible. Stabbing them in the head doesn't even do anything (even though it totally does in literally every other zombie flick out there). The battle was weird and a let down (like the rest of the season), but at least it happened.
A strong theory for season eight was that Sansa would be beheaded in the same fashion as her father, Ned Stark. In an interview, Maisie Williams told everyone to pay close attention to the parallels between the first and final season.
On top of that, Sansa Stark said the same thing to Dany as Ned Stark did Robert Baratheon in the first season: “Winterfell is yours.” The parallels would mean Dany kills Sansa, but Dany is more likely to burn someone alive than decapitate them.
The Song of Ice and Fire could very well refer to the ice and fire dragons fighting, but it could mean something more. Melisandre popped up to help with the battle, but it wasn't what some fans expected. If you don’t remember much about her, she was the Red Priestess of the religion R’hllor, and she followed the Lord of Light.
Well, another Red Priestess named Kinvara expressed interest in following Dany. These two priestesses could have rallied the army that guards Volantis for Dany’s cause – an army called the Fiery Hand. Talk about a Song of Ice and Fire.
Everyone was trying to figure out who the Night King was. One theory stated that his eyes hinted to him being an entity called “The Stranger,” who was one of the seven gods in the Faith of the Seven.
Bran described The Seven as “a single deity with seven aspects, each representing a different area of life.” The Stranger represents death in this setup. A lot of people used the seven points in the Night King's eyes as proof for this theory.
This one comes from an interview with the actor that portrays the Night King, Vladimir Furdik. He explained that the Night King had a target that he wanted to kill. Well, the Night King always knew where Bran was, and Bran knew where he was, as well.
It’s possible that they’re mortal enemies because Bran was the Prince That Was Promised – the very being that was supposed to kill the Night King. Couple that with Bran stating he was “no longer Bran,” and we had a promising theory.
In an interview, a couple of years ago, the actor who plays Sam Tarley (John Bradley), claimed that his character could be the one that’s telling the story of the Game of Thrones. Fans pointed out that Sam could be seen standing by a gyroscope in the Citadel library in Oldtown, similar to the one shown in the opening credits of Game of Thrones.
Sam’s character always seemed strangely important, so this could have been it. Shame Sam's character didn't have more importance. He would have remembered Tyrion.
It was prophesized that Cersei will only have three children so this baby could have been so much more. Some fans thought that she was going to give her baby to the Night King in exchange to keep the throne.
It was clear that Cersei valued the throne over her own flesh and blood, so it was entirely possible that she would do such a thing. Others believe she would've done it as a part of a peace treaty for Westeros, but that was a lot less likely considering where her character went.
Game of Thrones didn't seem to want the heroes to win. That made this theory pop up. To be honest, things weren't looking too great for Dany, Snow, and anyone who's going against the White Walkers. The Wall stood for ages, and the Night King tore it down like it was made of toothpicks.
Plus, he had his own dragon. Then, there was the whole raising the dead thing. Every loss for humans was potentially a gain for the Night King. Even if the White Walkers would've won, it would have been a better ending than what we got.
The tide turned when the Night King took Viserion, but it was entirely possible that Melisandre could bring Viserion back to life. One fan had the theory that Viserion would've remembered Daenerys as his mother.
This could break the Night King’s spell on him, and Melisandre could step up to bring the dragon back from the dead. She already brought others back, so why not a dragon?
