Predictions for Season 8 of Game of Thrones

Predictions that follow from the theories outlined here:

  • We will see Children of the Forest belonging to different factions. It has been noted, even by critics not familiar with the book series, that the Others seem out of place in the narrative because they do not seem to have comprehensible motivations other than "being evil", and because there do not seem to be any factions in their ranks. It seems unlikely that we will see a developed and complex "Other culture" in the final season, judging from the lack of build-up to that; but if the Others are merely tools of one faction of the Children, whose motivation in stemming the tide of humans is entirely comprehensible, that reintroduces the moral complexity we have come to expect of this story. In fact, we have already seen Children of different factions: those that created the Others in Bran's vision were clearly on a different side than those protecting Bloodraven in the Heart of Winter.
  • Dany's dragons will be the last. It will become clear (probably clearer in the books than in the show) that a reign built on dragons is too dangerous to exist. In order to prevent another Doom that would destroy Westeros, Daenerys will get rid of her remaining dragons in some way -- by losing them in war, by sacrificing or sterilizing them, or by setting them free. In any case, there will be no living dragons in Westeros at the end of the series, or at least none that are controlled by people.

Other predictions:

  • Cersei Lannister's child will have black hair. This calls back to the central mystery of the first season ("The seed is strong") and serves as a capstone to both her own arc, with the estrangement from Jaime and the fact that the only people she is really capable of loving are her children, and the fall of the house of Lannister arc that has been playing out since Season 3.
  • Stannis is alive and will be king. The fact that we never saw him die, either in the series or in the books, is significant. Both the books and the series also have made a point of Melisandre's prophecies coming true after all, even though we are constantly being led to doubt them. In the finale of Season 2, Melisandre told Stannis that he would betray everyone and everything he has held dear, but that he would eventually be king. This would also work as a bittersweet ending to the game of thrones, with the least likeable of the pretenders (but the one with the strongest non-Targaryen claim) succeeding to the throne, and the time of the Targaryens ending for real.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Did we learn nothing from Summerhall?

Three arguments for why the tragedy at Summerhall is probably significant in the grand scheme of things: The argument from elision; The argument from publication history; The argument from symbolism. The argument from elision Every educated person in Westeros probably knows about the tragedy at Summerhall. It's a comparatively recent dramatic event that affected the fate of House Targaryen (King Aegon V. and his heir were killed there; Prince Rhaegar was born there); there is at least one popular song about it (Jenny's song); and there are even characters in the books that were alive at the time (e.g. Maester Aemon). Yet all we hear about it, in a series that revels in memories of the past, are a few tantalizing hints: Alester Florent lamenting "Did we learn nothing from Summerhall ?" (ASoS, Davos III), the Ghost of High Heart saying she "gorged on grief at Summerhall" (ASoS, Arya VIII), and Daenerys musing about the "shadow of Summerhall"
Read more

Wounds in the World

Before the Doom came to Valyria, it came to Asshai. We learn about Asshai early on. In A Game of Thrones , the dragon eggs gifted to Daenerys are said to be from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai. We learn that Maester Marwyn was there once. Jorah wants to take Dany there. Bran, in a vision, sees dragons stirring there. Stannis is said to have brought a shadowbinder, Melisandre, from there. Asshai clearly has a central place in the mythology of the series. For the most part, it could be written off as "a random faraway place associated with magic"; but there may well be more to it. Asshai is repeatedly associated with fire and dragons. Melisandre of Asshai serves the Red God; there may be living dragons there (according to Bran's vision in A Game of Thrones and to the sailor's tales in the prologue to A Feast for Crows ); and in Qarth, Daenerys receives a gift of dragonglass from Asshai.  The World of Ice and Fire  tells us that king Aegon V sent men to Asshai in
Read more

The Big Mysteries (top-level summary)

This blog is a growing series of connected essays suggesting solutions for the "Big Mysteries" of A Song of Ice and Fire . This post is a summary of the suggested solutions, with links to the essays explaining the rationale behind them. Spoiler note: This blog includes unmarked spoilers for all published material related to A Song of Ice and Fire  (including secondary works and GRRM quotes) and all released episodes of the show Game of Thrones , as well as possible spoilers for the final season . Read at your own peril. The "Big Mysteries" Those are some big questions about the nature and history of the world that have been left unanswered since the beginning of A Song of Ice and Fire : Why are the seasons so uneven and so unpredictable? What caused the Doom of Valyria ? What do the Others want? There are some other events and places about which both the books and secondary works have been conspicuously silent, even while repeatedly hinting at th
Read more