Game Of Thrones Theories: 7 Of The Most Interesting Predictions – And How Likely They Actually Are

For two years, Game Of Thrones fans have been being trying to guess what will happen in the eighth and final series.

This has resulted in plenty of theories – some more likely than others.

Ahead of the first new episode, we’re breaking down seven of the most intriguing, and which ones have a strong chance of being right...

1. Littlefinger is still alive

We know it’s wrong to wish ill on people, but this is Game Of Thrones and some of them deserve it.

After seven seasons of scheming and plotting murders, Lord Petyr Baelish met a grisly end in the series seven finale, when Arya Stark slit his throat.

“That’s that,” you might think. Sadly, this may not be the case.

Getting your head around this one involves casting your mind all the way back to series four, but thankfully, YouTube user Neo has broken it down:

Thank you, Neo.

Likelihood? It would be incredibly clever for bosses to have planted the seeds for this so long ago. And so much so, that we’d actually forgive them for bringing him back.

2. Daenerys Targaryen will be pregnant with Jon Snow’s baby

In the last couple of episodes, the Mother of Dragons mentioned that she can’t have kids on a number of occasions.

So many times in fact, that it seemed a little too obvious – the writers clearly want to make sure we know she believes is. Is this the set-up for a not-so-shocking shock pregnancy?

Likelihood? Erm... maybe? The writers made such a point of Daenerys’ inability to conceive that there has to be more to it.

If she is pregnant, it could spell the end for her though as Targaryen children have often killed their mothers previously (with Jon and Dany both doing so themselves).

3. Cersei is faking her pregnancy

Then there’s the Queen (for now), who claimed to be expecting another child with brother, Jaime, at the end of series seven.

Cersei made sure Tyrion knew – and indeed, this was the first anyone heard – before he returned to Team Daenerys, probably certain he’d pass the information on. This could potentially rattle Daenerys, who currently believes herself unable to produce an heir.

Cersei then told Jaime, while trying to gain leverage. It was convenient, to say the least.

Likelihood? The latest trailer didn’t help solve this, as there were no shots of a visibly pregnant Cersei. Faking a pregnancy would be very her as well, we’ll say that much.

4. And that she’ll die at the hands of Jaime

Having clung on through numerous onslaughts on the Lannisters, and outliving all of her children (apart from one, maybe, but we’ll get to that) Cersei’s time could soon be up.

According to fans and bookies alike, she’s likely to die at some point before the closing credits roll on series eight. But when? And how?

Let’s talk about the ‘Valanqor’ theory, and try to keep this as clear as possible.

A previous flashback scene showed a young Cersei visiting a fortune teller, who correctly predicted events including her children becoming kings and all being killed.

As Cersei was leaving, the oracle added: “And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.”

This line has been agonised over endlessly as “valonqar” means “little brother” in High Valyrian – and Jaime, born two minutes after Cersei, is technically younger.

Cersei does, of course, have two brothers and not one, but given the closeness and toxicity between the twins, it would round both her story and his redemption arc off well if he killed the queen.

Likelihood? We reckon this will happen.

5. The Dead Ned Theory

This one has been kicking around for a while and following the release of the series eight trailer, plenty of fans were fussing over it again.

The first scenes of the trailer show assassin Arya Stark running through the crypts at Winterfell and given that she’s been trained to be completely fearless, everyone is wondering why she’s so terrified.

After brightening up the very dark trailer, some Redditors appear to have found that two men are behind her. Could they be Ned Stark and the undead Kings of Winter, awoken from their crypts?

Could it be that they had awoken from their graves? As our HuffPost US colleagues have pointed out: “Why else would there be catacombs full of the corpses of lords and ladies if not for an epic reason?”

Read their detailed breakdown of this line of thinking here.

Likelihood? It’s a slight leap when there are plenty of living men who could be chasing Arya. But whatever it is, we’re terrified that she’s terrified. This is not going to end well.

6. And the Lady Stoneheart Theory

Never mind Ned – in the books, it’s his wife, Catelyn Stark, who rises from the dead.

If you’re planning to read them at some point then we should warn you that a spoiler is coming, OK? Right...

In George RR Martin’s novel, a zombified version of Catelyn, called Lady Stoneheart, rises from the dead and seeks revenge on the Freys for the Red Wedding.

Now Arya did spend a lot of season seven getting revenge on them, but back at Winterfell, as she spoke to Brienne of Tarth about her oath to protect the Stark daughters, a mysterious figure could be seen in the background:

See? In the door way. It’s creepy, to say the least.

Likelihood? This feels like a bit of reach, especially as Arya has pretty much had the whole revenge thing covered.

That hasn’t stopped one of the show’s stars from backing the theory though.

7. Bran is the Night King

This theory first began gaining serious attention while series seven was still airing and dates back even further than that.

Thanks to Bran’s complex ability to time travel and alter the past, it’s all a bit weird but basically people think Bran could accidentally become the Night King during a trip back in time.

The two of them are often wearing similar outfits and have similar abilities too, with HuffPost US pointing out that the Night King can see Bran while he’s in visions.

Then in the series finale, the White Walkers could be seen making their way through Westeros, having broken down the wall with the help of their brand-new dragon.

Redditor sannybop points out that it formation of the Army Of the Dead is very similar to the Stark direwolf symbol. Could this mean there’s some sort of link between the Starks and the White Walkers? And could that link be Bran?

Isaac Hempstead Wright, who plays Bran, doesn’t think so.