Here are some questions we want answered as 'Game of Thrones' reaches the end of the road.
SPOILER ALERT, OF COURSE!
1) How long will the reign of the Mad Queen last?
We’re pretty sure that after *that* display of dragonfire and brimstone, Dany’s reign will not be a peaceful one. After all, she did incinerate most of King’s Landing, and gave her troops the go-ahead to not just sack the city, but also indulge in the slaughter of innocents.
As it stands, we can’t really gauge how many loyal troops she has left. We know the Unsullied, led by what can only be described as a rather unreasonable Greyworm, are loyal to the last man. The Dothraki too.
What of the Northmen that participated in the slaughter? Are they now loyal to Dany, or Jon? Speaking of which...
2) What will happen to the Starks?
By now, ravens will have been sent to north, informing Sansa of the Mad Queen’s incendiary escapades. Will she rally the Northern houses, the Vale and Riverrun to participate in another Rebellion, like Ned and Robert did 21 years earlier? Could Dorne also join the cause? What of the Greyjoys?
Hopefully they’ll rally around the Lady of Winterfell. We like the sound of Sansa’s Rebellion, to be honest. Let’s hope she does it!
As for Arya, we’re pretty certain she’s going to take a stab at Dany, just like she did the Night King. She supposedly has one last set of eyes to close - will those green eyes be that of Daenerys Targaryen’s? Or is this one assassination attempt too many for our favourite dagger wielder? She’s not the only Stark in search of destiny.
This brings us to Bran. Is his role in the 'Game of Thrones' really done? Did it end at the Night King? Or is he going to influence the events of Westeros one last time?
We have our headcanon of thinking that Bran sent the horse that rescued Arya in the aftermath of King’s Landing’s destruction. Hopefully Bran leaves the series with a bang, rather than the whimper of the last two episodes, by finally becoming one with the weirwood tree in the Godswood. Having said that, another Stark set for some whimpering is…
Jon Aegon Stark Targaryen Snow, who ended the last episode in a haze of confusion, anger, betrayal and disbelief. And yes, definitely a bit of whimpering. Once this is all over he’ll have a right old selection of names to choose from.
But which one? Will he sit on the Iron Throne as a Targaryen? Will he lead the rebellion against the Throne and emerge as Jon Stark, King of the North? Or will Jon just destroy it and join the free folk beyond what is left of the wall, to live as a free man amongst the snow? We dearly want him to do the latter.
3) Tyrion and Davos - the last decent men of the realm?
If Dany’s best impression of a barbecue roast isn’t enough to convince Davos and Tyrion to turn their backs on her, we don’t know what else will. Since we’re in the endgame now, all we want is for the both of them to go out in a manner befitting them, death or otherwise.
Davos? Go back to smuggling, Ser. Smuggle yourself out of there, live a peaceful life away from the disaster that is Westeros, we beseech you!
As for Tyrion, his conscience will probably dictate that he make one last Hail Mary (he’s done two in two episodes now) to convince Dany to stop the madness.
That probably means he’ll go out in a literal blaze much like his friend Varys - convicted of disobeying his Queen. The smallest character in 'Game of Thrones', burnt to a crisp by the largest. It sounds like a rather poetic death to us.
4) Will Bronn finally get his castle?
Yes, please. Give him Highgarden, Tyrion, Dany, ANYONE! He deserves a castle by sheer dint of his massive balls and his amazing capacity to really, really, REALLY not give a f***.
Should he get Highgarden, he’ll just bend the knee to whichever King or Queen is in charge. After all, why risk losing the richest region in the land simply because of a fickle thing like morals, principles or justice? That’s not the Bronn we know and love.
Oh, and please give us a few more lines of his absurdly comical banter.
5) What will happen to Tormund, Ghost and The Free Folk?
Please, for the love of the Mother and the justice of the Father, and the rest of the Seven, do not come back down south! Stay north, stay free!
Tormund, no matter what crazy news you hear down south, stay amongst the mountains and the snow. Retire peacefully with Ghost and the other Free Folk - stay out of this mess that has already cost you and your people so much (and Ghost, most of his family).
Honestly, we want Jon to join you so that he can finally have some peace. Let’s hope that happens.
6) What of Ser Brienne of Tarth?
We suspect that after she’s gotten over the heartbreak of Jaime (probably very quickly, because this is Brienne we’re talking about), she will merely continue serving as Sansa’s bodyguard.
And if there is to be Sansa’s or Jon’s Rebellion, she will be guaranteed to be fighting on the frontlines.
Her and Tormund are unlikely to happen at this point. Or maybe, as a happy ending? Tormund would fight for Jon if called upon, and might just swing by Winterfell before the final war. Brienne does deserve love, after all she’s been through. Dare we say it… damn it, we want this to become reality!
The likelier outcome is that she dies, though. Because this is 'Game of Thrones', so screw your feelings.
7) Nymeria, where art thou?
Aside from Ghost, Nymeria is the only other survivor of the Stark direwolves that we saw in Episode 1, almost 10 years ago. Having disappeared after saving Arya from Joffrey, we’ve only ever seen her once, as the leader of her own pack in Season 7.
As Arya has grown and changed, her direwolf has too. However, we do want just one scene of the two of them together, saying their final goodbyes.
We began with the direwolves as harbingers of fate and destiny. It would be immensely emotional for the last shot of the series if we too, get to say goodbye to them.
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The highly-anticipated final season of 'Game Of Thrones' will be invading your TV screen starting 15 April and you get to watch it the same time as the United States on HBO (Astro Ch 411, 431).
Here's the best part: the episodes on demand will be uncensored!
If you're not a fan of the series but you're afraid of being left out when your friends discuss how awesome that week's episode is, you can actually catch past seasons of the series on Astro On Demand and Astro Go.