TV These Game of Thrones Theories Will Actually Blow Your Mind (And Keep You Occupied Until Season 8) Thank god for fan theories to keep us busy until 2019. by Andrea Wurzburger 8/28/2017 This post is dark and full of spoilers. So if you don’t want to be like: Embedded from giphy.com. </noscript> </div> via GIPHY Now’s the time to leave! OKAY SO HERE IT IS: After last night’s episode, we’ve finally got real confirmation that R+L does indeed equal J. For those of you who were unaware before last night’s finale, there were theories and breadcrumbs dropped throughout the past season that Jon Snow was not a bastard at all, but the child of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. We weren’t sure whether or not Jon was still illegitimate, but then we found out (from Gilly!) that High Septon Maynard annulled Rhaegar’s previous marriage to Elia Martell and performed a secret wedding for Rheagar and Lyanna. "He loved her…and she loved him" #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/ZxIyhRqjii — carrie (@BELLARKEKRU_) August 28, 2017 I’m literally over here crying because Jon’s parents really loved each other, and they wanted Jon, and Jon’s not a bastard, and it’s all just too much. I mean this season literally had us all rooting for incest, HOW MUCH DID THEY EXPECT ME TO TAKE? Embedded from giphy.com. </noscript> </div> via GIPHY But because I’m a glutton for punishment, I’ve gone looking for more ~*theories*~ to look forward to next season. If your hearts can take a few more of the best ones, we’ve got em’ for you. It’s All Bran’s Fault: This is the theory that really MESSED ME UP. It suggests that Bran Stark actually built The Wall and has caused pretty much everything to happen thus far. We found out last season that Bran can not only see the past, he can manipulate it. We saw what his powers did to poor Hodor (RIP, buddy, RIP.) One Reddit user, NegativeKarmaSniifer, puts it this way: “From S6E3, Bran realizes that others can hear him during the visions from the past, but doesn’t understand that they cannot fully understand him. He attempts to reason with King Aerys when shown a vision of him. The King only hears whispers, and is driven mad by it. Bran tries to fix this, however makes it worse. Mad King Aerys burns Bran’s grandfather alive while Bran frantically tries to stop him. All he hears is whispers. Bran sets the events of the show in motion.” But when he fails with King Aerys, trying to tell him to burn White Walkers, but resulting in his madness, Bran decides to go farther back in time to figure out how mankind stopped the White Walkers the first time. But when he arrives too late, he decides to inhabit his ancestor, Bran the Builder, to help erect The Wall. But because that’s just a temporary solution, he travels even further back. Back to before White Walkers even existed, and he tries to take over the body of the first White Walker. But the plan goes awry when Bron stays in the Night King’s body for too long, and getting stuck there. Okay. I'm all in on the Bran/Night King theory. pic.twitter.com/aOoT0Is0rJ — (@SubyWill) August 21, 2017 Fans often point of this passage from the books: “I could tell you the story about Brandon the Builder,” Old Nan said. “That was always your favorite.” Thousands and thousands of years ago, Brandon the Builder had raised Winterfell, and some said the Wall. Bran knew the story, but it had never been his favorite. Maybe one of the other Brandons had liked that story. Sometimes Nan would talk to him as if he were her Brandon, the baby she had nursed all those years ago, and sometimes she confused him with his uncle Brandon, who was killed by the Mad King before Bran was even born. She had lived so long, Mother had told him once, that all the Brandon Starks had become one person in her head.” This video has a pretty in depth look at the theory, if you want to check it out! Embedded from www.youtube.com. </noscript> </div> Embedded from giphy.com. </noscript> </div> via GIPHY The “Prince That Was Promised” There’s a lot going on with this theory. Throughout the series, there has been this quest (mostly by Melisandre) for Azor Ahai, or the “Prince That Was Promised.” Here’s the gist of it: As the legend goes, Azor Ahai was one of the last great warriors of the world. He ran around with a flaming sword that he called Lightbringer (what a name for a sword on fire.) In the books it was said that The Prince That Was Promised would descend from the Mad King Aerys II and his sister-wife Rhaella Targaryen. There are all sorts of technicalities here. The legend says, “When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone.” Melisandre was convinced that it was Stannis who was Azor Ahai, but he’s dead. It could be Dany, but she’s not a “song of ice and fire,” she’s pretty much just fire. Jon is another front runner, though being born “amidst salt and smoke” is a stretch. Jon was born under a red star (a sword that was called Dawn) while his mother bled to death and he’s also TARGARYEN, BABY. So maybe, just maybe, the dragon he’s awakening could just be himself. Then again, this season we learned that “Prince” in Valyrian is not gender specific (they’re progressive, y’all) which leaves us open to the possibility that it might be Dany. I mean, she was literally reborn from Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre so the metaphor is there. Plus, she’s got the dragons! My bet is on Dany and Jon’s offspring (which is inevitable, I mean the writers have not exactly been subtle about Dany not being able to have a baby, which means she totally freakin’ will.) Listen, twin-cest led to Joffrey Baratheon, but those were two evil AF people. Maybe the incest between Dany and Jon will bring us a nice baby and Westeros will get a future benevolent ruler! We deserve it. Embedded from giphy.com. </noscript> </div> via GIPHY Varys Is the Mastermind of the Series: According to one Reddit user /u/gmnitsua, Varys has been pulling the strings since the beginning. You may have thought that he was just a cunning son of a b-tch, but he makes a pretty compelling argument. The gist of his argument is that Varys “is playing the best game out of anyone. He conspired with Illyrio to get Daenerys married to Khal Drogo. Varys conspired with him to get her dragon eggs. Varys conspired with Jonah from the beginning.” The argument hinges on the trial of Tyrion Lannister. Before the trial, Varys visited Tyrion, and we see their friendship developing, but when he is called to the stand to testify, he testifies against Tyrion. While some of us may be content with the explanation that Varys is just covering his own ass, this Redditor decided that Varys wanted Tyrion found guilty so that he could give him to Dany, organizing passage for him to our fave queen. Some of you may be like, “But, it was Jorah who stole him!” Think, sheeple! Remember when I said that Jorah had been conspiring with Varys from the beginning? It’s all very fishy, but as this theorist says, “You aren’t actually the king if you’re just playing a game of chess.” Embedded from giphy.com. </noscript> </div> via GIPHY Samwell Tarly is telling the entire story of Game of Thrones In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, John Bradley, who plays Sam, was asked about the presence of gyroscopes in Citadel and what those could mean, and he had this to say: “I think it could mean any number of things. One theory is that what we’re seeing now and how we’re experiencing Game of Thrones is Sam telling the story of Game of Thrones. If you take the logic of the story now, the story of Westeros and the story of the battle for the Iron Throne, it would be a book in that library. The visual motif of that is you’re about to be told a story—the sense of an idea of being told a story, and people gaining that knowledge, the way Sam is absorbing knowledge in the library.” He noted that, with showrunners Benioff and Weiss, nothing is unintentional. “They can plan something that only comes to fruition much later on.” This theory sort of confuses me now that Sam has left the Citadel, but I don’t feel like I’ve gotten the proper closure to say that it can’t be true. I mean, Sam may have left, but who is to say that he doesn’t return next season to clean out a few more bed pans? Though I will say, having Sam look up from a book at the end of the series and say, “The end,” feels a little bit like a cop out. I suppose we’ll see. Embedded from giphy.com. </noscript> </div> via GIPHY Jaime is gonna do the ol’ stabity-stab to Cersei just like he did to the Mad King. This one has been in the works for a while. After last night’s ending, we’re not so sure when it’s going to happen, or even how, but it would make for a pretty full-circle moment. Cersei is literally insane, y’all. She’s got to go. Last season she blew up literally an entire Sept full of her enemies and important people, lost her last child, and took the damn crown. She’s goin’ mad, that’s for sure. There’s also the prophecy that suggests this is inevitable. When Cersei was young, she was given the prophecy that all of her child would eventually die while she watched, and then eventually she would be murdered herself. She was then told, “And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.” Valonqar is High Valyrian for ‘little brother,’ so Cersei had taken that to mean Tyrion, but it’s looking like all signs are pointing to Jaime! Embedded from giphy.com. </noscript> </div> via GIPHY Tyrion is a Targaryen, guys! Sure, we can’t all be surprise Targaryens, but this one has been brewing in the fandom ever since Tyrion had that scene with Dany’s dragons where they didn’t eat him. The only other person we’ve seen that happen to so far is Jon, and he know he’s a Targaryen, so why not Tyrion? R+L=J is so 2016, the latest theory, A+J=T suggests that King Aerys was obsessed with Tyrion’s mother, Joanna. According to this theory, he got her pregnant, and she then died during childbirth. It’s worth it to note that the same thing happened to both Dany and Jon. It would also account for Tywin saying, “You’re no son of mine,” and his general hatred of his youngest child. Back when there were three dragons (RIP Viserion, I know you breathe blue fire now, but I miss you) the theory was that they needed three riders: Dany, Jon, and Tyrion. Embedded from giphy.com. </noscript> </div> via GIPHY Drogon will kill Viserion There’s a dragon face-off on the horizon and I’m conflicted about it. Remember when Khal Drogo killed Viserys by literally pouring gold on his head? The new theory suggests that Drogon, named for Drogo will defeat Viserion (named after Viserys) in an epic show down. Embedded from giphy.com. </noscript> </div> via GIPHY Ned Stark isn’t really dead (but he’s an awful father.) This theory goes way back, but it’s still one of my favorites because Ned Stark deserved better. It’s not really out of the ordinary for Game of Thrones to “kill someone off” but not kill them off. The theory hinges on the fact that Ned and Jaqen H’ghar, the Faceless Man, traded places when they were imprisoned together. It’s a little murky, especially because if it were true, Ned would have literally abandoned his family and let them die off slowly with each passing season, but we can still have hope. Embedded from giphy.com. </noscript> </div> via GIPHY My personal theory/wish/fantasy is that Jon and Dany travel to Winterfell together and when Dany sees little Lyanna Mormont she turns to Jon and says, “Oh Jon, can we keep her?” and they decide to adopt her so that she will be the next to sit on the Iron Throne because we all know that she BELONGS there. THE END. Anyway, I’m pretty depressed that we have to wait until 2019 for the next season, so forgive me for being overly excited about this: It’s all I have left. One of the most important aspects of Game of Thrones is the land, so how well do Game of Throne super fans know it? Embedded from media.mtvnservices.com. </noscript> </div> The Game of Thrones Cast are Friends IRL and We've Got the Receipts to Prove It Andrea Wurzburger
