It’s here. Finally. We are one day away from Season 7. The wait took a lot longer than normal but it should be worth it. Production was delayed so that the weather would look more winter-y now that the oft repeated Stark prediction has come true. Winter is Here.

In preparation let’s talk about all the unresolved plot lines going into the new season…

The Seasons Out of Balance

Since the show began the seasons have been out of balance. Summers can last a decade, winters can last a lifetime. Winter has arrived, but we still don’t know why it lasts so long.

There could of course be a scientific answer to this question having to do with the planet Westeros is on and it’s orbit around it’s sun, but George R.R. Martin (author of the book series), has implied that there is a supernatural explanation and if that is the case it likely has to do with the White Walkers.

We’ve gotten some answers about the White Walkers and their origins, (supernatural beings called the Children of the Forest created them by putting shards of dragon glass into humans to use them as weapons of mass destruction against the First Men), but we still know basically nothing about their society, the extent of their powers, the reason for their apparent hibernation (they haven’t been seen for a thousand years before now remember) and waking, or really anything about their motives. There are a lot of fan theories that have to do with humans violating an ancient pact and that may well be the case but nothing has been confirmed in either the show or the books.

Over the next two seasons we’ll likely be seeing a lot more of them, learning about their culture, and their motivations. And if they are causing the long winters we’ll most likely learn how they’re doing it.

Cersei’s Coup and Dany’s Arrival in Westeros

Cersei successfully avoid her trial, killed the High Sparrows and all of his little Sparrows, Margery, Grand Maester Pycelle, her uncle, and a whole lot of other people in one massive wildfire explosion. With King Tommen’s suicide we end the season with her claiming the Iron Throne as her own.

This is terrifying. Cersei on the Throne with all of her children dead is dangerous. The only thing keeping her from being batshit were her kids and now she has all the power she ever wanted and it looks like Jamie is going to be the only one standing in her way until all the armies arrive to take her down.

Dany and her armies, Grandma Tyrell and her armies, Theon and Yara and some of the Greyjoy fleet, Dorne, the Sand Snakes and their army are all headed for King’s Landing. It doesn’t look good for Cersei. But she has nothing to lose but her power so she’s gonna keep it at all costs. And her weapon is wildfire, which we’ve been told is hard to control. It’s been used twice without major unintended consequences so watch out for it being used again and causing civilian casualties.

In the trailer we get to see Dany at Dragonstone, previously Stannis’ castle, it’s also where she was born and where she fled Westeros from when she was a little girl so that place will have some sentimental value for Dany as well as being a good place to meet with characters Dany has never interacted with before…like Melisandre? We’ll see!

But the more exciting glimpse we got from the trailer is Dany’s Unsullied versus Lannister guards at what appears to be Casterly Rock, the long talked off but thus far never visited Lannister Castle on the other side of Westeros. That’s a location we haven’t even seen in the books yet and this will likely be the last opportunity to see it before the White Walkers invade and the show focuses on that.

The King in the North and Stark Reunions

Jon and Sansa won the battle for Winterfell and fed Ramsey Bolton to his hounds. It was a great moment, it was a magnificent end to a hated villain but the story ain’t over yet. The real war is still to come. Jon Snow is now King in the North but the White Walkers are coming and few outside the North even believe they’re real.

The finale hinted at tension between Sansa and Jon, manipulated by Littlefinger. We’ve waited so long for a Stark reunion, let’s hope they can communicate and not let Littlefinger divide them, but it’s possible. He’s done it before, remember he basically personally started the War of the Five Kings. Underestimate him at your peril, Jon and Sansa.

Arya is on her way to Winterfell according to what she told her face changing assassin master last season, as is Bran. So we could see a Stark family reunion next season with Jon, the KING IN THE NORTH! But Winterfell isn’t the only throne Jon has a claim to anymore. He just doesn’t know it yet…

Jon Targaryen

Bran got interesting last year when he was taught to travel through time using the weirwood trees, the North’s old gods. In the Season 6 finale Bran watched the aftermath of Jon’s birth. He has a Stark parent, but it isn’t Ned. Ned’s sister Lyanna Stark makes Ned promise to keep the baby safe for her, confirming perhaps the most famous and most widely believed fan theory about the show/books: R+L=J. If you still don’t know what I mean by that, click on the link and watch the video. He explains it better than I do.

Technically we haven’t gotten the R part of that equation confirmed. So the flashbacks in Season 7 will likely focus on Rhargar Taragaryen, Jon’s father, and on the secret relationship that’s been hinted at between him and Lyanna. We could get scenes like the famous Tournament at Harrenhal and perhaps confirm a more minor portion of the fan theory that they married at the Isle of Faces, (in front of weirwood trees so Bran can see it), and therefore Jon is a legitimate Targaryen and has a claim to the Iron Throne.

Also if they’re going to ever bring Gendry back, Bastard son of King Robert who traveled with Arya who Melisandre seduced in Season 3, they’re going to do it this year. But assuming they do I think that rather than make him a contender for the Iron Throne it’s more likely he can forge Valyrian steel which we know can kill White Walkers, (there’s very few smiths alive who can work with the metal as it’s so rare).

The Greyjoys

Theon and Yara are with Dany on the way to Westeros but Euron rules in the Iron Islands and it’s a good bet he’s taking the Iron Fleet to war. Something’s gotta go down between niece and nephew and uncle. Whichever side Euron joins will have naval support and if it’s Cersei she has a fighting chance in the coming battle with Dany and her armies.

Euron is a lot more terrifying in the book. We hear a lot of crazy stories about him and the actor has been teasing that this season Euron makes Ramsay look like a little kid, so I hope we get a bit more time with him to make him a fully rounded villain. But whether or not we agree with him after Season 7 is done I think Cersei is going to be the new big bad now that Ramsay’s face got eaten. We’ve spent a lot of time building up her character and her motivations and now she’s sitting on the throne with absolute power and no reason to hold back. So without further ado let’s get real with some Season 7 predictions.

 

BOLD PREDICTIONS

 

Things went great in Season 6. Jon came back from the dead and took Winterfell. Some of the scattered Starks reunited and we moved closer to reunions with others. Dany got a Dothreki horde at her back and settled the civil war in Slaver’s Bay. Cersei killed her enemies and took the Iron Throne. Sure we lost a Stark and Hodor and a whole lot of other people but over all Season 6 had things going right for a lot of our protagonists. That’s not going to last…

I worry what Littlefinger will do at Winterfell. Sure, Jon and Sansa should be smart enough not to trust him and just talk things out themselves, but Littlefinger has manipulated some smart people and he personally engineered this entire conflict so watch out. I really hope Sansa finally proves herself smarter than she was in Season 1 and that she doesn’t dance to the beat of Littlefinger’s drum, but it’s possible she could. But what about Jon? Jon doesn’t know Littlefinger. Jon is a bit naive even after his death. Littlefinger manipulated Ned to his death. I don’t think it will go that far this time; most likely he will try for that and Sansa will figure out his plan at the last moment, save Jon and together the two of them will finally execute Littlefinger for all of his crimes. He more than deserves it and it would be nice to see him put down going into the final season.

I think the civil war plotline will end this year. Or get pretty damn close anyway. I don’t think Cersei is going to make it out of this season alive. When the enemies are at the gate she’s going to completely lose her mind and try to burn them with wildfire. The wildfire will get out of hand and burn down a large portion of King’s Landing. Jamie will kill her for what she’s done and she’ll die in his arms. The throne room ceiling will collapse. Snow will be falling in the South by this point and it will fall into the Red Keep. Dany will enter the Throne Room, her dream accomplished, Westeros taken with the city destroyed and the Red Keep in ruins. In short, I think the above scene isn’t at all figurative. I think it will really happen. I honestly think Euron Greyjoy might be a one season villain and die by season’s end too. Possibly even killed by the White Walkers.

I think they’re going to spend the entire final season on the White Walker invasion of Westeros so most likely the season will end with their first strike beyond the Wall. My guess is that they will end whatever magic stops them from crossing the Wall and destroy it, bring it crashing down, and march into Westeros. CUT TO BLACK…at least until Season 8. All I’m saying is expect a pretty big cliffhanger at the end of this season.

Now my list of characters who I think will survive to Season 8…

-Jamie: you’re probably like, what? You just said Cersei burns everything down probably. You think Jamie’s going to survive that? Hear me out. The inciting incident of the series is Jamie pushing Bran out of a window. He might not survive the series but Jamie and Bran need to meet one more time, I think. There could even be long tracks of time where these two have to interact. GoT does love awkward dinner scenes…

-Bran: unfortunately for the reasons stated in Jamie’s section. Also we need some more flashbacks. Season 8 though, all bets are off.

-Daenyrs: this one is kind of a no brainer. Dany’s dragons could die this season – it would be just like GRRM to set up these dragons that will save the day and then kill them in the last battle of the civil war just to mess with everyone – but I think it’s unlikely that Dany herself will bow out before the final curtain drops.

-Jon: everything I said about Dany goes for Jon too. And he just came back from the dead last year. If he’s going to die I’m guessing it’s going to be in the final Season. Also because everyone believes that he’s just going to be brought back if he dies again despite everything HBO has put out about it.

-Tyrion: I feel like Tyrion is in no actual danger what so ever. Which on this show means he could die at any moment but let’s just say I find it unlikely.

-Arya: same as Tyrion. We’ve spent a lot of time with her developing her skills and giving her a lot of unresolved plotlines with other characters. She and the Hound have to meet up again at some point. I would be downright shocked if they killed her this year.

-Sansa: I’m actually not sure on this one. She’s lasted through the run of the show and I think it most likely if she was going to die they would save that for the end, but it’s possible Littlefinger’s plan accidentally leads to her death or she gives her life for Jon. I could see something like that happening and although I hope she has something else going, something more important after all those years of set up, this could happen. If I had to put money on it, I think she’s going to live.

There’s a lot of other characters I hope survive this year, (looking at you Grandma Tyrell), but those are the ones that I think will. Anyone else could die and I don’t think it would change the over all plot too much. We’ll see, I could be wrong. GoT has proven since the very beginning it will kill anyone for any reason at any point. It’s shaping up to be a good year.

Also as a side note that I enjoy in the next few weeks Game of Thrones, Preacher, Twin Peaks: The Revival, and Rick and Morty will all be airing, I love it. So Stranger Things doesn’t come back until Halloween, but it’s gonna be a good summer.

I’ll post a review of Season 7 Episode 1 next week. Peace out…