WMG / Game Of Thrones Jossed

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Jossed I

Shireen's sacrifice was a Batman Gambit by Melisandre.

• It may or may not have been necessary in her view for Stannis's victory. What it does, though, is serve to push Selyse over the Despair Event Horizon, which for an already unstable woman would lead to Selyse either offing herself directly or forcing Stannis to execute her by attempting to kill him. Then, with Selyse and the Boltons gone, Stannis is free to redouble his grip on the North by marrying Sansa Stark, who could (presumably) bear him a healthy son and heir in the future.
• Jossed. Melisandre definitely did believe that the sacrifice was necessary. And "The Battle of the Bastards" ultimately suggests that she was right; her prophecy was just subject to the typical Prophecy Twist that this series usually gives.

Princess Shireen survives

She will emerge from the flame unscathed. She is Azor Ahai, the prince that was promised. Just... Let me have this for now.

• Or the Lord of Light will resurrect her as this series counterpart of Lady Stoneheart.

• Bulloney! Shireen will survive because she is a dragon, and dragons are not enflammable. Shireen is twice the dragon Danaryous is, just look at Shireen's greyscale!.
• Jossed. Sadly enough.

Lady Stoneheart

will appear in the first or last scene of Season 5's premiere.Despite a lot of book fans crying foul about her not appearing in the Season 4 finale, it would be a good way to introduce Season 5's overall atmosphere to show that, yes, things are going to get much, much, much darker.

• There's also the fact that much of the final part of Book 3 is still not put on screen, the events at the Wall for instance, the Lord Commander's election, Stannis and Jon meeting man to man and offering him Winterfell. It wasn't just Lady Stoneheart that was left out. Those parts are crucial to any future development of Jon Snow's storyline. And Lady Stoneheart is crucial to Brienne and Jaime's storyline. If they were to Adapt her out they would never introduce Beric Dondarrion to begin with or show the Brotherhood. Their storyline becomes more important in A Feast for Crows where Jaime visits the post-war Riverlands. There's already plenty of foreshadowing with Brienne getting tired of Podrick's company and complaining about him, the fact that she is already facing consequences for carrying a Lannister sword on travel and is further saddened with a Stark girl telling her she doesn't trust her.
• The real reasons why she was missing was as Alex Graves said, the producers did not feel it right to introduce her in an out-of-context Wham scene in the finale, where she randomly hangs Freys who are otherwise not seen throughout the season. In the books it worked because it took place in one book, but in a single season where a character suddenly shows up like a Giant Space Flea Out Of Nowhere hanging some non-entity Frey would come off as cheap. That said, if she's not in next season, then they really won't bring her back.

• Jossed. As of 6x09, Lady Stoneheart is a no-show.

Yara Greyjoy will do to Ramsay what he did to Theon.

• I have since discovered that her retaliation was not in the books, making this unlikely, but not necessarily impossible.
• Jossed. Sansa has Ramsay killed in an incredibly karmic fashion.

Melisandre had a role in the fire

Melisandre has wanted to burn Shireen for her kingsblood for a while now, the only issue was that Stannis refused to harm his daughter. Ramsay has never been shown to be a great tactician, just skilled at single combat and psychological manipulation. It doesn't seem likely that Ramsay would take 20 men into the camp, stay there for a long time, targeting only horses and food supplies, and leave without trying to fight or kill anyone, it just doesn't suit his character. When Mel came out and saw some of the initial flames, she may have used her powers to help spread them, and push Stannis over the brink, warming him up to the idea of burning Shireen in order to survive.

• Jossed. Melisandre was wrong after all, and she failed big time but she really did believe her visions would help Stannis.

Davos will kill Stannis

• "The Dance of the Dragons" compares the claimants in the eponymous war, Aegon II and Rhaenyra to Stannis. The Dance's victor, Aegon II, was murdered by his supporters because he had become a tyrant who couldn't keep the realm together. When Davos learns that Stannis killed Shireen, he will realize that his beloved king has become a fanatic who would burn the entire realm if it meant that he could rule it and will resolve to kill Stannis.
  • It would also fit with the parallels between the sacrifice of Shireen and the sacrifice of Iphigenia. Selyse might take the role of Clytemnestra and murder Stannis in retribution, but it would honestly suit Davos better considering how close he was to Shireen.
  • Jossed. Brienne killed Stannis.
    • offscreen

Sansa will also take the role of Alys Karstark

• She will escape Winterfell and escape to the Wall where she will meet Jon Snow who will make the same arrangement to have her marry Tormund and unite the wildlings and the people of Westeros.
  • I wouldn't mind it except how will Sansa reach the Wall from Winterfell through thick presses of snow, and besides if she does reach the wall, wouldn't it negate a certain expected climax at the end of Season 5 (foreshadowed with the subtletly of a freight train on roller-skates at that).
  • Sansa is unlikely to agree to another arranged marriage after what happened with Ramsey, and Jon is unlikely to force her into one. Plus, she is already married.
• Jossed. Sansa-Jeyne and Theon jump off Walls of Winterfell and Jon has been For-The-Watch'd.

Ramsay will take Sansa on a "hunt" for Myranda.

Sansa (possibly teaming up with Myranda) will take the opportunity to kill or maim him.

• Jossed, on both counts. Theon whacks Myranda and Sansa and Theon escape Winterfell.

Brienne and Pod...

...will take the role of Mance Rayder and his wives. They will break in and use Theon to rescue Sansa. Then Brienne and Podrick will be captured by the Boltons. Roose or Ramsay threatens to hang Podrick is Brienne doesn't go and kill Stannis and return Sansa to him.

• Will Pod be the whore?

• Jossed, though Pod would have made a fine whore.

Sansa at end of Season, Worst Scenario

Sansa doesn't escape but Reek!Theon does. She is trapped in Winterfell and locked alone in a cell and then a Maester comes and checks her and tells her she is pregnant. End of Season.

• Alternatively Sansa dies as well, as Melisandre needs a second human sacrifice and the daughter of the Kings of Winter also has King's Blood.
  • Jossed, for the most part. Myranda implies that Sansa will be kept captive until Ramsay impregnates her, which implies that Sansa is not pregnant yet by Ramsay. Either way, she and Theon escape Winterfell finally

Bronn will join with the Martells,

• Going off of the books where the Martells planning on allying with Dany, and Tyrion having officially joined with Dany in the show, Bronn siding with the Martells - who are currently in a better position to pay him off than Jaime is - would allow the series' best Buddy Team to reunite.
  • Jossed. Ol' Bronn is on the boat with Jaime when Myrcella dies.

Cersei will attempt to have Mace Tyrell assassinated

Why else would she send Meryn Trant, one of her most loyal Kingsguard, to escort Mace? It's already been established that she's willing to use the Kingsguard as her personal thugs and assassins, and it would further her feud with the Tyrells.

• Jossed.

Sansa will make a third option

She is informed by Baelish that Stannis is intending to take Winterfell, and if he succeeds, Stannis will make her Warden of the North. When Sansa wonders what will happen if the Boltons defeat him, Petyr tells her to make Ramsay hers and manipulate her way to power if that happens. Instead, she will take a third option. She will take the role of Wyman Manderely ! She will manipulate the Boltons from the inside, and tear them apart, and weakening enough to for Stannis to take Winterfell. And possibly make some "meat pies" whilst she's at it. Afterall, Baelish implored her to avenge her family, and Stannis is her best chance in taking some amount of revenge.

• Jossed, sadly. Would have been way more awesome than what we got.

Loras will have a trial by combat

He seems to be taking some of Margaery's plot from the books, so a trial is very likely to happen. As a good fighter, Loras is likely to choose a trial by combat. His opponent will most likely be Lancel, but it could also be the resurrected Gregor Clegane.

Season 5 cliffhangers (feel free to add your own)

• Jon Snow's assasination
  • Confirmed.
• Arya wakes up blind
  • Confirmed.
• Brienne hanged by Stannis?
  • Jossed. Stannis executed by Brienne.
• Davos sent to find Rickon
  • Jossed. Davos is at Castle Black.
• Qyburn being a follower of the Great Other and his Frankenstein-esque experiments being revealed as a service for the White Walkers. As such he is The Mole for the Night's King. Bonus points if this is revealed to the Faith Militant, but they are disarmed before they can do anything about it.
  • Jossed.
• Bran witnessing the events of the season through his warging abilities. With the White Walkers spying on him and the others.
  • Jossed.
• Doran reveals his plan for Targaryen restoration, possibly featuring Young Griff
  • Jossed.
• Ser Robert Strong joins the Kingsguard.
  • Confirmed.
• Daenerys flies away from Meereen and reaches the Dothraki Sea, cause why mess a cliffhanger from the books?
  • Confirmed.
• Or at the end of Season 5, after Cersei's walk of shame, Kevan Lannister and Pycelle get assassinated by Varys as he gives Expo Speak. Winter has finally come. Varys has only been there for two episodes so far and there can't be much reason to bring Kevan back so prominently and not give him his big scene.
  • Jossed. Varys is at Meereen, Kevan and Pycelle are at King's Landing.

We will see Highgarden in season 5

Olenna has returned to Highgarden, but Diana Rigg will apparently be added to the main cast this season, so this seems likely. Loras will probably be sent there while he waits for his trial.

• Alternatively, they might bring back the Ironborn in Season 6 and have Yara/Balon/Whoever? invade the Reach. Imagine Olenna and Yara having a face-off?

• More likely Olenna will be returning to King's Landing, since Margaery went to ask for her aid in freeing Loras.
  • Jossed. No Highgarden in Season 5.

Season Five Plot Twists

• Bronn will betray Jaime. In the books, Cersei sent Balon Swann to kill Trystane Martell, a plot which the Martells unearthed in the fifth book. Bronn and Jaime are a stew of Composite Character with bits of Arys Oakheart, Darkstar and Ser Balon Swann. The twist is foreshadowed since Bronn has been screwed over by Cersei out of Castle Stokeworth, is made Jaime's bitch for a dangerous mission he does not want to do. He tells Jaime that he wants to retire with a mansion and keep. Likewise Jaime tells him that he bribed the captain but Bronn points out that other people can buy and threaten him better. In other words, Bronn is looking for number one. In the show, he will be seduced by one of the Sand Snakes (Arys Oakheart) into killing Myrcella or on the other hand, Bronn will finally pull a Wham Line on Jaime by telling him Cersei paid him to kill Trystane and Jaime will be forced to make a Sadistic Choice to kill his boon companion to stop a war and in the process Myrcella gets injured anyway.
  • Jossed.
• Doran Martell's big surprise at the end of the season, Trystane Martell is Aegon VI Targaryen. Think about it, Tony Sebastian is distinctly not an actor that fits among the multi-ethnic Dornish cast that we see, its a neat way to thread the twist into the show without explaining Jon Connington and others, it works totally within the limited budget and cast and it combines aspects of Quentyn, Trystane and Young Griff/Faegon. Doran will reveal this twist by telling them that he had planned a long subtle game, that he had secretly been bankrolling Bronn, Varys and/or Littlefinger and that he had waited for a while to make his move because he wanted to know what Dany was upto but he recieves word from Varys that she's still trapped in Meereen and so decides to jump the gun. Trystane removes his black hair dye showing he's Rhaegar and Elia's son Doran has hired the Golden Company and/or formed an alliance with Yara Greyjoy (by having her father killed) and now they are going to attack Dragonstone, Storm's End and march to King's landing and attain their heart's desire: "Vengeance, Justice, Fire and Blood." Season 6, the Second Dance of the Dragons is on.
  • Jossed.
• Jorah Mormont will get Grеyscale, in the next three episodes. The Stone Men have been heavily name-dropped and Jorah will take over the other part of Jon Connington's story. He will also get increasingly desperate knowing that his time is short. So in the end, when Daenerys flies away, he thinking he has nothing to lose will go to the Dragonpit, become Quentyn Martell and release the dragons and get burnt in the process. He will also bring the disease to Meereen and cause an epidemic.
  • Partially confirmed; Jorah contracts Greyscale in "Kill the Boy". However, the later parts are Jossed; he searches for Daenerys with Daario and after he finds her she instructs him to find a cure.
• Littlefinger will take part of Wyman Manderly's story, return in time for Ramsay and Sansa's wedding and bring with him many "Frey pies". On his way into the party, he runs into Stannis and tells them Rickon and Osha are alive. Then he arrives at Winterfell and mouths off either the Freys or Ramsay and gets his throat cut giving Sansa and Theon the chance to make their daring escape.
  • Jossed, though the escape does happen.
• Arya Stark at the end of the Season is sent by Jaqen to do a very special mission. Either, to go to Oldtown and study as a Novice and get some top secrets, assassinate Balon Greyjoy or assassinate Melisandre.
  • Jossed. Arya is doing time for her disobedience.

Stannis' Choice

After being presented with a choice of certain victory by Melisandre because of the importance of King's blood, Stannis will Take a Third Option...he will sacrifice himself. He will tell Davos to Crown Shireen as Queen and ensure that his claim is vindicated and then burn himself, the Baratheon soldiers take over Winterfell and Melisandre sees the Bolton Standards lowered and herself walking on the ramparts and she realizes that her visions were both right and wrong, just like Book!Mel, and Shireen will become one of the possible "Young and beautiful queens" who will threaten Cersei (since a prophecy could refer to beauty of character and Shireen will be the youngest of queens). It will be an awesome Book Ends to Mance burning himself at the start of the season as well and give Stannis the Dying Moment of Awesome he deserves.

• Jossed, sadly enough.

Ramsay will capture Melisandre

• As per the previews, Stannis' camp is attacked and there is a shot of Melisandre in danger. Ramsay will capture her and take her to Winterfell and Stannis feeling deprived of his magic sponsor will consider and/or go-ahead with sacrificing Shireen. Melisandre likewise will reach Winterfell and see her vision ("I walked the walls of Winterfell I saw the Bolton Banners fall down") be a marvellous misinterpretation and this will wreck her confidence.
  • Jossed. Ramsay is Stealth Ninja Supervillain.

Combining Cities in Season Five

With the budget limitations and the like, it's unlikely that the show-runners will give full justice to all the different cities and converging plotlines in Book 4 and 5 - White Harbor, Oldtown, Braavos, Pentos, Volantis, so they will converge plotlines of different characters in one city.

• Sam and Maester Aemon will not go to Braavos. Rather they will travel with Davos Seaworth to White Harbor and accompany Salladhor Saan. Compressing characters and plotlines. At White Harbor, they meet Lord Manderly and the Freys and hijinks ensue. Aemon learns that Daenerys is alive and is Queen at Essos and then talks to Sam about the Prophecy and Rhaegar and dies, but he tells Sam that he must go to the Citadel at Oldtown. Lord Manderly then comes as a Deus Ex Machina and has Sam help Davos and Gilly and her Baby escape. He tells Davos Rickon, Osha and Wolf is at Skagos. So Davos goes to Skagos while Samwell Tarly and Salladhor Saan go to Oldtown with Gilly and Baby at the end of Season Five(meaning we see Oldtown in Season Six).
• Instead of going to Pentos and Volantis, Tyrion and Varys will arrive in Braavos. While there, Tyrion's path will cross with Arya in one of her faceless men disguise. He will also meet Penny and Jorah there, and if included the likes of Quentyn Martell, Jon Con and the Golden Company. The Rh'llor worshippers and Benerro will take place there. Braavos will be every Free City we see.
  • Jossed. Tyrion and Varys indeed arrive to Pentos and they do travel to Volantis but only to the Long Bridge (a gorgeous set) and then Tyrion gets kidnapped and goes sailing again. White Harbor is Adapted Out so Braavos is the only Free City we see.

The episode containing Tommen and Margaery's wedding will be titled "The Rose and the Lion"...

...and the wedding will actually be shown, with the fake-out drama played up for all it's worth. When Tommen starts coughing, there will be a dramatic camera zoom and tense music, complete with the entire cast freaking out.

• Jossed.

What we will see in the first two or three episodes of Season 5

• The "birth" of Robert Strong
  • Jossed
• The return of the Brotherhood and the first hints of it's new leader, possibly by way of dead Freys
  • Jossed
• A scene in Dorne to introduce the Martells proper and to reintroduce Myrcella.
  • Confirmed
• A return to the Iron Islands
  • Jossed
• Sam and Aemon departing for Oldtown via Braavos
  • Jossed
• Stannis offering to legitimize Jon
  • Confirmed
• Jon becomes the new Lord Commander
  • Confirmed
• Balon's death, Euron's arrival or the Kingsmoot
  • Jossed
• Someone giving Cersei Tyrion's dead body which turns out to be a body of another dwarf
  • Confirmed
• Ellaria leaving King's Landing with Oberyn's remains
  • Not really Jossed/not really confirmed, but implied
• Arya reaches Braavos
  • Confirmed
• Tywin's funeral
  • Confirmed
• Jaime talks to members of the Kingsguard, checking their honor and their skills
  • Jossed

Feel free to add any other events you think will likely be shown this episode

In season 5, Bran will have visions of important things from the past.

So far, the series has avoided flashbacks, but apparently that is about to change, considering the reports about Young Cersei being cast (probably for the scene with Magy). This opens the door for other possible flashbacks ("Promise me, Ned", hopefully). Turning those scenes into Bran's visions might make them seem less out of place, and it would give Bran something to do, since he has mostly finished his plotline from the fifth book.

• As far as Season 5 goes, this is jossed, as the showrunners have said Bran will not appear in Season 5. The prediction turned out to be one season off; Bran has a number of important visions of the past in season 6, including Jon Snow's true parentage (confirming a long-held fan theory).

Balon Swann will travel to Dorne with Ellaria

In the books, Ellaria leaves first, and Swann leaves some time later. Since the series will have to cover two books in season 5, they will probably have them travel together to simplify it. Thus, Arys Oakheart's death (which will also open a spot for Loras in the Kingsguard) will either happen in episode 1, before Ellaria leaves King's Landing, or will already have happened offscreen.

• Jossed, likely. Jaime is the Kingsguard who travels to Dorne in season 5 judging by production stills and interviews.

Tyrion's killing of Tywin will be more brutal

If the show will follow closely to Tywin's death, then after shooting Tywin in the bowels with a crossbow bolt, he will then use the knife he got from Tywin's room and stab his father repeatedly (venting all his anger at the abuse Tywin had brought upon him for years).

• Jossed, though he does use two crossbow bolts instead of only one.

Sandor's supposedly fatal

neck wound and the Eyrie.In the books, Sandor is abandoned by Arya much earlier and never even comes close to the Eyrie. Here, Sandor and Arya are right outside the stronghold currently holding the descending Sansa and Littlefinger. We know that Arya has to leave Sandor for Braavos, and that Sandor is left in an Ambiguous Situation where he should die, but later chapters imply he survived. Thus, show!Sandor will be left behind by Arya, and sometime soon he'll find himself part of Sansa's group, giving her one more tool to use against Littlefinger should she need it.

• Jossed, like in the books he is left for dead.

The dragon Rhaegal is female.

That's the reason why (s)he is not named Rhaegon in accordance with Drogon and Viseryon.

• This would solve the problem of reproduction further down the line.
  • And explain why the Targaryens are so okay with brother-sister incest. Maybe Aegon and his sisters' three dragons did the same thing!
• I think they are capable of changing sex for reproduction.
• Jossed. From the books, Dragons are neither male nor female, and can change sex whenever they want.

Season 6 will have Rickon restored to Winterfell, enabling Stannis to take the Iron Throne

• There are rumours "The Winds of Winter" will have Stannis take the Iron Throne. Perhaps Season 5 will have him in hiding, and meeting Northern Lords (it is rumoured S5 will have Greatjon Umber and Rickon), who want a Stark in Winterfell. With Rickon as the figurehead, Stannis rallies their armies, crushes the Boltons, and then proceeds to take the Iron Throne.
  • However he may be truly killed towards the end, as Daenerys launches her conquest. Thinking he cannot be Azor Ahai, Melissandre resurrects Jon Snow.
    • Jossed; Stannis and Rickon both die in two different battles for the control of Winterfell.

The Umbers are secretly plotting against Ramsay / will be a composite with the Manderlys

A popular fan theory circulating the internet believes that Smalljon Umber is ultimately going to betray Ramsay, and the Umbers will be instrumental in finally defeating the Boltons. There are several points that support this:

• In the books at least, the Umbers have Undying Loyalty to the Starks.
• It's sort of odd that the Umbers are showing up now that Roose is dead. If it does turn out to be a ploy after all, Roose would most likely see right through it. Ramsay on the other hand isn't known for his political savvy and just one episode prior assumed that the Umbers would be on his side without question.
• Smalljon flat out refuses to bend the knee to Ramsay, he's makes it absolutely clear that this is a case of Enemy Mine. He's also openly antagonistic to both Ramsay and Karstark by calling them out on absolutely everything. In the event that he does betray Ramsay he wouldn't technically be breaking any oath. Yet despite all this Ramsay is quick to trust the Smalljon simply because he handed Rickon over.
• The wolf head looks suspiciously small for a direwolf.
• The Umber cart looks large enough to hide a direwolf inside.
• There's the possibility that at Rickon might be in on it. Though visibly quite distressed that's more likely coming from being chained up and face to face with Ramsay (wouldn't you?), he doesn't look too shaken up or surprised at the sight of the "direwolf" head either.
• Similarly, if Umber really hated wildlings that much he wouldn't have kept Osha alive for so long.
• Wyman Manderly has been Adapted Out according to the cast list and Word of God. Composite Character alert?
• Ramsay prefers an open field battle to staying behind a wall (we know from the trailers the battle will take place on an open field). The Bolton men alone already outnumber the Wildlings and with Karstark/Umber forces on his side his army probably increase almost twofold. This would also make Ramsay extremely vulnerable to an unexpected betrayal.
• Smalljon could potentially be deceiving Ramsay by technically telling carefully worded truths to seem as cutthroat as him:
  Smalljon Umber: Your father was a cunt, and that's why you killed him. I might have done the same to my father if he had not done me the favor of dying on his own.
  • "I might have done the same"... (if I were a sadistic power-hungry psychopath like you).
• Jossed. Smalljon remains loyal (for whatever measure of loyalty he has, anyway) to Ramsay, and is killed by Tormund in the Battle of the Bastards.

By the end of Season 6, Ramsay will...

...maim or flay or kill the following: Rickon Stark / Osha the Wildling / Fat Walda / Roose / Davos / Melisandre / Tormund and maybe Dolorous Edd.He will also become a host for the Night's King and the White Walkers and become the true Big Bad of the entire series plotline.

• Confirmed for Osha, Walda, Roose, and Rickon, but otherwise Jossed.

Ramsay will be eaten by the Thenns

Jon Snow is after all coming to reclaim Winterfell with his wildling army, and iirc, we have no reason to think the Thenns aren't still part of that army. There have been a couple of instances suggesting cannibalism is the one horrific thing Ramsay hasn't done: his conversation with Osha in 6x04, the sausage that was in fact just a sausage. It would have be deeply ironic for for Ramsay to fall prey to the one kind of savagery he's not guilty of. Jon will probably try and stop it, out of some sort of sense of honour, but Sansa will be eager to watch it happen. It will probably be a PR disaster anyway – the Boltons might be despised in the North, but having led cannibals into Winterfell cannot go down well with the commonfolk, and might sour the return of the Starks.

• Jossed for the Thenns, confirmed for being eaten alive.

Rickon will become Ramsay's Bastard Understudy

He's got to have been captured for some reason, narratively speaking, and I feel like its not just to get rescued/killed. Its hard to imagine even HBO showing Ramsay torturing a kid, one whose actor is still a minor, like he did Theon; let alone what he did to Sansa. So what then? It's also not clear how much about the Boltons and the Red Wedding and everything Rickon knows. Ramsay might not be smart/patient enough to pull this off, but he may be able to win Rickon to his side, largely by preying on a hatred of Theon – who, after all, is responsible for most of Rickon's problems so it wouldn't surprise me if Rickon hates him very deeply. Ramsay will probably convince him that Sansa married him willingly, and then Theon kidnapped her. Rickon's already thought of as dangerous and wild, and those are traits Ramsay is likely to find appealing and want to bring out. By the time the good guys find him, Rickon will probably be too dangerous to be trusted. He might well become the next young important heir to something who's also a Complete Monster, following in the tradition of Joffrey and Ramsay.

• Jossed. RIP, Rickon.

The fates of the Northern houses in the wake of the Battle of the Bastards

• House Hornwood, bordering House Bolton, get roughly half Bolton lands for their loyal service. (And, as a Mythology Gag to the fact that in the books, Ramsay forcibly married Donella Hornwood, then locked her in a tower where she starved to death.)
• House Mazin, being unique to the show and lacking an established location get the other half.
• House Mormont, being situated on an Island on the other side of the North, can't be granted any lands, though Glovers lands are closest to them. The Glovers might be demoted to their vassals.
• House Bolton's seat of the Dreadfort is torn down, in accordanse with Sansa's desire to wipe away all signs of them.
• Lord Karstark executed, his officers made to take the black.
• Umber officers made to take the black.
• Both Umbers and Karstarks allowed to retain their lands and titles, on condition that they renew fealty to Winterfell and send one of their own to stay at Winterfell.
• As a nod to the Frey Pie plot in the books, House Manderley had machinations in the works that were rendered moot by House Stark reclaiming Winterfell and lordship of the North. As a sign of their secretly unbroken fealty, they hand over some captured Freys who were captured as part of the plot by carefully skirting the boundaries of Guest Right propriety as per the books.
  • Much Jossing ensued. No victory spoils were doled out, no mention of punishment for houses siding against the Starks was doled out (which does leave some unaccounted-for rodentia). Instead, bickering ensues in a meeting of the northern banners (with the addition of the Vale and the Wildlings), which then becomes a Kingsmoot after Young Lady Mormont shames all the other northern lords for not answering the Starks' call and then declares Jon Snow her king. Lord after lord follow suit, proclaiming apology for their shame and declare Jon the KING IN THE NORTH!

Jon will found a noble house

He will be granted lands and take in the Wildings as his vassals. In a Mythology Gag, he will adopt the Umbers' book sigil, a roaring giant, for his own, in memory of Wun Wun.

• Jossed. Jon becomes the King In The North, and is considered a Stark.

Loras will be executed, kill himself, or be otherwise Put on a Bus in the season finale.

• In the books, he suffers a severe wound in battle that all but removes him from the narrative as anything more than an afterthought - which is what's more or less happened to him in Season 6. Add to that the fact that Finn Jones has been cast as the lead in Marvel's Iron Fist, and you've got a recipe for Death by Adaptation.
  • Jossed: Loras becomes a Sparrow... and then is blown up with so many other named characters when Cersei's machinations light off a cache of wildfire under the Sept of Baelor.

The concession that Sansa made for the Vale's aid was to agree to marry Littlefinger.

• The season finale shows the two having a conversation under what appears to be the same heart tree where she married Ramsay. And Sansa knew these would likely be Littlefinger's terms in the beginning of the season, which is why she initially refused. Littlefinger would then essentially have the title of Lord Protectorship in both the Vale and the North as well as a strong claim to the title Lord Paramount of the Riverlands (he'd likely have to fight the Freys and/or Tullys for this one, though). If he could secure an alliance with a leaderless Dorne - knowing him, he was doing just that in the interim between his two appearances - he'd basically have control of half of Westeros.
• Jossed: Littlefinger trained Sansa a little too well: her own machinations see her half-brother named King in the North, a rallying cry that even the Knights of the Vale present start chanting.

Loras and Cersei will be married.

Although this will be a huge departure from the books, the writers may choose to go in this direction if they decide to keep Loras out of the Kingsguard due to him being the sole male heir to Highgarden. After Margaery marries Tommen, there is no valid reason for Loras to stay in King's Landing if he never dons the white cloak. Since Mace Tyrell will presumably serve as Master of Ships on the Small Council, Loras would be expected to return to Highgarden and rule in his stead. However, if Loras marries Cersei (however unwillingly), he will then become the husband of the Queen Regent and more importantly, the stepfather of King Tommen. For dramatic purposes, the showrunners may prefer to heighten the Lannister-Tyrell dynamic by giving Loras a more powerful position than he had in the novels (his TV character has already been "promoted" to heir to Highgarden, after all). As Tommen's stepfather, Loras would exert greater authority than his book counterpart when he and Margaery spend time with the young King in an attempt to limit Cersei's toxic influence on Tommen. Sure, Cersei is the Queen Regent, and will still retain her role in the political side of things, but in terms of how their marriage is run and how Tommen is raised, Loras as her husband would—at least in theory—trump her. (A similar real-life example—with a ruling queen regnant instead of a temporary queen regent—is Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip. She is completely independent when performing her royal duties, but he is the dominant partner in their marriage.)

• There may be a hint in this featurette, where Roger Ashton-Griffiths says of his character, "I'm interested in the welfare of my children, by which I mean I want them to sit on the Iron Throne." Notice that the actor specifically uses the word "children," so unlike book!Mace, the TV version may want Loras to become part of the royal family in addition to Margaery. In Loras' case, the best Mace can hope for is for his son to be married to the Queen Regent, as Myrcella has already been betrothed to a Martell.
  • There is also Jaime's comment in "The Lion and the Rose" where he mentions that both Tywin and Mace are very keen to see Cersei and Loras wed.
    • Jossed. Loras dies in the season 6 finale.

Yara Greyjoy will do to Ramsay what he did to Theon.

I have since discovered that her retaliation was not in the books, making this unlikely, but not necessarily impossible.

• Jossed. Ramsay dies in S06E09 at the hands of Sansa and his own ravenous dogs.

Jaime will give his position in the Kingsguard to Loras

The Kingsguard is made of 7 sworn knights, no more no less. While it is for life, Barristan's forced resignation (ironically to give his commander position to Jaime) sets a precedent for Jaime himself doing it, and the loss of his swordhand is the perfect excuse since he can't protect the King without it anyway. This will be a delight for Tywin, who wants Jaime to inherit Casterly Rock, marry and sire children that will keep it away from Tyrion (the Kingsguard requires celibacy and holding no lands or titles); but Jaime won't do it for him. He will as part of a gamble to save Cersei from a second arranged marriage and keep her to himself. So, in order to cancel the Cersei-Loras match, Jaime will offer Loras the Kingsguard position as his way out of the marriage, and Loras, being gay and Cersei being, well, Cersei, will accept. Joffrey will accept to name Loras behind Tywin's back because he'll be bitter and want to piss off his grandfather after a discussion between the two, as hinted by the promo and released synopsis for 3x10, and he's certainly petty and stupid enough to damage Tyrell-Lannister relations by doing this without sparing a second.

• There should be an open spot in the Kingsguard from when the Hound deserted.
  • Actually, fans who have counted the Kingsguards in the background in Season 3 have concluded that they are 7 if you count Jaime and the one that went to Dorne with Myrcella, suggesting that the Hound's spot was filled between seasons. (Book spoiler: His name's Osmund Kettleblack.)
    • Jossed. Jaime is kicked out of the Kingsguard by Tommen and Loras is killed in the season 6 finale.

Lady Stoneheart's debut appearance

• Too much time has passed in-universe for Lady Stoneheart's resurrection to happen onscreen. So what if instead of seeing her condemn some random Frey mook, the show waits for Brienne's meeting with her to reveal that she's alive? There can be rumors of the brotherhood being led by some coldhearted person that no one lives to report back on, and then BOOM! Stoneheart captures Brienne in season 5 or 6 and the audience is as surprised as she is.
  • Jossed. It has been confirmed that Lady Stoneheart will not be included in the show.

The Night's King will be the one behind Lady Stoneheart

.A change from the books, but it will be used to show the White Walkers aren't taking their game and gaining influence in Westeros. This goes with the theory that the Night's King is connected to the Starks, and thus, he'd be using Stoneheart!Lady Stark as his proxy.

• Jossed. It has been confirmed that Lady Stoneheart will not be included in the show.

Ramsay Snow is the real hero

Since the showrunners have an absolute man crush on Bolton and elevate him into ridiculous levels of Villain Sue via Adaptational Badass, he's going to rape and marry Dany, secretly be Azor Ahai, defeat the Night's King in single combat without a Valyrian steel sword, rise to the Iron Throne and be given a lifelong pardon by the High Sparrow and the Old Gods to rape and hunt women for the rest of his life with all impunity.

• At the end of Season 5, he's well on his way to his destiny, outfitted with Plot Armor.
  • Jossed gloriously by his Karmic Death at the hands of Sansa.

Alternative to the above, in Season 6 Cersei will have her maester revive Myrcella like he did with Gregor

The boat will arrive to King's Landing, and Jaime or Trystane will sadly carry Myrcella to her childhood home. Cersei will deny the possibility to bury her, and possibly the First Sparrow would refuse Myrcella at the sept anyways. So Qyburn will step in to aid his Queen once again, and revive Myrcella for Cersei. Obviously this will be bad, and it doesn't circumvent the childhood prophecy given to Cersei at the start of season 5. But how bad? No idea, knock yourselves out.

• She'll end up being basically an undead, female Joffrey. Sweet dreams.
  • Jossed. Season 6 is over and Myrcella is still dead. There is a remote possibility that it will happen in future seasons, but given the time that has passed it is extremely unlikely.

Doran approves of the death of Myrcella and is using Jamie for the Fire and Blood plot

Seen this brought up. Doran approaves of the death of Myrcella as revenge for the murder of Elia by The Mountain, not for the death of Oberyn. The ship Jaime and Bronn are on is a Martell ship and thus both men will be held captive as it travels to Mareen. The plan is for Trystane to offer a marriage alliance with Dany and Jamie is a 'wedding present'

• Jossed. Doran is not book!Doran who is The Chessmaster and doesn't know about the poisoning until he got Jaime's latter. Also Jaime and Bronn went back to King's Landing with Myrcella's body. And it's unlikely that there's going to be an alliance with Dany since Trystane is gone.

Jon Snow will join the White Walkers.

After losing everything he ever believed in, and then being killed by people he thought he could trust, he's finally had enough of everyone and everything. Season 6 will end with him kneeling before the Night's King and offering his sword in service to wiping Westeros clean.

• Jossed. Season 6 ends with Jon being crowned the King in the North.

Just like Joffrey was similar to Aerys II, Tommen will become similar to Baelor "the Blessed" Targaryen.

As episode 6-6 shows, he's already been swayed by the High Sparrow toward religious fanaticism. This will result in, among other things, the formerly, erm... excitable Tommen becoming suddenly very chaste toward Margeary. He may not go quite to the extreme of his predecessor as far as locking Margeary in a dungeon to avoid being tempted, but this new attitude might prove slightly problematic as far as producing an heir goes. And if/when he dies, that'll set the stage for all seven hells to break loose in Westeros. From a legal standpoint, he's the last Baratheon left.

• Jossed. Tommen is Driven to Suicide in the season 6 finale and the sparrows are killed off.

The Mountain will kill Tommen in a Trial by Combat.

Why else would they be setting up Tommen as a fanatic of the Faith, unless it was to later have him represent them when Cersei gets her trial by combat?Tommen declares himself the Champion of the Faith, sure that the Gods are on his side, Cersei watches in horror as her foolproof plan of 'sic the Mountain on whoever the Faith chooses and insta win' falls apart spectacularly, Gregor cuts him down and Cersei's prophecy is one step closer to fulfilled.

• Jossed. Tommen is Driven to Suicide in the season 6 finale.

Tommen will be convinced to do the above by Margaery.

The most recent episode or two has shown that there's a plan of some sort afoot. Also, Margaery's tactics have changed; whereas in the beginning of their engagement and subsequent marriage, she basically controlled Tommen with her sex appeal, it's now been noted that she hasn't been to bed with him since the Faith released her. This may indicate that the plan involves Tommen being sexually frustrated (so Margaery can get him to do something stupid). Or it could mean that Margaery wants to avoid any chance of getting pregnant by Tommen - perhaps because Tommen's death effectively finishes the Royal Family if he has no heir.

• Jossed. Tommen is Driven to Suicide in the season 6 finale.

Alternatively, the Mountain will kill himself in the above fight on Cersei's orders and Cersei will essentially sacrifice herself to save Tommen.

Unfortunately, this will push Tommen over the edge and the final parts of the series will portray his descent into Madness, setting him up as the mad one like Aerys was, and not Joffrey. ^{In the books...} Remember, Aerys started as a sane, decent king, but a rebellion and a long-term imprisonment caused him to emerge with paranoia and significant psychological damage.

• Jossed. Tommen is the one Driven to Suicide.

Rickon will die, and it will indirectly cause the White Walker invasion

Why? Because Bran.

Most fans seem to believe Rickon will die during the Battle of the Bastards, and that the Starks will reclaim Winterfell. But if so, what then? As far as anyone knows, the Starks are left with no trueborn male heirs. Their options are Sansa, Ned Stark's last known legitimate child, but a woman and one who married into both the family they just took Winterfell back from and the much despised Lannisters, and Jon, a bastard whose greatest support comes from Wildlings, who much of the North (if not all Seven Kingdoms) despise. The chances of either of them being able to unite the North behind their authority seem low.

There's also the question of Jon's legitimacy: they might find a will from Robb Stark that legitimises him, but any will found three years after its author's death is going to be suspect and prone to accusations of forgery. Besides: the North is tired, exhausted itself in one great war that accomplished nothing but getting them taken over by CompleteMonsters. There's no way to claim Jon's legitimisation is, um, legitimate without claiming Robb Stark was in fact the rightful king, and hence restarting the campaign against the Iron Throne.

Half of the North will be all for this, and believing they'll need a strong Warrior King, uncompromised by his political alliances, will throw their support behind Jon. The other half, desperately wanting to avoid war, will throw their support behind Sansa. Sansa and Jon will be horrified by this and maintain they can rule together, but factions will develop nonetheless, almost pushing the North into civil war, with a few Bolton remnants screwing things up even more.

In the middle of this, Bran will get a vision showing him Rickon's death, and the state of the North afterwards. He'll be guilt-stricken, since it was he who willingly left Rickon and who told Rickon the Umbers would protect him, when they sold him over to Ramsay. Bran will see that the North has turned into a powderkeg, and decide the only way to avoid it boiling over into another war that could get one or both of his remaining siblings killed, is for the rightful Lord to return.

However, he's still marked by the Night King, and going back past the wall runs the risk of the White Walkers coming with him. It'll be one of those love-or-honour choices that the Gods love throwing at the Starks. Either Bran won't be sure whether his mark applies just to the cave or all magic protecting men from the White Walkers, and decide to risk it, or he'll rationalise that they're coming anyway no matter what he does. Either way, a trueborn son of Ned Stark will return to Winterfell – with a massive army of ice zombies on his tail.

• Partly Jossed. Rickon does indeed die, but it cannot be the trigger for Bran to return to Westeros because Jon Snow is crowned the King in the North, meaning that the question of legitimacy is mooted. It is possible that some of the other parts of the theory could still be true, however.

The High Sparrow's plan involves telling Tommen of his true heritage

Given everything he knows about Cersei, chances are the High Sparrow believes the rumours about her and Jaime, and will use them. He'll wait until he's more confident he has Tommen completely under his thumb, and then 'prove' (possibly with faked evidence, since I can't see what real evidence there would be pre-DNA) that he is in fact Jaime and Cersei's child. This will motivate Tommen to either abdicate (as his claim to the throne is illegitimate) or, more grimly and in line with Cersei's prophecy, commit suicide (as in the eyes of the Faith he is an abomination). Either way, this will trigger a Succession Crisis, as with the deaths of Stannis, Shireen and Renly, there are no legal Baratheon heirs left until you start digging through distant cousins. The High Sparrow will step into this power vacuum, claiming the nobles have proven themselves unable and unworthy to rule. He might even have Tommen declare him heir. The commonfolk will rally to him and the nobility will be horrified, but they won't have any one candidate they can all rally around in response.

• What will screw up his plan? Daenerys. She will show up with her dragons and the nobility, assuming they can transfer their positions of power into a Targaryen restoration much the same way they did between the reigns of Aerys and Robert, will support her over a man whose life's ambition seems to be tearing them down. This will leave Dany in a bind, after having constructed her identity as a ruler as a liberator of the oppressed and being told most of her life the common people would support the Targaryen restoration, she will enter King's Landing with the common folk on someone else's side, and the treacherous nobles who betrayed her father her greatest source of support.
  • Jossed. Cersei kills the High Sparrow in the season 6 finale, and Tommen is Driven to Suicide.

Edmure will take on Wyman Manderly's role

Despite being much younger and lighter of build, they have certain similarities: namely, seeming useless and and having seemingly sold out to the Freys. The trailer shows us the Freys all celebrating something, presumably retaking Riverrun, and they're likely to Edmure and possibly his men there, so Walder and his habit of Evil Gloating can throw his betrayal in their face. However, that's as good a place for Delicious Frey Pie to take place as any. If he manages to kill enough Freys that also puts Edmure and Rolsin's baby in a better position for the Frey Succession Crisis that will inevitably follow Walder's death. This could double as the Blackfish being Just Hiding, taking Davos's role.

• Jossed. Arya is the one who takes on Wyman Manderly's revenge plot.

Blackfish will be a Composite Character to Lady Stoneheart and Wyman Manderly

He might be the one who will hang the Freys with a possible alliance with the Brotherhood Without Banners and make those Frey pies and offer them to Jaime.

• Jossed, as 1) Blackfish was said to be killed offscreen during the siege of Riverrun in Season 6 (though it's a bit doubtful...), and 2) Arya got the 'Frey pies' bit anyway in S6 finale, before proceeding to wipe out all major Freys at once in S7 opening.

Cersei will confess in full to spite the Sparrows

In direct opposition to an above WMG, the Sparrow's power grab at this point depends almost entirely on the support of the crown, and in turn, Tommon's legitimacy. A couple of seasons ago, Cersei threatened Tywin that she would reveal the truth to everyone when she felt that he was going to take control and influence over her son away from her. When it becomes absolutely clear that the Sparrow has done just that, and that Cersei has no more pull over her son at all, she will make good on that threat and reveal to the gods and the world that Tommen is a bastard born of incest, and that he has no legitimate claim on the throne, because she would rather see herself and Tommon dead than have no power over him. It fits the theme of Cersei's story that she ultimately be responsible for her own undoing and the death of the one person she cares about more than anything. Also fits, in a very metaphorical sense, with the prophecy; if Tommon dies before her, she survives all of her children, and her own death is caused by her relationship with Jaime, giving a pay off to her death being caused by her younger brother.

• Cersei's murder of the Sparrows in the season 6 finale has pretty thoroughly Jossed this.

If Cersei confesses in full, that's "ok", because the Sparrows know everything

(variant of the "The High Sparrow's plan involves telling Tommen of his true heritage" WMG and the "Cersei will confess in full to spite the Sparrows" WMG)

• The High Sparrow is trying to get Cersei to confess everything herself during her trial, very much like when he put her on the spot with Lancel, so the Faith can remove Tommen (and Margaery, that's why he was all creep on the "go get a baby" conversation, to mark her as completely spoiled), and one of these options:
  • Put Gendry in the throne. And yes, sorry, I'm implying Gendry is not rowing anymore. But I think that his "king's blood" will come into play again, even if it's highly unlikely.
  • Claim Daenerys as queen thanks to Varys, who has left Mereen to get support for their cause to move on to Westeros (and there's no way he doesn't know about the High Sparrow and absolutely everything else about the throne's precarious situation; easy to connect one with the other).
  • Make the Seven Kingdoms a theocracy, because that's the endgame he has been playing for all along.
  • Why would they do any of this? Tommen is already a perfect puppet ruler for the High Sparrow's purposes. Replacing him with some unknown party or trying to wipe out monarchy altogether would be incredibly counterproductive to the Sparrows' plans. It's in their best interests to avoid any questions of Tommen's legitimacy, since it's his authority that they use to handle all their affairs. If Tommen hadn't saved them earlier in Season 6, then they would have been wiped out by the Tyrell forces.
    • Cersei's murder of the Sparrows in the season 6 finale has pretty thoroughly Jossed this as well.

The Northern houses are reluctant to support Sansa because of the Littlefinger debt scheme

The theory goes that Littlefinger has put the realm in debt so he can extend credit to various houses scattered across Westeros. He's been calling in every favour gained this way to get the lords to drop their support for Sansa. Why? Because Baelish wants to be her knight in shining armour riding to her rescue in the Battle of the Bastards, and this is how he denies her the ability to call him out for all his bullshit and show her she needs him still. From day one, Baelish has made it his top priority to be indispensible and always needed by his allies, even with his scheming reputation. And he's done it again.

• This appears to have been Jossed by their enthusiastic support for Jon Snow as King in the North and Sansa's agreement with this, amongst other things.

Season 6 will have a Holy War

The power brokers of Kings Landing will take note of the religious revival of Rhillorism and the arrival of Dany, as well as the Old Gods and tell the Sparrows to go and fight the new religions. This will get the Sparrows and the Faith Militant off to fight a religious war in winter citing them as a Conflict Killer.

• Jossed. The Faith Militant is dead by the season's end, along with the High Sparrow.

Jon Snow is King Robert's bastard.

• Jon has black hair, like all the Baratheon children. Ned and Robert were away at war together when Jon was born. Ned took the child to raise as his own, making up the story about his parentage for the sake of his friend, Robert.
  • Doesn't that mean his name should actually be Jon Waters?
  • No, if this was true he would have to be retconned female. Her name? Joan Rivers.
    • First off, tee hee. Secondly, not necessarily. Careful research (going by the books here, with liberal exploitation of A Wiki of Ice and Fire) has led this troper to conclude that the bastard names must be more a matter of where the child is raised rather than born/conceived, a matter that usually isn't of note because the two are usually the same place. Take Edric Storm, the bastard son Robert conceived on Stannis's wedding night in his marriage bed (ouch). By all logic, his name should be Edric Waters, as he was born/conceived at Dragonstone in the Crownlands (or Edric Flowers, if we take the long shot that Stannis and Selyse were married in her family's castle in the Reach), but he's instead given the bastard name of the Stormlands, which could only be because he was fostered by Renly at Storm's End. Then there's the fact that (as is established) Robert and Ned were away at war, so no way was Jon actually born in the North, even if we ignored that Wylla (the woman Ned presents as Jon's mother when he talks about her at all) was a servant of House Dayne in Dorne (to put things into perspective for the TV-only fans, when the wildlings were talking about going as south as south can go? They either meant Dorne or getting off Westeros). If Eddard was raising Robert's bastard son as his own, then he'd only naturally slap on the name of the North in the hopes that people wouldn't ask too many questions.
  • Jossed. He is, however, Lyanna Stark's son.

Or Jon Snow is the Bastard Child of Lyanna Stark...

Why not both? They were in love, after all.

• Not necessarily. Robert was in love with Lyanna, yes, but the books imply this was mainly from a distance and don't give any indication they ever actually slept together. Lyanna is even suggested to have been somewhat cynical about the arrangement; a flashback has her telling Ned that she knew Robert would never be satisfied with just one woman, even her. The popular guess, though this hasn't been confirmed in any way shape or form, is that Jon is the bastard of Lyanna and Rhaegar, followed up by him being the bastard of Ned or his brother Brandon and Ashara Dayne.
• More on the Jon is son of Lyanna Stark: In his last conversation with Ned, he tells him (paraphrasing) "You don't have my name, but you have my blood". That fits a bastard son as much as a nephew by your sister. Too bad he didn't live to fullfill what he promised when he said "We'll speak some day about your mother".
  • Don't you know? "We'll speak about this some day" is TV talk for "This is the last time you will see me before my untimely demise."
• Another problem with this is that if Jon was Robert's child by Lyanna, there is no way in the seven hells Robert wouldn't claim the kid as his own. Hell, he'd probably raise him at court. Something not mentioned in the show yet, but will become a plot point in the second season is that Robert does have a bastard he acknowledges back in Storm's End, and he's really more of a father to that kid than he ever was to Joffery. That was specifically because Robert deflowered a daughter of a noble(if somewhat minor) house on his brother's wedding bed, so he couldn't very well deny the kid was his. But he actually loved Lyanna and never cared about humiliating Cersei. He'd hold onto his and Lyanna's son for dear life. Hell, he might even legitimize him(king's can declare bastard children legit) and name him heir, but that might go a little too far towards pissing off Tywin.
  • All the more reason to suspect he might be Rhaegar's. Consider, if you will, Jaime's little speech about Jon Snow: "You hated that boy, didn't you? The walking, talking reminder that the honorable Lord Eddard Stark fucked another woman." Now multiply that by Robert's irrationality, hatred of Rhaegar, obsession with Lyanna, fondness for the war hammer, and record for caring about the deaths of inconvenient Targaryen babies (0-2) and you start to see why Ned Stark would want to keep the kid a secret.
    • (guy who posted that bit about why Robert would have kept Jon if he was his bastard here) Personally I subscribe to the (book based speculation) Ned Stark/Ashara Dayne theory. Which isn't to say the Rheargar/Lyanna theory doesn't hold a lot of water, but one of the reasons I don't buy it is because it's set up so nicely and that's exactly the kind of bait and switch Martin would go for. I'm just pointing out that this Robert+Lyanna= Jon theory just doesn't hold up.
    • Except that idea of the bait&switch of Jon's parentage being so obvious it could lead fans to disregard it completely could be the whole point of that. Granted, this troper is very new to the series (haven't read the books yet, only seen the first few eps of season 1, but been reading a lot of rather spoileriffic entries here and numerous clips on YouTube) but don't forget that there's a fine line between being on to the writer's tricks and the writer is deliberately setting you up with something so seemingly obvious that you dismiss the possibility entirely.
    • Robert may have kept Jon if he were his bastard, if he knew about it. He may have never seen Lyanna pregnant, what with the whole kidnapping thing, and she may have wanted to keep Jon out of the royal family. After all, in this theory, she'd just been kidnapped and (presumably) raped by the prince; she's probably not all that enthusiastic about her son becoming a prince. And being as she was dying, Robert would have to marry someone else, and whoever that woman was, she probably wouldn't be happy about Robert's son with another woman hanging around (obviously, Catelyn wasn't happy about that either, but being as the Starks aren't royalty, it matters somewhat less to the realm. Also, Ned kind of got lucky with Cat; yeah, she wasn't happy about Jon, but she never outright mistreated him. Can you imagine, say, Cersei doing the same?)
• Jossed, mostly. Jon is Lyanna's son, as everyone thought, but isn't Robert's. Indeed, Lyanna specifically makes Ned promise to keep him safe from Robert, which is pretty clear indication that he isn't his son.

Jon Snow's parents are Ned and...Cersei??

• It's a bit of a stretch but I couldn't shake the feeling that the story Cersei gives about her first-born, black-haired child had some greater significance. The theory is that Cersei somehow managed to seduce Ned into sleeping with her, prior to or during the early part of her marriage to Robert. Then she became pregnant and gave birth to Jon. They both realised that the child may eventually grow to resemble Ned instead of Robert, which would cause a massive heap of trouble so they faked the baby's death by fever and Ned took him back to Winterfell, both promising to never speak of their affair. Not even to each other.
  • First of...Wow, just trying to wrap my head around that. It makes zero sense and requires Ned and Cersei to be totally different than what we see in the story. The point of that Cersei story about her first child dying (not there in the books) is to foreshadow that Joffrey is a bastard. Its not meant to be anything deeper than that. Second of all, Cersei is a Mama Bear, its her one redeeming quality, she would never willingly allow any of the children (that she does not abort and gives birth to at any rate) to be parted from her under any circumstances, leave alone be frozen in North and left to rot in the Night's Watch. Third of all and this is what cinches the deal of a far-fetched theory...if Cersei was worried about Jon resembling Robert, why the hell isn't she worried about Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella who look even less like Robert than Jon does (they at least share the hair colour and if Jon Snow grows a beard, Kit Harrington could look like Robert). She is rather brazen about regarding those kids as official progeny when all three of them are golden haired lion cubs with no stag in them. So that's about it.
    • Jossed. As many fans had predicted for years, Jon's parents are in fact Lyanna Stark and a yet-unnamed Targaryen, presumably Rhaegar.

Volantis will (secretly or openly) send men to Westeros to kill Freys.

• The Maegyr are an important family in Volantis, and Talisa's parents will probably not take her murder lightly. So they might either hire mercenaries, or use their influence in the city government, or both, in order to get some revenge for their daughter. (Whoever they send might join the Brotherhood in the end, especially since they'll have more or less the same goal as Stoneheart.)
  • Specifically, her younger brother-the one about whom she told Robb the story about his almost drowning as a child-will show up seeking answers and revenge. This show loves to have parallel storylines which reflect and contrast each other, and we're already going to have Oberyn Martell and Yara Greyjoy seeking revenge/rescue for their lost siblings, as well as Edmure Tully grieving Cat's murder. We'll get an episode focusing on these four characters.
  • Since Volantis ultimately plays a minor but important role in the fifth novel (with hints of a slave revolt brewing that may soon shift the balance of power), perhaps the added Volantene connection in the show will factor into this somehow.
    • Jossed, more or less. The Freys are pretty much extinct by the end of season 6 thanks to Arya's pie-making prowess. However, it hasn't been ruled out yet that the Maegyr hired her to do so. Though if we're being extremely pedantic, this would still count as Jossed due to the wording above (Arya is, of course, not male).

Gendry will travel to the Eyrie and befriend Sansa.

• He will run into a nobleman from the Vale, who will realize that he is one of Robert's bastards. The nobleman will bring Gendry to the Eyrie, where he will befriend Sansa/Alayne, taking some of Mya Stone's role from the books.
  • Jossed, as Sansa has left the Vale for good and Gendry hasn't been seen for several seasons.

Arya's unnamed roommate is actually the new faceless-Arya

In a Fight Club-esque Mind Screw, the Arya we've been seeing is just the part of her that is still clinging to her "Arya Stark" identity, and the other girl is her new alter-ego (or, non-ego) — the part that is succeeding at becoming "nobody".

• Jossed. The Waif is definitely her own human being.

In season 6, Daario and Jorah will do some things that got cut out of Tyrion's and Jorah's story in season 5

They will join a sellsword company working for Yunkai (possibly the Golden Company), and will try to make them switch sides.

• Jossed.

The Arya that the Waif stabbed in "The Broken Man" wasn't really her.

This is not my own theory, but something I saw on message board, and saw worthwhile to put on record. The Arya we see in this episode acts uncharacteristically bold for the same character who in the last episode camped in some underground tunnel, her back against the wall, sword at hand. She throws money around like it was no big deal, even though Arya has never been interested in excessive luxury. And most notably of all, she doesn't have the Needle on her, even though she should be ready for a fight at any time. So, put together from all this, she is actually another Faceless Man wearing glamour, her job to prove that the Waif is breaking the code of their order, just like Arya, by getting personally invested in a murder.

• Jossed. Arya is really Arya and the Waif really chased her.

Jon is not Rhaegar's son, but Aerys's.

• We know that the Mad King was a little rapey.
• Why confirm that Lyanna was Jon's mother but not cite Rhaegar?
• If Tyrion WMG is real... he, Daenerys and Jon, the presumed "three heads of the dragon", are a smooth 'brothers and sister', instead of an uneven aunt/uncle/nephew team.
  • If they're all united by Mad King Aerys, they each represent one of the main houses of the story through their mother: Daenerys is a Targaryen through Rhaella, Tyrion is a Lannister through Johanna, and Jon is a Stark through Lyanna. All three mothers died in childbirth after being raped by the King.
• JOSSED. Jon is of Lyanna Stark by Rhaegar Targaryen. After they weren't clear enough in S 6 E 10, HBO confirmed the relation in a complex relationship chart detailing who did what to whom to incite Robert's Rebellion.

Ellaria will die as a 'test subject' for Cersei's ballista.

• Ellaria's unimportant enough to have the bridge dropped on her. Her character isn't particularly well liked enough for a dramatic end and yet, (by most) not hated enough for one, either. Cersei's probably likely to kill someone with that ballista before she attempts to use it on a living dragon. For one, it would echo her son Joffrey shooting Ros with a crossbow. Ellaria murdered Myrcella, so there's not a chance in seven hells she'll (or Tyene, for that matter) get out alive if Cersei gets her hands on them. Unless, of course...
  • Jossed. Cersei explicitly wants to keep Ellaria alive so that she can suffer watching her daughter die.

Ellaria and Tyene are dragged off to King's Landing only to be rescued by Bronn, who escapes with them.

• It's much more likely that Cersei will feed Ellaria to the Mountain, and submit her to what happened to Unella.
• Jossed, but arguably their fate is worse: she exposes Tyene to the same poison that killed Marcella, then leaves her and Ellaria in the same cell. Ellaria will have to watch her daughter die, then live what remains of her life looking at her rotting corpse.

Jossed II

The series finale will air in 2017.

The series finale is mentioned in the Parks and Recreation episode "Leslie and Ron," which takes place 2017.

• Jossed; the finale will air in May 2019.

The Martells in Season Five

• The Martells and the Golden Company subplots from Books 4 and 5 will be streamlined into a single whole. Doran Martell will be introduced as a secret Chessmaster who has been Varys' sponsor and financial backer(he is stated to be very rich) in setting up the Targaryen Restoration. It will be stated that Illyrio Mopatis was one of his agents, that he had planned the Khal Drogo/Dany wedding. It will be a simple and time efficient way to introduce the new character, setting and subplot. Season 4 will open with Tyrion and Varys' ship landing at Sunspear and Tyrion meeting Doran who tells him to take his son Trystane and/or Quentyn with him to Essos to bring back "our heart's desire: Vengeance, Justice, Fire and Blood". It also gives Tyrion a palpable goal, a new dynasty change will give him a pardon for his crimes and Casterly Rock and a fresh start and Doran will tell Tyrion that he owes Oberyn who died for him.
  • Oberyn Martell is stated to have spent a lot of time in the East, probably on Doran's orders to establish a support base for the exiled Targaryens. In the books he worked with the Second Sons, here he worked with the Golden Company. Doran probably kept his cards close and presumably did not tell him about Varys being his man on the inside but Varys hints quite slyly to Oberyn about their connection in their conversation in the Iron Throne.
  • With Arianne presumably Adapted Out, it is likely that Myrcella Baratheon will become a kind of quasi-replacement with Doran and the Sand Snakes trying to manipulate her to taking the crown in a Playing Both Sides gambit.
• Jossed on all counts.

The Golden Company in Season Five

• Bittersteel's Boys have been name-dropped twice in Season 4, with Jorah being a former mercenary for them and Davos recommending hiring them to Stannis. Given the whole Fake Aegon and Jon Connington thing, which might be hard to integrate in Game of Thrones, especially since it isn't backstory-crazy, their role and presence will likely be very different to how it is in the books.
  • In Scenario One, Fake Aegon and Jon Connington are Adapted Out and the Golden Company are combined with the Windblown and the Second Sons. The plan is A) Bring Back Daenerys to Westeros and if that doesn't work, B) Convince the Golden Company to take Westeros on behalf of Myrcella Baratheon, put brother against sister. It will simplify and make the whole story still work.
  • In Scenario Two, Tyrion and Varys travels with the mercenaries to Braavos(instead of Pentos since it saves time and locations) and meets Aegon VI and Jon Connington in "The House with the Red Door"(a cool Mythology Gag for fans) where Tyrion tells Aegon to go to Westeros while he heads to Meereen.
  • In Scenario Three, The Golden Company are independent and unaffiliated. They are the personal PMC company on staff to the Iron Bank of Braavos who are built up as the next threat in Season Four. After Stannis' victory at the Wall and Tywin's death, the Golden Company will be assigned to protect Stannis' territory in Storm's End and the Stormlands mirroring the action in the books. The Martells and Tyrion and Varys will try and sway the Golden Company to their side away from Stannis and the Crown but Jorah who's in Braavos, kidnaps Tyrion putting a Spanner in the Works.
• Jossed on this count. The Golden Company is mentioned in Season 7 as a possible avenue for Cersei to recruit but watch this space.

Lady Merryweather won't be Adapted Out

The most important characteristic of Cersei's arc in book 4 is the contrast between how clever she thinks she is (and how smug she is about it) and how the consequences of her schemes turn out. Since we can't access her internal monologues on TV, she needs some (seemingly) sycophantic character to act as her sounding board.

• Plus the show has steadfastly refused to not include as many sex scenes as humanly possible, so there's no way in hell they wont have Cersei's lesbian sex scene with Lady Merryweather adapted in some way. (Though Lena Headey has said explicitly she's saving any nudity for a particular scene from ADWD...
• Jossed, she is adapted out.

Gendry will become Hyle Hunt

The Goldcloaks don't know his face but they do know his name. Running around the Crownlands under the name Gendry and looking like a Baratheon is still a likely death sentence. So, why not change names? "Hyle" could either be a Line-of-Sight Name, or even a Dead Person Impersonation with so many knights slain in battle during the War of the Five Kings.

• Jossed. Gendry is still Gendry when he returns in Season 7.

Most of "A Feast for Crows" Will be Omitted Completely.

• Until book 4, "A Song of Ice and Fire" is a rollicking thriller, but "Feast" is kind of the oddball of the series, in that not much really happens. The focus is on the fallout of the war, rather than on the twisty conflicts of the rest of the series. The Greyjoy, Martell, Arya, and Sansa chapters are all essential, but a majority of it is Cersei brooding in King's Landing and Brienne riding around for no apparent reason. Chances are 99% of the Brienne material will be cut and Cersei will get even less screen time than in season 3. Luckily, there's more material to combine with "Dance" to make up a solid season 4-5.
  • This makes sense, to a point. AFFC and ADWD are meant to be taking place simultaneously. My prediction is that this will be reflected starting season five.
  • On that note, most of Dany's Meereen material will be abridged as well. A whole lot of minor characters that play a role in those chapters are either dead or have been omitted by the writers. There's too much relevant stuff going on in Westeros to bother the viewers with having to remember 40 new characters all named Hazoo.
• Jossed. The Sparrow Plot, Cersei scheming against the Tyrells, Cersei's capture, Arya's time in Braavos, Euron Greyjoy and Kingsmoot all happen eventually, albeit in a Compressed Adaptation.

Ros has become a spy for Littlefinger and/or Varys and Pycelle was onto it.

We know she works Littlefinger and besides her profession, has a natural talent for being The Watson/played into the show's love of "sexposition". It seems rather suspicious in "Fire and Blood" that she basically wanted to know Pycelle's feelings about all of the kings that he's served, and he seemed to catch on this, which probably explains why he effusively praises Joffrey (he wouldn't want that psychopath to learn that Pycelle had criticized him) and seems to feign senility to stop Ros' questioning. Note that the very next scene shows Varys and Littlefinger involved in their usual plotting.

• Probably every single one of Littlefinger's whores is a spy for him. And yes, Pycelle is clearly feigning that he is just a senile old guy - after Ros leaves, he stretches, makes a couple of squats, then puts on his robe, his chains and his slouch.
  • I wouldn't call this a guess so much as an outright fact. It even seems as though he begins expositing to her without her asking anything, as though he is intentionally taking an opportunity to further portray himself with the mask he has been wearing to this point. Everything he has said and done when other characters are present could be for an (as of yet) undisclosed agenda. The real question is "What is Pycelle's agenda?"
  • Jossed as of "The Climb". Albeit, Littlefinger could very well have employed Ros as a spy before she defected to Varys. And we still don't know if Pycelle was on it in that scene, and probably we never will.

All characters from the Free Cities will have mainland European accents

The show will continue to use accents to distinguish regions. From Syrio, we already know that Braavos is Spanish (or possibly Greek). Shae and Jaqen are Lorathi, with German accents. The others will follow - Lys could be French. The tricky one is Pentos - Magister Illyrio has been shown speaking with an English accent (which on the show maps to Westeros, particularly the South.

• Mero & Tycho Nestoris of Braavos and Thoros of Myr have generally British accents, but in Thoros's case he's been in Westeros for two decades and has likely lost his accent as a result.

• Jossed. The Free Cities characters we see all have the same accests as the rest.

The depiction of Ramsay Bolton will be a Crazy Awesome troll who will rival Tyrion in terms of audience adoration.

Building on the above theory of Ramsay Bolton being the Hornblower simply due to sheer trollery, when he is properly introduced to the show he will near instantly garner a memetic reputation for nightmarish yet insanely hilarious dickery, as well as delivering some unspeakably satisfying and cathartic Karma to a certain Mr Greyjoy. His horrifyingly brutality will always be tempered by extremely dark hilarity, and his abuse of "Reek" will start off almost comically petty and humiliating, before steadily becoming darker and more sadistic. Long story short, Ramsay will be one of the best characters in the show.

• Even if he forces women to eat their own fingers or run naked through the forests only to be hunted down by his dogs, raped & butchered. He'll do so in style!
  • Roose: "My son has sent you a wedding gift, your grace. "A Piece of Prince"."
  • This troper is shuddering at the thought of the impending Woobification of Ramsay <strike>Snow</strike> Bolton.
    • DON'T YOU PICK ON MY POOR MISUNDERSTOOD BB! HE JUST NEEDS A HUG!
    • Given that "The Boy" is so certain to be Ramsay that fans aren't even pretending that there is any other possibility, I'd say that he is being played completely in synch with his book counterpart. And if that's the case? Then if the general reaction over at TWoP is any indication, then this is Jossed: He's rapidly becoming The Scrappy.
    • Outside of TWOP, opinions seem to vary. Nobody's yet called him one of the best characters on the show, so technically still jossed.
    • Judging from fan reactions in forums, youtube, facebook, tumblr e.t.c. the guy is most certainly considered Creepy Awesome and on his way to become a Draco in Leather Pants.
    • Of course that depends on where you look. Most don't mind him, some think he's awesome and more then a few fans thinks his a Scrappy and are actively cheering for Yara's to show up and teach him a lesson. Who knew being a skinning, castrating troll who takes pleasure in stoning cripples could come off as repugnant?
• Jossed. Whatever can be said about Ramsay, he ain't no Tyrion 2.0

Olyvar will play the role of the Blue Bard

Rather than suddenly introducing a new character, Cersei will torture Olyvar instead. He already has a link established with the Tyrells, to an extent.

• Jossed. That entire subplot is gone.

Daario is behind the Sons of the Harpy

Daario was instrumental in conquering Yunkai and Meereen for Dany. However, ever since he got in her bed he has done nothing but hurting her position.

Daario lived in Meereen before Daenerys came. He used to be a slave in the Fighting Pits, the ones Dany closed after taking the city, where he gained skills, fame, money and his freedom. Daario boasts that his Second Sons blend into the Meereenese easily. This is because many of them are likely Meereneese themselves, veterans of the Fighting Pits like him. Then come out of nowhere the Sons of the Harpy, this mysterious group that also blends easily in the Meereneese, wants the city to be like it was before Dany (including reopening the Fighting Pits) and whose members are armed and trained in close combat. Why? Because the Second Sons are the Sons of the Harpy!

The Son of the Harpy arrested was a patsy. He was arrested by Daario, when the Unsullied were about to leave the place. Other than hearsay from the Second Sons, the only evidence that he was the Son of the Harpy that had killed White Rat was that he had a bronze mask with him. However, Dany only knew that the Sons of the Harpy had killed White Rat because the guy who did it left a bronze mask over his body. The guy was wearing only one mask, so if he left it on White Rat he shouldn't have one when Daario arrested him. Furthermore, Daario prevents Dany's council from interrogating the prisoner arguing that he has interrogated him himself and has found that he has no useful information. We have no evidence of this but Daario's word.

Daario offers the worst advice. He wants Dany to reopen the Fighting Pits, a symbol of life in Meereen when it was controlled by the Masters. He wants her to release the dragons after they killed a child, even though she can't control them and one of them is still on the run. He was all for going to war with Yunkai again and killing the masters that did not bow last season, but Jorah talked her out of it. He executed Mossador, and he did it quick without giving her a chance to reconsider even though it was obvious that the crowd was getting pissed. And finally...

Daario pressed Barristan to leave the Great Pyramid for no apparent reason. By sheer coincidence, the Sons of the Harpy attack just then and leave Grey Worm and Barristan grievously injured.

Why does he do this? Well, if Dany leaves Meereen the Unsullied do as well, if she's killed they are left with no reason to stay either. Who's left to assume control of Meereen? The Second Sons, with Daario at their head.

• I think we can safely call this jossed after episode 9. If Daario was with the Sons, he passed up multiple golden opportunities to either kill her or let her die, and they were trying just as hard to kill him as anyone else. Sure, you could argue that they got dangerously close to killing her on his watch, but the unsullied failed to spot the Harpies, either, and Daario isn't responsible for them. Also, the show doesn't portray all of Daario's advice as the worst, even if you consider it to be. Tyrion backs up opening the fighting pits as a good concession on her part, for instance. And if she had taken Daario's advice and "cleared" the city of the Sons of the Harpy district by district instead of playing Dragon Roulette with Meereen's nobles, the attack at the arena might not have happened.

• Jossed Definitely by End of Season 6.

Olenna will engineer Cersei's downfall.

Since she's far more adept at playing the long game than Cersei, Olenna will undoubtedly manipulate the Sparrows into turning against Cersei.

• Semi-confirmed, Littlefinger, working with her, brought Lancel to the attention of the High Sparrow, who proceeded to arrest Cersei on the charge of incest.
  • Jossed. Cersei engineers Olenna's downfall.

Tyene and Bronn will be an item

She thinks he's handsome, and he will admire her for bring him as close to death as he's ever come. To take it a step further, he will stay in Dorne with her. With Tyrion gone, and Lollys engaged to someone else, he has no reason to return to King's Landing. And it would be funny after all his comments about the Dornish being crazy.

• Alternatively Tyene will take on the role of Arianne and tempt Bronn to kidnap or kill Myrcella. Forcing Bronn to become both Arys Oakheart and Darkstar at the same time and be killed by Jaime.

• Jossed. Tyene is Killed Offscreen and Bronn has no time for romance, least of all with someone who is damaged goods.

Sansa's statement in the last episode of season 5 that "I know WHAT Ramsay is" was significant foreshadowing.

• The "incredible plans" he had for Sansa's lady parts was to transplant them to Theon thereby making Theon literally his bitch.
• Jossed.

If Jaime returns to King's Landing, he will found out about Cersei's fornication and dump her

Face it, he'll learn eventually that Cersei slept with Lancel. There's likely no chance that he'll forgive her for cheating on him and will not be her champion once Cersei calls for a trial by combat for her crimes. With that, Ser Robert Strong will take his place as Cersei's champion.

• Jossed. He becomes a loyal lieutenant.

Melisandre does not serve the Red God

• She is simply a powerful witch who has deluded herself into thinking that she does. Her blood magic allows her to fake divine miracles and her gift of The Sight allows her to be aware of the Red God's prophecies, but she is not a true acolyte and thus her visions come without wisdom. She manufactured the Azor Ahai as Stannis Barathion out of a need for there to be one and due to her flawed visions when she should have sought-out Beric Dondarrion.
• Jossed. She has a genuine Crisis of Faith and Took a Level in Kindness after being exiled.

Stannis wasn't himself when he sacrificed Shireen.

Melisandre used one of her concoctions on him to make him lose his better judgement.

• Jossed. Melisandre confirms visibly and audibly that Stannis did do it and she believed it was true, and she is sorry.

Sansa is already pregnant by Ramsay.

Of course she is. Because nothing good can ever happen to her.

• Jossed. Thankfully.

Stannis will get a posthumous dying grace

Shipments of dragonglass will begin coming into the Night's Watch from Dragonstone, Stannis having sent word for such before he left Castle Black.

• Jossed. But on a side-note Sam does mutter in Season 7 that he should have listened to Stannis about the Dragonglass.

Brienne will have a Karmic Death for murdering Stannis

• She might end up being killed by one of his supporters, like Davos.
• Jossed. She might die at some point Davos won't be the one to do it, not after hearing what happened to Shireen, and not after letting Tyrion live for killing his son with wildfire.

The Harpy will be...

...either a choice between Daario/Missandei/Varys. Since the show is going ahead of the books and making drastic changes and the context of Meereen's society is not properly developed. The show will go for the simpler Murder Mystery plot and have things Narrowed It Down to the Guy I Recognize especially since Hizdahr is dead and presented as a Red Herring. The Harpy is well organized, effective and operates with inside knowledge. The only ones who fit and have the required narrative heft to pull this off is Daario or Varys or Missandei. What are their motives?

1. Varys manufactured the Harpy to manipulate Daenerys into the ruler he wants her to be, to play the role he needs her to fulfill. He's manipulated from the background since Season 1 and obviously he has to have some big game and payoff to compensate for The Reveal at the end of Book 5 which has been Adapted Out. Him being the Harpy will prove how this Apparently Powerless Puppetmaster has been The Omniscient all along.
2. Missandei is a long-shot but needs to be included simply because she's a named Essosi character with an ambiguous future role. She has inside information on Dany, is incredibly smart and sharp. She's also the one who convinces Dany to marry Hizdahr. The reason she manufactured the Harpy is that she doesn't want her to go to Westeros, she wants Mhysa to stay in Slaver's Bay forever.
3. Daario has always been a bad boy. In Season 3, he single-handedly hijacked the Second Sons, and helped Dany take over a city. He's also the man in charge of the Meereen City Watch. Pretty well organized and military man who was also in charge of security at the Fighting Pits when all those Harpy Men marched into the crowds. He had means, he had opportunity. As for motivations...he's Daario, who cares.

• Jossed on all counts.

Brienne will give Oathkeeper to Sansa

And she will use it to personally END HOUSE BOLTON.

• Jossed. Sansa does personally end House Bolton though by siccing dogs on him.

Resurrected Jon will be a Composite Character with Lady Stoneheart

Hence why Lady Stoneheart was cut out; two Starks returned fom the dead and out for revenge would be a bit much. And it seems like the sort of thing the show would do: they'll bring back everyone's fave and one of the few genuinely good people in Westeros... but when he comes back, he's not himself anymore.

• Jossed.

Either Lord Karstark or Smalljon Umber will conspire against Ramsay and arrange Sansa to marry one of them

While they seem to ally with Ramsay for now, it might not last due to their own ambitions and Ramsay is a psychotic murderer. And rather than kill Sansa, it might be better to have her widowed and be eligible to marry one of them and then have control of the North legitimately. That is if they find her and convince her to go along with the plan.

• Jossed.

An early season 7 episode will end with Littlefinger taking the iron throne

Qyburn and Cersei will have a falling out about something, and Cersei thinking that she's in power, combined with the knowledge of Dany's fleet and the battle of the bastards, will lead him to consider his options. This will combine with Littlefinger's plans, as Littlefinger will seek out Qyburn and strike a deal with him, likely involving better working conditions than previously and a saner boss. Littlefinger will somehow convince Cersei to put him in a high spot in the chain of succession (who is Cersei's heir at this point?), using incomplete intel about "his" victory in the north. At this point, he will manipulate Cersei to try to kill Qyburn with zombie-Gregor as his weapon, which will end up in Cersei's death.

Littlefinger, zombie-Gregor and Qyburn will then die in the following episode, when Dany's army takes King's Landing.

• Jossed; Littlefinger (1) never left the North throughout S7 and (2) was executed by Arya for treason in S7's last episode. Cersei, Qyburn and Gregor are all relatively alive and well at the same time.

Sansa and Jon pulling the Night's Watch with them to retake Winterfell will not end well

How numerous are the Watch at Castle Black? I get that they're probably leaving the other two fortresses of the Wall still fully manned (at least as manned as The Remnant can be) and at least a skeleton crew at Castle Black, but doesn't this leave a giant weakness for the White Walkers to exploit? And they probably will ... unless Sansa, Jon and Co. can rather improbably take down Ramsay Bolton in short order, and then immediately turn around with their surviving forces and reinforce the Wall before the Walkers can make it through.

• Jon will not bring the Watch to Winterfell. The Watch stay neutral in all political conflict. He specifically asked Tormund for men, not Edd.
  • After the raid on Crasters, the battle of Castle Black, Hardhome, several executed for mutiny or disobeying orders, and a couple during the wilding rescue of the loyalists, their down to 30-so black brothers, who wouldn't be worth marching on Winterfell, and unlikely to hold the wall if they stayed.
• Jossed. Sansa and Jon already retook Winterfell without any help from the Night's Watch. If you noticed, Jon and Sansa left Castle Black with Davos, Melisandre, Tormund and the Wildings not with the Night's Watch. Also Jon already asked help from Tormund and the Northern houses and Sansa brought in the Vale reinforcement during the Battle of the Bastards. The only thing that they need to worry about are the While Walkers and in Sansa's case, Littlefinger.

Cersei, ala Joffrey, will only last an episode or two into Season 7.

She's put herself in a rather untenable situation, to where she's got everyone except the Crownlands itself having effectively seceded from the Seven Kingdoms, and a massive Essos/Southern Westeros coalition led by a Targaryen and three dragons coming for King's Landing ^note Most of the Dothraki khalasar and their horses, ships from the Iron Islands, Essos, and Dorne, a good portion of the Unsullied, and in all likelihood ground forces from Dorne and the Reach, which were the two regions more or less untouched by the War of Five Kings. Her strongest allies are Qyburn, a Mad Scientist that's trying to be Hand, Grand Maester, and Master of Whispers at once and is probably out of his depth; Jaime, who isn't the fighter he once was and whom Cersei (to her detriment) probably wouldn't be willing to risk; and the Mountain, who is strong as hell but certainly not invincible as Oberyn Martell's already proven - not to mention he can't be Queensguard and take the field of battle at the same time, robbing Cersei of one of her strongest fighters should war take place outside of King's Landing.

• Jossed; she miraculously (through aid of Randyll (RIP), Jaime and Euron, then thanks to her opponents getting distracted by a Greater-Scope Villain) got through S7 alive and well. As for S8, however... (Especially considering that Jaime became a Defector from Decadence, Euron is a Dragon with an Agenda not unlikely to become The Starscream, and Gregor, while a really tough guy, isn't invincible after all.)

In Season 7, the three Sand Snakes will attempt to tame Dany's three dragons

Since those three are very impatient, they will try to tame the dragons so they can attack King's Landing. Similar to Quentyn Martell's poor approach in the books, this went bad and those three ended up barbecued by Drogon or Rhaegal (he's the smart one) or all three of them.

• Jossed; they didn't even try to deal with dragons. And two of them were taken out by Euron while traveling to Dorne, while the third one got captured along with her mother and Yara (who was assigned to safely accompany them to Sunspear). And that one (Tyene) was poisoned by a slow poison (courtesy of the Mad Queen) and left to succumb to it, and is likely already dead.

Jon Snow will fight Daenerys Targaryen for the Iron Throne, win and be known as "King Snow" or the "The Bastard King"

Jon Snow will end up with an army of others and wildlings, and Bran's advanced magic abilities. Danerys will invade Westeros. Between the two of them, they will obliterate the Lannisters (except for Tyrion, because he always manages to survive). The two will fight and Jon's side will prevail.

• Jossed; Jon and Dany joined forces against the White Walkers. Heck, they even tried to get Cersei into their alliance, and she agreed... except she lied.

Ser Jorah will return with a volcano arm

He'll find a Red Priest - possibly in Asshai by the Shadow, where Melisandre originates - and ask them to fix his greyscale. This will involve plunging his infected arm into a fire; it will emerge with charred and cracked skin, but clean of infection and possessed of superhuman strength.

• Jossed; he was cured the Bolton way courtesy of Sam.

The Mountain will be killed by the Sand Snakes

• Barring Cleganebowl, this is the only appropriate death for him. Of course, the Sand Snakes, like their father, won't survive the encounter because they're both too important and too non-essential to the plot to survive.
  • Jossed; the Sand Snakes were all offed in S7, two on-screen by Euron, one (<strike>hopefully</strike> likely) off-screen after getting a Kiss of Death from Cersei.

Jon's arc in Season 7 will be a Whole-Plot Reference to the European Refugee Crisis

Similar to Dany's arc in Mereen in Seasons 5 and 6 referencing the War on Terror, Jon's arc will focus on the difficulties of integrating the Wildlings into the North. The Wildlings in turn will be forced to choose between abandoning their own traditions to become "kneelers" or trying to retain their culture even though it conflicts with Northern laws and traditions.

• Jossed.

Benjen can raise wights.

He had the same magical ritual performed on him by the Children of The Forest that they did to make the first White Walker, and the wall is a barrier to him too because he's technically dead. It's not too much of a stretch to say that he has same power set as the Walkers.

• Jossed.

Sam will find himself in an unlikely position of command and will end up turning the tide of the "War of Two Queens".

For anyone that's been keeping track, Randyll Tarly was awarded Lord Paramountship of the Reach for turning on the Tyrells and helping Jaime take Highgarden. He had named Dickon his heir. Then the Tarly family barbecue happened. The only male not invited was Sam - which means, by hereditary rule, he could well be not just Lord of Horn Hill, but Warden of the South. He could well choose to realign The Reach with the alliance of Jon and Daenerys - particularly if/when he finds out that Jon has been named King in the North.

• Jossed.

Season 7 will end with Theon Greyjoy on the Iron Throne.

• How? Simple: Uncle Euron gets himself married to Cersei, then kills her off to become King. Theon gets over his PTSD in time and sneaks into King's Landing to free Yara, but ends up facing Euron in single combat. He wins, and by Ironborn law, that means he takes Euron's place. So begins the reign of Theon the Lame.
• Jossed.

How Littlefinger finally gets nailed to the wall (Lannister option)

Cersei finds out Littlefinger was one of the co-conspirators in Joffrey's death, and executed it in a way that would leave Tyrion in a position to be the most likely suspect. Given how casual she seemed to be about Tommen's death, this may not be such a big deal, if not for the fact that, if not for Joffrey's death, the following do not happen:

• The Kangaroo Court Trial for Tyrion, which resulted in the trial by Champion where Oberyn Martell died, which led to a vengeful Ellaria Sand murdering Myrcella.
• Tommen acceding to the throne, being far out of his depth and thereby allowing the Faith Militant to grow out of control - which necessitated the Green Trial gambit by Cersei, which directly led to Tommen's suicide.
  • Jossed; Cersei didn't give a damn about Littlefinger, and there was another faction with a very good reason to get rid of him. See the Confirmed theories page.

Sansa will turn on Jon and get killed

In contrast to the above, Sansa will wholeheartedly join Littlefinger and the writers will toss away all of her prior character growth just so they can have Jon make a 'hard choice' to execute Sansa and Littlefinger for betraying him and angst over for the rest of the series. Because apparently the Old Gods forbid two people reasonably talking about their problems with each other in a moving way that proves that despite everything Jon and Sansa value each other more than plots or positions, or the writers just have a Complexity Addiction.

• Jossed.

The White Walkers will bypass the wall.

• They will cause the water on either the Bay of Seals or the Bay of ice to freeze, allowing them and their forces to walk around it.They might also be able to use Gorne's way or the Bridge of Skulls.
  • Jossed They melt it with an ice dragon.

At least one of the villains will escape justice.

Joffrey, Cersei, Ilyn Payne, Tywin, The Mountain, Roose as of the third series, Frey, Ramsay... there are so, so many. Considering how many good characters die, it makes sense that some of these villains will never get the nasty fates they deserve.

• Jossed. All are dead by the show's penultimate episode.

Walder Frey will become a Composite Character of Emmon Frey and Devan Lannister.

When/If they show the Siege of Riverrun subplot from AFFC, Walder Frey will make an appearance at the Lannister/Frey camps close to Riverrun, where he has been appointed its newly made lord and arranged to marry a Lannister girl. This would solve the issue of introducing characters whose back stories haven't been previously established, particularly Emmon Frey, whose marriage to Tywin's sister would confuse TV audiences into thinking: "Wait, if the Lannisters were already married into House Frey, why weren't the Freys on the Lannisters' side in the first place?"

• Jossed.

Sandor will be Littlefinger's Spanner in the Works

• The Brotherhood without banner is on the way North, where they're likely to come across the Stark girls who Sandor has a soft spot for. He'll out Littlefinger for his role in Ned's death. His word alone probably won't be enough for Jon to execute him right away, but it'll spell his end.
  • Jossed.

Lord Tarth will help install Gendry as Lord of the Stormlands

• Brienne's father seems to command a great deal of respect, and would likely help back Gendry on Brienne's recommendation.
  • Jossed; it is Daenerys who legitimizes Gendry.

Arya will kill Jaime

The way she looks at him at Walder Frey's place... and she doesn't know that he has changed, so she will kill him and he'll die in Brienne's arms. He has told her once that he wants to die in the arms of the woman he loves, and he can't love Cersei anymore after she has done exactly the thing he killed the mad king for...

• Jossed.

Sam will use Heartsbane to forge a Valyrian Link

No Maester has earned it in a long time, and would it not be fitting for Sam, who wanted to be a wizard, to master the higher mysteries? Of course, with no Valyrian steel being easily available, he needs a source... and what better way to stick it to his father than to use part of the symbol of his father's worldview to make a symbol of Sam's and everything his father hates?

• As cool as that moment would be, I don't think Sam would do that. I would be surprised if he doesn't know/won't find out very quickly that Valyrian steel can kill White Walkers, and a sword would be better for that purpose than a chain link.
• Likely jossed, as he left the citadel due to their inaction.

Tyrion will die in the final episode.

After a great victory, a satisfying fate for all the most hated characters, and a Stark ruling the North with justice and honor, as in Season One, there will be a final betrayal (possibly orchestrated by a Bolton) and Tyrion, new Hand to the King\Queen will be killed. The final moment of the series will be Tyrion dying in someone's arms (Sansa?) and saying, "And now his watch is ended." That would of course be the only way to kill him off without everybody boycotting the series, and by ensuring that the ending is not entirely satisfying.

• Jossed

The Night's Watch will collapse

The Night's Watch will be yet again divided between the mutineers loyal to Ser Alliser and those who ultimately remained loyal to Jon (i.e. Edd). After a struggle that will most likely happen if Jon gets resurrected, Jon & company will be forced to desert/flee Castle Black and take refuge with the Wildlings while the mutineers take over Castle Black. Jon will shift his focus towards taking the North back from the Boltons, while the Night's Watch will end up becoming the first victims of the White Walkers south of the wall.

• Jossed, most of the Night's Watch desert after the Night King is dead, because their true duty is finally fulfilled. The remainder are those too dedicated to the organization to let petty arguments tear them apart.

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