Fan Speculation for Season Eight of Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is a dramatic television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, adapted from George R. R. Martin’s series of fantasy novels A Song of Ice and Fire. The series premiered on HBO on 17 April 2011 and will conclude with its eighth season, which will premiere on 14 April 2019 (in America).

Set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, Game of Thrones follows three story arcs, several underlying plots and countless primary and secondary characters. At the end of season seven we saw the Night King riding the White Walker’s new addition, Viserion, towards the Wall. The undead dragon then flew adjacent to the wall, spitting blue fire in its directing, causing it to crack and crumble obediently. The last images we see are of the army of White Walkers heading towards Winterfell, leaving us worrying about the fate of our beloved Tyrion (and the other characters, of course).

The highly-anticipated season eight comes after an agonising two year wait, and has many questions to answer. Questions like: why was Viserion’s fire blue, how will Jon’s parentage affect his relationship with Daenerys, and where will the White Walkers attack first?

Will the series end with Cersei remaining on the Iron Throne, or will she finally be knocked down a peg or two?

I got together with three different people to discuss the final season – Cheyni Saville and Brandon Arthur, both keen watchers since Game of Thrones began in 2011, and Melanie Wilson, who’s been hooked since 2015.

I firstly asked what they’d like to see from season eight of the multi-award winning television show.

Brandon begun with: “I’d like to see some kind of backstory about the Children of the Forest, like their origins. I’d also like the White Walkers to meet their death, and for Jaime to stick Cersei’s head on a spike.” He laughed, “Oh, and obviously for Daenerys to end up on the throne.”

“No way. I want to see Daenerys dead,” Cheyni said defensively, “she’s such an annoying and entitled character. And I hope Drogo doesn’t come back.” Melanie nodded in agreement, before adding:

“I agree. Tyrion should be the ruler, not Daenerys. And I definitely don’t want Daenerys and Jon to have a relationship.”

Despite the differences of opinion about the Mother of Dragons, one thing was agreed upon: the series should conclude with anyone else sitting on the Iron Throne, just as long as it’s not Cersei.

Many fans are intrigued to know more about the Children of the Forest, including their backstory and what they’ll do next.

Despite wishing for what they want to happen to come true, Game of Thrones is known for breaking its devoted fans’ hearts now and again. Some classic examples include: Jon Snow’s death, and just when we all began to heal after the initial heartbreak, they brought him back to life; Ned Stark’s death; and who could forget, that fateful episode in season three where the Red Wedding took place.

It’s no secret the writers like to surprise us and throw a spanner in the works just as everything starts to go the way we want it, so it never hurts to look realistically in the future. This brought me onto my second question: What do you think will happen?

“Sadly, I think Daenerys and Jon will fall in love and she’ll take the throne.” Melanie said as she dropped her head, “As for the White Walkers, I think they could enter the South and melt from the heat, causing them to come back to life. After all, we’ve never seen them outside of the North, so we don’t know what could happen to them when they exist in a hotter climate.”

“That’s an interesting theory,” Brandon, who’s watched the whole series three times, marvelled, “I’ve never thought about it that way.”

“Or there could be an Ice Age from the White Walkers crossing through the wall,” Cheyni interjected, “if they started a battle and won, the Night King has the power to make everyone a White Walker. It’d end with nothing but White Walkers roaming Westeros.”

“I think the White Walkers will win, too. I refuse to believe that the writers would give us a happy ending, like Jon and Daenerys winning.” Brandon agreed, “I think they’ll win the Battle of Winterfell, head south to King’s Landing and take over.”

I asked the group if there were any last things that they foresaw happening, and Brandon was determined that Arya would do something “cool.”

With Arya and Sansa being main characters from the first season, we’ve seen them grow from children to warriors. Will they have a happy ending, or will their fate be to join the White Walkers?

After hearing a few theories and predictions for season eight from avid fans of the show, I can hardly contain my excitement. With only six days left to wait for the new season, we have less than a week before we find out whether we can laugh or cry, whether the White Walkers win or not, and whether Daenerys and Jon will end their torrid love affair once they realise they’re related.

Season eight of Game of Thrones premieres in the UK this Monday on Sky Atlantic at 2am.