Game of Thrones: 10 Predictions for Season 7

Okay, so we don’t think this one will actually happen, but given Thrones has confirmed they’re merely cousins, a marriage between Jon and Sansa is now possible — and we couldn’t resist playing with the idea even though we’re as creeped out as you are. With Sansa having a strong claim on Winterfell and Jon having one for the Iron Throne, together they could firmly control the Seven Kingdoms while keeping their rule all in the family. At best this would be a power arrangement rather than a bona fide romance (trying to imagine Sansa making out with Jon gives us the shudders). But what is far more likely, of course, is this…

That Jon is Dany’s nephew makes this long expected pairing arguably more incestuous than Jon + Sansa even though it feels less so (oddly). And the show is based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, so “Ice” must be Jon and “Fire” is Dany (and “Song” must be having sex with your aunt). The duo would have an unbeatable Iron Throne claim, and Jon could add his own Northern forces to Dany’s enormous army (Dothraki and Wildlings would totally get along — if they didn’t kill each other). But which of the two would end up on the Throne? Both have been declared the One Who Was Promised. We suspect Dany, if only because Jon is too chivalrous to protest if she wants it. All of this assumes, of course that...

Once at Castle Black, Bran could simply send a raven to Winterfell: “Hey Jon, I’m alive, I’m a wizard now, I’m hanging out with your buddy Dolorous Edd, and actually you’re a Targaryen heir to the Iron Throne. P.S. Benjen says ‘hi’”... Okay on second thought, Bran would probably have to see Jon in person to convince him. Thing is, how could they tell the rest of Westeros that Jon is Rhaegar’s son? Howland Reed, who survived the Tower of Joy fight with Ned, could presumably vouch, for whatever that’s worth. Meanwhile, there’s the question of where Dany lands in Westeros to consider…

Dany won’t just sail direct to King’s Landing. The last time somebody tried that was Stannis Baratheon, which caused the infamously botched Battle of the Blackwater, a fight Tyrion is rather familiar with. Besides, the Dany vs. Cersei conflict would be over too soon — we all want to see Cersei’s Mad Queen rule for awhile. Dany will land in Dorne where she’s established a new alliance with Ellaria Sand and Lady Olenna. Complication: Tyrion might not be too thrilled with Ellaria for killing Myrcella, or with Olenna for killing Joffrey, since he was blamed for it. But who doesn’t have something to apologize for in this show? Bonus: Dany’s reaction to the Sand Snakes. This landing assumes Dany can get past…

The murderous Greyjoy king is a wild card. Will Dany face off against Euron’s ships at sea before she reaches Westeros? If so, perhaps Euron will cost Dany’s fleet heavily, putting her once again at a disadvantage. Will Dany take the fight to Euron on the Iron Islands, invade that first, to keep her promise to Yara? Or will Euron be avoided entirely before she lands in Dorne? Euron is our last human Big Bad left. At the end of season 6, Cersei seems impossibly outnumbered — Dany has the Unsullied, Dothraki and dragons — so she needs alliances to survive, and Euron is the sort of strong unscrupulous type that she likes. But there’s somebody who might stop Cersei before Dany gets her chance…

Jaime’s in for a rough road. Cersei is the great romance of his life, but she’s on an increasingly destructive path and the new authority will allow her to indulge all those homicidal urges (of which she has many). Jaime’s brother Tyrion is on Dany’s side, and his friend-crush Brienne has joined the Starks, so the three major teams all have a person Jaime cares about. “The things I do for love,” Jaime has reminded us. But no matter what Jaime does now, he’s probably going to have to kill, or help kill, somebody he loves — if somebody doesn’t kill him first. Speaking of the Starks...

Now that Arya has demonstrated her cannibalistic culinary skills to Walder Frey and is back in Central Westeros, she’s sure to have heard that Jon and Sansa have reclaimed her home, as well as that kill-list priority Cersei is on the Iron Throne. So does Arya next go North or South? One would think she’d spend at least some time at home — plus we really want to see what once-bickering siblings Arya and Sansa are like together now that they both have accumulated so many battle scars (“No, I’ve had it worse!). And let’s not forget…

The Red Woman is the puzzle piece that’s the most difficult to fit. Her goal has been to help humanity prepare for the Great War against the Night King. But Jon Snow ordered her to ride south, away from the fight. So presumably she’ll show up in King’s Landing or Dorne (no we don’t think she’ll resurrect Catelyn Stark’s decomposed corpse — what would be the point?). But she could ignore Jon’s order and ride north to trade magical tips with Bran at the Night’s Watch on the presumed frontline of the battle to come. Unless … unless …

The Red Woman is on her list, after all, and they’re now both running around solo in the same general area. Remember what Melisandre said the last time they met? “I see a darkness in you. And in that darkness, eyes staring back at me. Brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes … eyes you'll shut forever. We will meet again.” One could argue Melisandre has served her key purpose in the show now that she’s brought back Snow. Still, she’s a weak entry in Arya’s list, so how much does Arya really care — kidnapping Gendry is a misdemeanor at best compared to the high crimes of her other targets. Besides, they might need Melisandre once…

First, Jon Snow joked to Edd when he left him in charge of Castle Black, “Don’t knock it down while I’m gone.” Then we got that telling exchange in the season 6 finale with Benjen and Bran reminding us that non-humans cannot pass The Wall. But if the 10,000-year-old behemoth simply halts the Night King and his Army of the Dead then there’s no great battle that’s been teased for six seasons (And where’s the fun in that?). There are gateways through The Wall, of course (could the Night King’s mark on Bran’s arm create some kind of magical loophole?), but somehow we suspect the visual of a 700-foot wall of ice crashing down will be too irresistible not to show.

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