Game of Thrones Season 6 Finale Predictions!
The season six finale of Game of Thrones is finally upon us, and the show is starting to feel like it’s setting itself up for the end. If the series really does have just two more seasons, that means this is the second-to-last offseason. This upcoming offseason will be an interesting one too. George R.R. Martin should have “Winds of Winter” published by the end of the year, which will provide fans with a huge chunk of plot that may or may not forecast season seven of the TV show.
As a nod to Martin’s still forthcoming sixth novel of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, the season six finale (parallels much?) is titled “Winds of Winter.” At 69 minutes, it’s the longest episode in the show’s history and it promises to be absolutely jam-packed.
If you’re not caught up on Game of Thrones and want to remain unspoiled, now is the time to stop reading.
R+L=J
It’s time. All those mentions of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark throughout the Game of Thrones TV series (George R.R. Martin lays it on even thicker in his books) will finally pay off.
Bran will finish the vision he had in episode three. He will watch his father and Howland Reed enter the Tower of Joy to find his sister, Lyanna, dying after giving birth to the son no one knew she had: Jon Snow. It’ll also be clear that Rhaegar is Jon’s father, setting up his season seven plot.
Jon’s parentage is immensely important to the grand story Game of Thrones is telling. The first scene of season one introduced White Walkers, and here they are with their Night King readying an all-out assault on the realms of men.
In the books, Melisandre has a series of visions that foreshadow Jon’s death, his resurrection and status as a certain prophetic figure. In the same episode Bran witnesses the scene at the Tower of Joy, Melisandre welcomes Jon back to life by telling him he might be The Prince That Was Promised.
Jon being said Prince sets him up as the hero destined to fight the Night King in the War for the Dawn. At this point, not making the Tower of Joy reveal would be more shocking than making it.
For a full rundown of why R+L=J matters, watch YouTuber Alt Shift X’s explainer here.
All the Stark children will be in the North at the same time
And by “the North,” I mean the lands in between The Wall and The Neck. The way characters have been traveling this season, Benjen, or “Coldhands,” has had plenty of time to deliver Bran and Meera to The Wall.
My guess is Bran and Meera will not go through Castle Black, but through the secret passage through the Shadow Tower. That’s where Bran, Meera and Jojen met Sam and Gilly in season three. I’m anxious to see if Benjen accompanies Bran and Meera south of The Wall. But if he doesn’t, or simply can’t, I’d expect him to take Bran and Meera to Castle Black so the Night’s Watch can help them get to Winterfell, or wherever else they’re going.
Seeing how fans reacted to Jon and Sansa reuniting at Castle Black, just imagine Arya and Bran returning to Winterfell after all this time. It probably won’t happen this episode, but that seems to be where things are headed. Braavos is quite close to the North and characters this season are traveling at blistering paces. Once Arya does land back in Westeros (perhaps in White Harbor), she’ll be a relatively short ride from Winterfell.
The Night King arrives at The Wall
You’d think the Night King and his army could catch up to Benjen, Bran and Meera pretty easily given how much land lies between the Three-Eyed Raven’s cave and The Wall.
So what if the Night King marked Bran not to kill him, but to locate and capture him. If Bran’s mark passing through The Wall breaks — or weakens — its magic, then the Night King would be inclined to let them go on their way. The Night King has proven pretty adept at mowing down humans, and if he wanted the Three Eyed Raven dead so badly, he probably wants Bran dead too.
Of course, not capturing Bran is riskier than capturing him, so maybe there’s another way the Night King can tear down or pass through The Wall. Another possibility is that the White Walkers don’t bring winter, but rather need winter to exist. It could be that Benjen, Bran and Meera simply got too far south for them to pursue. Since this episode is called “The Winds of Winter,” I think a strong closing shot would be of the Night King and his army arriving at The Wall, or at least glimpsing it from a distance.
Sansa puts Littlefinger on a leash
She told Littlefinger he was either “an idiot” or “my enemy.” Littlefinger is not an idiot, but it’s also possible he was telling the truth when he said he didn’t know the depths of Ramsay’s depravity. Now that Sansa (sorta) has his army, could she just do away with the guy that left her to the Boltons?
For Sansa to even deem Littlefinger expendable she has to know that she can keep the Knights of the Vale. The Lords of the Vale don’t really like Littlefinger, and they don’t even try to hide it. The only reason the knights are even in the North is because Robin Arryn ordered it.
Sansa could have Robin wrapped around her finger if she wanted, and thus she could control the Vale’s forces. Problem is, Littlefinger (presumably) left Robin in the Vale.
After all the horrible things she’s been through, Sansa is finally having the season we’ve all wanted for her. She got Jon to help her re-take their home. She won the Battle for Winterfell with her secret dealings with Littlefinger. She watched her former tormentor die a gruesome death, eliminating House Bolton in the process.
Sansa is taking control, and just like she killed Ramsay with his own hound, she’ll beat Littlefinger at his own game. Littlefinger has repeatedly made his affection (ahem, lust) for Sansa known. It’s his weakness, and Sansa will exploit it and use it to destroy him, but only after she gets whatever she can from him.
Cersei kills Tommen when she burns down the Sept of Baelor
By now, it’s pretty obvious what Cersei means to do to get revenge on the High Sparrow. Aerys II “The Mad King” Targaryen hid caches of wildfire beneath King’s Landing in order to burn the city to the ground in the event it was sacked.
Before he could do that, Jamie killed him and the wildfire caches remained intact. You can be damned sure that’s the “rumor” Cersei asked Qyburn about at the end of episode eight. My guess is Cersei will wait for both Margaery and Loras Tyrell’s trial to conclude before setting off the wildfire and killing everyone inside the Sept of Baelor.
In one fell swoop, she could eliminate the High Sparrow, the Faith Militant and House Tyrell (if Mace is in the building, which he probably will be). Cersei will have the tricky task of ensuring that her son Tommen will not be in the Sept when she pulls this off.
In that regard, she will fail. Naturally, Tommen will want to be with his bride for her trial, though Cersei will likely come up with a way to get him out of there in time.
Tommen has been distancing himself from his mother this season, so it stands to reason that he will make the trek from the Red Keep to the Sept separately. My guess is Cersei will launch her plan before securing Tommen’s safety. Yes, Tommen means more to her than anything in the world but she said herself she’d burn entire cities to the ground to protect him. She’ll try to do just that, but she’ll kill him in the process.
Here’s the kicker: if Tommen, Margaery, Loras and Mace die, there will be no one to challenge Cersei from taking the Iron Throne for herself. If you follow the rules of succession, it actually goes to Jaime. Normally, a Kingsguard Knight cannot have any other title, but Tommen removed Jaime from the Kingsguard.
Remember in season one when Jaime said he’d kill everyone on Earth until he and Cersei were left alone? This scenario might be the closest thing they get to just that. Literally no one would be left to rule except Cersei and/or Jaime.
It also sets up Jaime to kill his sister the same way he killed the Mad King. Now that Daenerys is preparing to sail to Westeros, Cersei may soon be in a position to defend King’s Landing against an invader. With dragons flying overhead and boats of Dothraki and foreign sellswords approaching, Cersei might opt for a scorched Earth defense of the city (literally). And just when his sister is spiraling out of control, Jaime would put her out of her misery and save King’s Landing once again.
