It’s finally almost time for Game of Thrones to come back, and as usual, there are plenty of theories to examine before the madness starts up again. Now that the show has effectively outpaced the books, the book readers don’t even have that much of an advantage over the show-only people (though we will be here to answer your questions about prophecies that never made it to TV, for the low price of whatever Game of Thrones beer Ommegang comes out with next and maybe one day where you come over to play the Game of Thrones board game without complaint). Here, a list of 13 theories to think about ahead of what surely will be the best day in July.
1. Cleganebowl is happening. This is an old one that has been kicking around for a while, but the gist is that the Hound is going to fight his brother the Mountain again, only this time it’s going to be extra crazy because the Mountain is now a resurrected super-strong nightmare. After Cleganebowl failed to materialize in season six, proponents gave up hope — that is, until the latest trailer showed a person who appeared to be the Hound fighting someone off-camera. It could be anyone, of course, but pray to the old gods and the new that it’s the Mountain.
2. Tyrion is a Targaryen. This is another oldie, predicated on a vision Daenerys had in the House of the Undying that said, “The dragon has three heads.” Daenerys is the first head, and now that Jon Snow has been confirmed as the son of Rhaegar Targaryen, he’s the second. But who’s the third? Many fans have long believed it’s Tyrion, who in season six showed that he’s the only person besides Daenerys who’s capable of “reasoning” with her dragons. As the rest of the theory goes, Tyrion’s real father is not Tywin Lannister but Aerys Targaryen, aka the Mad King, and Tywin’s hatred of Tyrion stems not from his dwarfism but from the fact that he’s not actually Tywin’s son.
3. We’re going to see Casterly Rock. The Lannisters’ seat of power has never appeared on the show but a brief moment in the latest trailer shows Grey Worm in front of a large rock formation with a hole in the bottom of it, surrounded by water. Casterly Rock, as it happens, is built into a large rock formation and sits on the western coast of Westeros. Is Daenerys about to send the Unsullied to lay waste to the Lannister stronghold or is Grey Worm just hanging out by some random, Lannister-unaffiliated rock wall?
4. Jaime is going to kill his beloved sister. Back in season five, young Cersei visited a fortune teller named Maggy the Frog, who told her that she would wed a king, all her children would die, and she would die by the hands of the valonqar — a High Valyrian word for little brother. All but the last part of that prophecy has come true. Cersei thought Tyrion was the valonqar for a long time, but since Jaime was born after his twin, he’s technically Cersei’s younger brother too. Is he the one who’s going to kill her? (If you have more time and energy on your hands, A Wiki of Ice and Fire has a full list of possible valonqar candidates, as well as an explanation of why it might also mean little sister.)
5. Jon Snow is Azor Ahai. Azor Ahai is a mythical figure who followers of R'hllor (the Lord of Light) believe will be reborn to rescue the world from darkness. Melisandre initially believed Stannis Baratheon was Azor Ahai but that didn't really pan out, did it? In the books, when Melisandre looks for Azor in her flame visions, she sees only snow, and on the show, she's definitely found herself a new buddy in Jon. Is he the one who's going to wield Lightbringer?
6. Bran is really Bran the Builder. You could not pay me enough to care about Bran's storyline, but if you're into that kind of thing, think back to the episode when Hodor died. It sort of implied that Bran is capable of time travel, because he was telling Hodor to "hold the door" in the present but he somehow broke his mind in Hodor's childhood, which happened before Bran was even born. Does this mean Bran is capable of influencing events throughout all of time and is he really the mythical Bran the Builder, the founder of House Stark?
7. Gendry is back and ready to make some Valyrian steel. Arya's old pal Gendry was last seen in season three, getting smuggled out of Dragonstone in a rowboat by Ser Davos. But — spoiler alert — Joe Dempsie has been seen filming for season seven, and — even more of a spoiler alert — he's shot scenes with Peter Dinklage, per the Watchers on the Wall blog. To take this theory even further, remember that Sam Tarly is now in the Citadel, hanging out in the library to end all libraries, and for his storyline to go anywhere, he's got to learn something important there. Something like how to make Valyrian steel, perhaps? And you know what you need to make Valyrian steel? A blacksmith, which Gendry just happens to be! No matter what, I hope Arya finally gets the makeout with Gendry that she's been craving basically since the day they met.
8. Cersei will marry Littlefinger and cement the unholiest union in Westeros history. The more commonly held theory is that Cersei will marry Euron Greyjoy, who wanted Daenerys but might have to settle for someone else now that Dany has allied herself with his niece Yara. If that doesn't pan out, Cersei could turn her eye toward Littlefinger, a truly terrible guy who'd actually be kind of perfect for her — he wants power, he's got an army, and he'll do everything he can to win the titular game of thrones.
9. Jon Snow and Daenerys are going to marry and/or have sex as the world burns. Sure, they're nephew and aunt, but closer blood relations than that have never stopped anyone in Westeros before!
10. Nymeria is back. Poor Nymeria had to take up a life of vagrancy back in season one after Sansa's direwolf Lady "attacked" Joffrey, but she might finally have her moment in season seven. In the books, it's implied that Nymeria leads a massive wolf pack throughout Westeros. Watchers on the Wall reported back in February that the show was shooting in Calgary, where they film the direwolf scenes against a green screen. Maisie Williams was there, as was the wolf who plays Ghost, plus one other wolf who has very similar coloring to the dog Arya hugged goodbye all those years ago.
11. Arya will kill Littlefinger. Back in May, the remaining Stark children did a photo shoot for Entertainment Weekly, and in a couple of photos, Arya had a weapon in her hilt that wasn't her trusty sword Needle. It was Littlefinger's catspaw dagger, aka the one that Catelyn Stark wrestled from the hands of Bran's would-be attacker back in season one. Littlefinger had it in season six, so if Arya has it now, does that mean she killed him and took it? Unclear, but Petyr should watch his back all the same.
12. Sam is the person who documents the whole shebang. Sam is kind of a contentious character given his preference for reading over battling, but maybe all this time you thought he was boring he was actually the person who wrote down everything that takes place during A Song of Ice and Fire. When Sam arrived in the Citadel library, he encountered a chandelier that looks a lot like the astrolabe that appears in the show's opening credits. Maybe he's the one who records everything that goes down and that chandelier was a clue that he's the voice through which you're hearing all these tales.
13. Ice dragons. I don't really think you need any information beyond the phrase "ice dragons" to get hyped, but fine. In the books, ice dragons are legendary beasts that are dragons that breathe ice instead of fire. Director Matt Shankman told Entertainment Weekly that the dragons would be the size of 747s this year, but one Reddit user suspects he wasn't talking about Drogon and his brothers — he was talking about ice dragons, presumably employed by the Night King. ARE YOU READY?
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