SPOILERS for Game of Thrones.
I’ve spent this whole week getting drunk on Game of Thrones conspiracies and then feeling the agonizing “hangover” of incipient grief for all of the characters who will die. We all care so much about these characters! Anyway, same as last week, HBO has released some new images ahead of the next episode’s airing. I’ve been staring at these photos for a long time and coming up with storylines to explain them. Let’s begin with the photo above. Jon Snow and Daenerys in battle-fur, looking DOWN at Winterfell? How did they get there? Episode 2 ended with them IN Winterfell, but as the army of the undead marches into Winterfell, suddenly they’re a mile away? I would also assume that this is some kind of strategy which Jon has put into place – they’ll both ride back to Winterfell on the dragons.
Brienne and Jaime Lannister on the literal front line of battle. It makes me emotional to think of how brave they are. *sob* they’re both gonna die…
Jon is clearly in the midst of some deeply undead sh-t and he has been SHOOK to his very core. OR maybe this is his “OMG I FORGOT ABOUT THE ICE DRAGON” face.
Tyrion and Varys down in the crypt… which makes me wonder if they’re both gonna die.
I desperately need to know what Arya just said to Sansa to make Sansa look at her like that. My guess is that Arya was like “by the way, you know I’m a Faceless Man/assassin now right?”
Sansa looking pensive and angry in the crypt. Sansa was on one of the towers as the army of the undead approached, so my guess is that Arya or Jon or both told her to get down to the crypt where it’s “safe.” I would also assume that someone down there pissed her off. You know what this reminds me of? The siege of Kings Landing, when Cersei held drunken court in the Red Keep and she tormented Sansa. Sansa isn’t pulling a Cersei – she’s not getting drunk, and hopefully she’s not tormenting anyone.
Photos courtesy of HBO/Game of Thrones.
I don’t think the Night King will show up, I think he’s taking that dragon south…King’s Landing, the Citadel (all those memories)
He was created by the Children to eradicate men, he’s really just following orders
I know it sounds weird, but I just want to be devastated the way I was after watching the red wedding. But on a whole different level
At this point, its going to be a let down if we are NOT devastated, lol.
Right!?!?
I was just talking to a student about Sunday and he mentioned this very theory!
Does the NK even know if KL exists? He has never been south of the wall.
I too don’t see why he’d want to go that far so soon. The NK doesn’t have much of an idea of what is south and wouldn’t care about the ruler of the 7 kingdoms or the iron throne: it wants an endless night and for this he has to kill all those living. There’s no reasons to skip the 20k or so that are in Winterfell, esp if the 3ER is there. He’s been waiting for that moment for 3000 years, the reign of the Targs/throne is peanuts in comparison.
I agree with this. He wasn’t shown in the last episode. Just his “Dead Generals”. It would have been climatic to show him too.
I don’t think everyone is going to die tomorrow. I do think we will lose some but not a lot. Perhaps a few major players. Besides there’s only 3 more after tomorrow. I think most of the blood bath will happen in episode 4.
The NK wont be there 100 bets that he is on his way to KL.
Also I truly believe that Bran has something up his sleeve because after Tyrion got done talking to him that’s when he was all “I think we’re going to make it.” Bran told him something. Are we 100% sure Bran cannot raise the dead? All the women and children grown in the crypts are either going to be protected or killed by all the corpses down there.
Does anyone know if Arya can steal a WW face?
Probably not because they are already dead.
It seems like it takes some preparation (and magic), I can’t believe it’d be easy to do during a battle. Also, most of those faces (and the rest) are half decomposed, the faces are usually from freshly deceased people
I wonder if she has Littlefinger’s face?
Remember the horn the special horn? There is some speculation if it is blown it raises the Starks from the dead and they will fight for the living/family. That would be pretty awesome if it happened.
Loud and clear it sounds in the valleys of the hills,’ he said, ‘and then let all the foes of Gondor flee.
I think that special horn was supposed to eventually bring down the Wall in the books but the show created the ice dragon for that. So I’m not sure if they intend to repurpose the horn or they are just going to forget they put it in the show when they didn’t know what they were going to do later.
Ohhh these pictures!!!
So, the picture with Jon and Dany – they are def looking down at Winterfell, but Winterfell doesn’t look like its burning, there’s just lots of controlled flames. So I don’t think its the end of the battle (I assume Winterfell will burn, bc they’re all running around with all this fire, but who knows.) Maybe they did go to the dragons, but how? They cant just run past the army of the dead….maybe they used one of the secret tunnels in the crypt to escape and get to the dragons? Maybe one dragon carried them there and now they have the other?
There’s definitely going to be some strategizing/backstabbing/tea-spilling in the crypt, I’m actually kind of looking forward to that, ha.
in general, everyone looks too calm in these pictures. They look like they could be stills from last week (with the exception of Jamie and Brienne and Jon.)
The plan, as they described it in their war council last episode, that Jon and Dany would position themselves and the dragons above Winterfell and the Godswood as part of the trap to lure the Night King to Bran and then they would swoop down and kill him – the Night King, not Bran.
YES, you are right. I watched that episode twice and still forgot that part lol.
I haven’t had my coffee yet, and might be a little blurry eyed…
but are we sure that is Jon with Dany in the picture?
The coat/fur looks like the one Sansa is wearing in the other pictures.
@kaiser – curious- does HBO label the pictures with who is in them?
I read that it is Sansa as well. I can’t tell!
Joking aside, I think it’s jon based off of their heights lol
And they also mentioned lighting “just in case” fires…I believe it was a line of fire that they could use to throw their own dead in to keep them from being reanimated as wights.
I’m kind of hoping Arya is telling Sansa how she spent her evening, and Sansa is like “wait, what?”
HAHAHAHA yes…..Sansa is like “so now we fight” and Aryas like “well I lost my virginity, so I’m ready to die” and Sansa’s like…what???
Bahahaha!
I don’t know how much Arya knows, but telling Sansa about losing her virginity would be completely insensitive to the trauma Sansa went through when she lost hers. It would be completely inappropriate to have that conversation with her.
I wonder if Arya even knows. Sansa has kept mum on what happened but Bran knows. Bran is very close-lipped himself, so I don’t think he’s sharing.
In the last photo of Sansa sitting, there’s a man’s face in the background. Could that be a white walker?
If you zoom in it looks like Jon??
I thought it looked like him, too. The forehead seems to match.
Holy CRAP, that is creepy! Good spotting!
Excellent catch. At first glance it looks like Arya! Or maybe it’s one of the dead Starks in the Crypt!
Almost looks like their mother, Catelyn.
It is a human and not a white walker. Someone will try to assassinate her?
Arya is lowkey sporting sex hair lol. You guys, for real. I can’t wait for Sunday to arrive but also I do NOT want it to. Stupid feelings.
I feel just the same ! I’m so exited and curious and impatient to know what’s going to happened… but also I don’t feel ready to lose them… 😱😭
I’m hoping our major characters make it to see Cersei die. & she must or I will be shattered. BTW we are doing watch parties on my street. Last week I made ‘cake of the North a cake so dark it’s full of terrors’ & this week making white walkers. Here is the recipe. White Walker:
Fill a tall glass with ice.Pour white chocolate liqueur halfway up the glass.Fill the rest of the glass up with vanilla cream soda.
Slowly and gently pour a spoonful of blue curaçao over the top (drink should look layered: light blue on top with white below).
Enjoy.
SNAPPYFISH! That sounds incredible. I’m def making that.
@snappyfish you’re a genius! Cake sounds divine. I’m going to go with White Walkertinis! https://www.absolutdrinks.com/en/drinks/chocolate-martini/
@myrtle that sounds delish!! We are also making Mother of Dragons. Which is simply Rose Champagne with dragon fruit balls.
I don’t think anyone major will die until the last two episodes. if anyone will die it will someone tertiary like Greyworm, Podric, or Varys. I still have all my fingers crossed that Missandei and Greyworm make it to the end and take their black behinds out of the North. The Northerners are too racist and dirty to appreciate both of them.
viserion is not an ice dragon. viserion is a white or however you spell it. an ice dragon is made from ice and would melt if it got too warm. viserion is a reanimated corpse. “ugly cry”
I’ve been thinking the same. The producers have been talking this Winterfell battle up as if it’s the last one, but we know there will be a second battle in King’s Landing. I think they want the viewers to breathe a sigh of relief and then gut us with the second wave. I don’t think Cersei dies until the final episode – the producers love her too much.
And here’s a thought – the dragons are immune to dragon fire, but won’t Viserion die from it? Can the dragons kill their brother?
Apparently the dragon is a white dragon and not a wight dragon if you get what i mean! He’s more like a white walker than a wight as the night’s king touched the dragon to reanimate it, like it does to babies to turn them into white walkers. So Viserion is more powerful than a wight but I don’t know what that really means!
I actually spent yesterday evening watching the youtube theories on GOT…. and my god, I have no idea what’s gonna happen. I do think that this is not going to be the last battle with the NK. No way. And I still wanna know what the crypts are all about.
I think Brienne is a goner, but not Jaime. Both Tyrion and Jaime will live a while longer, maybe to face Cersei. Varys will die, though. Jon and Dany flew on those dragons, but I think it may be part of an escape?
I need Sansa to make it, I can’t deal with her death D:
Me either, hun! She needs to live and rule the north and never get married but have a side piece.
IA on everything! My fave character.
Sansa’s story arc isn’t complete so I don’t think she will die in the next episode, especially since she will be in the super safe crypts. 😉
If she croaks, I’m going to flip a car! Sansa is my fave!!!
During the war council on the last episode, they plotted a trap for the Night King. While everyone else who isn’t a warrior was to go to the crypts, Bran was going to the Godswood to lure the Night King there, The warriors would defend Winterfell itself with Theon and the Ironborne defending the Godswood with Jon, Dany and the dragons. Davos said the dragons would be very helpful on the open plain in front of Winterfell but Jon told him they weren’t taking the dragons onto the field, they would stay behind to protect Bran and kill the Night King.
It seems a big waste not to take at least one dragon into the open field.
I think the picture with Sansa and Arya is more of “we have to leave NOW” and Sansa’s like
” but there must always be a Stark at Winterfell” and Arya is “there is no more Winterfell”
Maybe Bran will merge with the sacred tree…wasnt the old 3er part of a tree??
I sobbed when Viceron died – i am NOT ready for people to die😭😭😭
Oh, that’s a good theory!
Arya looks just as distressed as Sansa, so whatever’s going on, they are both in “oh sh**” mode.
And isn’t Cersei supposed to die by the hand of one of her brothers? So either Jamie or Tyrion have to live long enough for that to happen right!?
I don’t think the show included that part. It did discuss the three children and three shrouds for Cersei but not her death.
No, it discusses it – I think? That’s part of why she hates Tyrion so much. She blames Tyrion for both parents’ deaths (rightfully so with Tywin, ha) and is convinced he will kill her per the prophecy. BUT I don’t think it has been brought up in a long time.
I need Brienne and Tormund to live so they can make little Giantsbanes!
Sansa can go.
Arya will live I think to face off with The Red Woman who is still on her kill list.
Other than that, I got nothing 😀
Sunday can’t get here soon enough
I think those most likely to die in the Battle of Winterfell will be Podrick, Tormund, Beric, Jorah, Lyanna, Edd, and the Hound. I don’t think Brienne, Varys, Greyworm or Davos will die because they were allegedly seen filming in Seville, Spain (Dragonpit location) and those scenes haven’t been shown yet.
I wish we could have an open post tomorrow where we could all list our predictions.
I would love an open post during the show, like the Oscars. But I think that might too distracting.
Edd will live IMO. I mean the fact he is still there says they are holding on to him. He should have died seasons ago.
I just can’t. I absolutely can’t think about who’s going to die. I’m so sad the show’s ending. 😭
I wonder if there’s a chance that Jon is somehow affected by or has some connection to the wights because he was dead & then brought back to life? If so, that could have ramifications as to how this all plays out
But he fought the wights after his resurrection when they went to get the one they brought to Cersei.
oh yeah, i completely forgot about that
I have been mentally preparing all week for this. I am ready for anything! Ok, almost everything, if Arya, or any of the dragons or direwolves die I am going to be a mess, or if WW Hodor or Summer show up I don’t know how I’m going to handle that. Anyone here from Austin? Been reading the austin360 recaps, lol…
https://www.austin360.com/entertainmentlife/20190422/game-of-thirst-game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-2-recap?utm_source=SND&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=austin360&fbclid=IwAR3viC-HHIDHrtJkPCoZC6WR7GJ8EpoOR_SQRcfXbb_JiNy0Af-J4cJ8Z14
That was a fun read!
I’m in Austin, Thanks, Mel!
The fear on Jon’s and Jaime’s face is disturbing, especially Jon’s – he’s seen them twice already. Jaime is seeing the AOTD for the first time. Brienne looks less frightened and more fierce.
Arya and Sansa may have just glimpsed the AOTD, and exchanging a look of horror. Or maybe Arya tells Sansa she wants to be on the front lines.
I think Jon’s face is because he just lost another dragon. Or at least got one injured.
The fear in their eyes is perfectly normal considering what they are facing. Even if was the 100th time they fought the WW, it’d still be scary AF. You know you’re likely going to die and that those around you will too.
I will be boarding a flight this Monday (the episode airs at 10 am Tokyo time). I will arrive early to the airport in order to watch the episode on my phone. I really want to know what happens next episode. I have the feeling this will surpass “The Rains of Castamere” episode. I think it’s gonna be an amazing episode. I cannot wait.
At least the deaths will be righteous instead of the result of betrayal.
I’m flying Sunday night- praying HBO GO works on the airplane wifi!
Can I just mourn with everyone else that I’m so sad this is over? I cant think of any other show currently that gets dissected and picked apart like this, or that is so well done. Part of that, for sure, is that HBO doesn’t drop the whole series at once, like Netflix, Amazon, etc – that adds something, and makes it much more of a “must watch.”
But its so well done, there are so many layers, so many characters, etc – I cant think of what will take its place. I feel like TV has changed so much since this show started, and I’m starting to feel very dramatic about how this is the end of an era.
The layers, rich and complex characters are unfortunately all due to the source material not HBO or the TV writers. This has become very obvious as the writers have run out of original source material and are now writing on their own. Tyrion has lost his intellectual musings and great speeches, ditto the Spider.
You had that ridiculous plot of Arya and Sansa from last season. Bran who can view the past, present and future is poorly incorporated and under-utilized in Winterfell. Let’s not mention the Dany and Jon flying on a magic carpet…I mean a dragon. In many ways it’s the actors now who with their great acting and deep knowledge of their characters are wordlessly responsible for the richness.
We can get a GOT type show again only if HBO can take the chance on another dark adult and non traditional book. But TV always chooses the lazy and predictable approach.
Yes, those are all good points. I would love to see another network (HBO, whatever) take on another good series like this. I guess Starz tried with Outlander, but Outlander is no GOT.
I think Arya is telling Sansa to get her ass in the crypt, and Sansa is all, “But I’m the lady of Winterfell,” and Arya is, “You can’t fight, you’re scared shitless, get your ass gone.” Then Sansa fumes down in the crypt. Where something bad is going to happen. Gah!
Yes, and Arya eventually joins her in the crypts. The Season 8 trailer has Arya looking scared out of her life running away from something in the Crypts. Either a Whitewalkers or a dead family member brought to life by the Whitewalkers (Ned?).
I agree- Arya would tell Sansa to go to “safety.” Sansa already knows Arya is a Faceless Man- speaking of which, Arya has to be the worst Faceless Man ever. You would think the first rule of Faceless Man Club would be DON’T TELL EVERYONE YOU’RE A FACELESS MAN!
Anyone else seen the theory about the face in the curtain behind Sansa?
Nooooo……please share (if its just a theory, and not an actual leak.)
It looks like Baelish? I mean Arya didnt harm his face so perhaps she saved it.
Yes, that’s what people are saying. The face in the curtains behind Sansa is Little Finger.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/game-of-thrones-sansa-game-of-thrones-fans-spot-mysterious-face-behind-sansa-stark-in-new-teaser-photos/
Just a theory. Not leak. No spoiler. Just guessing.
I read a theory that Littlefinger had paid a Faceless Man to take his place before he was executed. There’s a scene where a woman tells him “Your time is up,” and he hands her a coin. But… can the Faceless Men use faces of people who are alive/ haven’t died? I’m not really getting behind this one.
No what is it?
To me it looks like Ayra?
That’s what I thought. The face is too round and hairless to be Littlefinger, right?
if you really zoom in it looks sorta like Ramsay Bolton!!!!
Ramsay Boltons face was chewed off by his hounds though.
It makes me nervous- giggle that we’re talking about White Walkers and the racist North and all these images are tagged “NAACP awards.”
Sansa, BEHIND YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh Lord, I have such anxiety. If my fave Sansa Fierce gets iced on Sunday I will riot in the streets.
Maybe we’ll get a lady stoneheart cameo from the crypt? Coming out to fight for the Starks? “The North Remembers” = the dead keep their memories? Who knows!!!
I’m hoping so too. Anyone else is a stretch since the other corpses are so old and the others were beheaded.
I am also scared of the Crypts, but wouldn’t most people that died and are buried under there be rotting bones by now? Were Ned, Lyanna, Rob and Cat’s bodies even sent to Winterfell? Because they died far from there. I doubt there’s anything left of Ramsay to rise from the dead,, the only “newish” body is Littlefinger’s and I don’t think the Starks would allow him to be buried in their family crypt.
I’d like to put this out there: I’ve changed my mind about Sansa. Didn’t like her, found her unbearable and selfish until the sixth season. Then I was on the fence about her for the seventh season — could she be trusted? Now I get it. I never thought I’d be rooting for Sansa or Jaime, but here we are. Sansa’s character is a foil for Dany’s character: two women with vastly different approaches to interpersonal relationships. Sansa’s all about soft power and soft power is much more persuasive and reliable in the long run. Dany’s all about the hard power (“bend the knee, fire and blood, i’ve got dragons”) and brute force….fine for conquering a kingdom, but not for maintaining one.
Jaime in the books turn out to be pretty good. While he may be focusing a bit too much on what his legacy will be, how he is truly heartbroken when he sees Cersei for what she really is (and realize she probably didn’t love him all that much, and that Brienne is pretty awesome) will make you root for him even if he was a monster who threw a kid out of a window. He’s a bit more clueless in the series but still an interesting character. Sansa was so freakin’ annoying for so long but has finally found her calling.
Also, I really want to see Jaime and Tyrion have a talk about Tyrion’s 1st wife and what really happened there. I doubt we’ll ever know though.
Ok sorry if this was discussed…but remember when there was a shadowy figure in winterfell i think when arya and sansa reunited???? And now there’s a shadowy figure behind Sansa…WHAT IF its Lady Cat Stark…brought back to life and has been at winterfell since the girls came back????
Who’s freaky face is peering out at Sansa from behind the curtains?!?!
I don’t think those are curtains or the face is meant to be shadowy etc. I think it just looks like that way because of this particular image. I’m pretty sure it’s just another person, woman/child, down in the crypts hiding out with the rest of them; I’m think the “curtains” are cloaks of people standing — so some of the peeps are sitting (the out of focus face behind her) and some are standing (“curtains”). Why would there be curtains in the crypts? I don’t remember seeing anything curtains like in any of the crypt scenes to date.
Those are people’s cloaks behind Sansa. And the blurry face is of someone else seated behind the people who are wearing those cloaks.
Surely no one is going to “die” – won’t they be turned into white walkers? Which is kinda worse: we’ll see horrid undead versions of our faves