13 questions we have after watching Game of Thrones season 7

Game of Thrones season 7 ended with everyone spread all over Westeros, a good few characters gone for good, and the Night King’s army finally doing some damage. Basically, loads happened and I’m not just talking about the season a whole - there were so many revelations in the finale alone my head is still spinning. If you’ve seen the episode, you’ll know exactly what I mean and if you haven’t… well, you really shouldn’t be here because we’re about to delve into deep spoiler territory. These are the major questions we have after watching Game of Thrones season 7 and fingers crossed season 8 will answer most if not all of them otherwise closure will be a distant dream from Thrones fans. If you’re looking for a more detailed breakdown of that fantastic finale, check out our review of episode 7, The Wolf and the Dragon, but for everyone else, let’s look toward the next season.

1. How will Jon and Dany react to Cersei’s betrayal?

Probably not with a hell of a lot of surprise, I would have thought. I mean, we all saw it coming, right? No doubt, they’ll be disappointed they don’t have as many men to fight the Night King as they thought, but it won’t stop them marching North, even though Daenerys knows Cersei will just take back all the lands she’s conquered in her absence. It does mean that any hope of reconciliation is off the table in season 8 - get ready for one hell of a bloody end to the series. Well, you’d be disappointed if it wasn’t, right?

2. Is this the end for Jaime and Cersei?

Many predicted Jaime would betray Cersei in this season, and while she certainly sees it that way, he basically just decided to keep his word (unlike her) and go to fight the army of the dead. He doesn’t leave King’s Landing with everything peachy keen between himself and his sister/lover/baby mama though. In fact, at one point it looked like things might go seriously south for him during a pretty tense stand-off with The Mountain. The Lannister siblings have been separated before, but this is the first time they’ve turned and walked away from each other because of a serious disagreement, and it was apparent from the looks on both their faces that it was a turning point.

3. How is Theon going to rescue Yara?

Everyone did a little fist pump during the finale when Theon finally grew a pair (not really) and decided to go rescue his sister Yara. How the hell he’s going to manage that is another question. He doesn’t have much going for him, just a few men and one ship. Meanwhile she’s being held captive by his crazy Uncle Euron probably in a dungeon on Pyke. The odds are not in his favour. Stealth and secrecy will be his best bet, and one of the bonuses of Ramsey’s treatment of him is that he doesn’t fall for the obvious tricks anymore. Plus, Euron has gone to pick up The Golden Company from Essos for Cersei and probably taken most of his fleet with him, so perhaps Theon will just stroll in and find the keys to Yara’s cell hanging on the wall. What condition he’ll find her in, and how she’ll react to him abandoning her when she was captured, is another matter.

4. Will we EVER get Cleganebowl?

We came so close to getting Cleganebowl in the season 7 finale you could almost taste the blood! The Hound and The Mountain faced off in a verbal exchange that was pretty one sided now that zombie Mountain doesn’t talk (not that he did much to begin with) and it was a joy to watch the younger Clegane tell his older bro that he was the ugly one now. He didn’t stop there, though, and effectively challenged him to a showdown in season 8 saying: “That’s not how it ends, brother. You know who’s coming for you. You’ve always known.” Does this mean that we’ll finally get Cleganebowl in season 8?

Actor/strongman Hafþór Björnsson who plays The Mountain in the series thinks it’s heading that way, telling EW “that’s definitely something I would like to see. And for most of the fans, it’s something they’re all waiting for. It looks like it’s going to go that way, but who knows?” He even has an idea about the outcome: “I think the fight would be quick rather than something long. I think people would be expecting a big fight but I would finish him really fast. It would be a surprise to people.” Overly confident Ser Gregor?

5. Who will Bronn fight for now?

Last we saw of Bronn he was heading for a pint with Pod while the “fancy folk” sorted things out, but with Jaime off to join Tyrion and fight the Night King in the North, who will Bronn fight for in season 8? He’s already expressed a desire not to die at the hands of a dragon, so I’m thinking he’ll have the same reaction to facing an army of zombies. And with Jaime technically ‘gone rogue’ any hope of that castle and title he’s been promised rests with Cersei. Having said that, the pair have never been too keen on each other and as much as he likes money Bronn has a soft spot for the Lannister brothers. Cersei isn’t too pleased with the sellsword after he arranged the meeting between Tyrion and Jaime, but she’s proven she isn’t above persuading people she doesn't like to her side when necessary. My head says Bronn knows staying in King’s Landing and fighting for Cersei is the smart thing to do but I just don’t see it - I’m guessing Bronn will end up in the North complaining the whole way about how they’re all going to die.

6. Who’s in charge of the Vale now?

With the truly shocking and satisfying death of Littlefinger in the finale, the Vale is without strong leadership yet again. Yes, Robin Arryn is still technically Lord of the Vale, but as he proved last season, he’s no leader and often defers to whoever best coddles him. At 15-years-old you could argue he still needs a guardian to rule the Eyrie for him, but I wonder what Lady Mormont would have to say about that. With Littlefinger gone and all the other Arryns dead, it’s more than likely that the leadership of the Vale will fall to Lord Yohn Royce, which is honestly the best thing for everyone involved as he’s a skilled commander, loyal to the Vale, and Robin is an idiot.

7. Do we have to start calling Jon Snow Aegon Targaryen?

As revealed in the finale, Jon Snow’s real name is Aegon Targaryen! There were so many revelations in this episode it’s hard to keep up - Rhaegar Targaryen didn’t kidnap Lyanna Stark, they were in love and ran away together to be married in secret. Their son isn’t a bastard and is actually heir to the Iron Throne, and oh, his real name is Aegon Targaryen. It’s obvious why Ned Stark chose not to reveal this to anyone - even if you change the Targaryen to Snow, Aegon is still a dead giveaway about who your real dad is. But now we know what Jon’s true name is (and presumably, so will he soon), doesn’t that mean we have to start calling him Aegon? Or maybe the non-bastard formally known as Jon Snow? ‘You know nothing Aegon Targaryen’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?

8. Was that Dany/Jon sex scene hot or gross?

Admit it… you were wondering this to. Game of Thrones pulled a super sneaky trick on fans and gave them the one thing they were most looking forward to, Jon and Dany hooking up, while confirming just how closely they were related making us all feel a bit weird about it. Ok, so we knew before now that Daenerys was Jon’s Aunt, but there’s nothing quite like watching the pair go at it while Sam and Bran discuss in detail how they’re blood relatives (*shudder*). That said, if we can get used to Jaime and Cersei’s sexual relationship, we should have no problem with this, right? I mean, it’s waaaaaaay less gross. They didn’t grow up together and don’t even know that they’re related at this point. When they do find out… that might be awkward.

9. How will Dany feel about Jon having a better claim to the Iron Thrones than her?

How to introduce himself isn’t the only problem for former bastard Jon Snow in season 8. As well as having to come to terms with the fact he’s bumped uglies with his aunt, he’ll also have to break the news to Daenerys that he actually has a stronger claim to the Iron Throne than her. Because he’s Dany’s older brother Rhaegar’s legitimate heir, he would be next in line for the throne before Dany, if the Targaryens still ruled Westeros. Having spent all her life being told that she (or her brother Viserys) should have been sitting on the Iron Throne, it will no doubt come as a bit of shock that she has another blood relative with a stronger claim.

“I’ve worked so hard, I don’t want to share that throne,” actress Emilia Clarke jokingly told EW after the finale. “No. The throne’s big enough for one dragon bum, and that’s mine. That’s it!” Does this mean that she’ll turn on Jon to ensure she becomes Queen? I think it’s unlikely to be an issue as Jon has never expressed a desire to be King of anywhere never mind the entire Seven Kingdoms and it doesn’t change the fact that he thinks Dany would make a great ruler. Plus, let’s not forget that not everyone will simply take Bran’s word for it about Jon’s true parentage so unless there’s some Westerosi DNA test we haven’t heard about, it’s unlikely Jon can prove he’s Rhaegar’s heir even if he wanted to. Anyway, if they get married it doesn’t really matter...

10. Is Viserion still breathing fire or is it something else?

One of the biggest OMG moments of the season 7 finale was watching zombie Viserion bring down The Wall using his powerful, blue dragon breath - but what was that really? Dragon fire is death to White Walkers and wights so that surely can’t be what Viserion was breathing or it would destroy him. There is talk of Ice Dragons in some of the Game of Thrones books, which could lend some clues to what Viserion is capable of now, specifically this passage from The Ice Dragon:

The ice dragon was a crystalline white, that shade of white that is so hard and cold that it is almost blue. It was covered with hoarfrost, so when it moved its skin broke and crackled as the crust on the snow crackles beneath a man’s boots, and flakes of rime fell off.

Its eyes were clear and deep and icy.

And when the ice dragon opened its great mouth, and exhaled, it was not fire that came streaming out, the burning sulfurous stink of lesser dragons. The ice dragon breathed cold.

Ice formed when it breathed. Warmth fled. Fires guttered and went out, shriven by the chill. Trees froze through to their slow secret souls, and their limbs turned brittle and cracked from their own weight.

Animals turned blue and whimpered and died, their eyes bulging and their skin covered over with frost.

The ice dragon breathed death into the world; death and quiet and cold.

This certainly sounds like Viserion at the moment, but this other passage from A World of Ice and Fire makes it sound like the Ice Dragons are just another species of dragon:

Of all the queer and fabulous denizens of the Shivering Sea, however, the greatest are the ice dragons. These colossal beasts, many times larger than the dragons of Valyria, are said to be made of living ice, with eyes of pale blue crystal and vast translucent wings through which the moon and stars can be glimpsed as they wheel across the sky. Whereas common dragons (if any dragon can truly be said to be common) breathe flame, ice dragons supposedly breathe cold, a chill so terrible that it can freeze a man solid in half a heartbeat.

There’s no mention anywhere that the Ice Dragons are undead or former fire-breathing dragons who were changed, but given how rare dragons are, there’s a good chance most of what is known about them is made up of half-truths and speculation. Perhaps the long lost Ice Dragons were wights all along just like Viserion - how would anyone in Westero know?

11. Are Tormund, Beric and co dead?

The destruction of The Wall threw a few fan favourite characters into immediate danger with the fates of Tormund, Beric, and the rest of the Magnificent Seven who remained at Eastwatch currently unknown. This presumably includes Gendry who’s conveniently disappeared and not been mentioned since he served his purpose in episode 6. We did at least see Tormund and Beric on The Wall when Viserion attacked, but Tormund’s call to “Run!” was too little, too late and it’s unlikely most of the Freefolk who were manning Eastwatch survived. I feel pretty confident that Tormund will turn up in season 8 though, probably to give Brienne a cheeky wink and smile, because that’s just no end for his character. Maybe we’ll even see Beric again… but I wouldn’t hold out much hope of him surviving much longer than that if he does.

12. Has Winter finally come to King’s Landing?

Yes. Did you not see the snow? No, I’m not talking about Jon Snow. And he isn’t even called Jon Snow. It’s snowing in King’s Landing, which means winter has reached the capital. It’s significant because this really isn’t something that happens, and it heralds the arrival of the Night King’s army in Westeros. Problem is, Cersei has just lost the General of her armies, and it seems unlikely the city is properly prepared for winter, given the long war it has been fighting across the whole continent. Winter is a big deal for King’s Landing, and not in a good way.

13. How did Robert’s Rebellion even get that far?

Wait, so Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen were legitimately married? Robert told Ned that the Targaryen had kidnapped and raped his sister, which is what fuelled the Rebellion and overthrew the Targaryens. Basically, the start of Game of Thrones. Why didn’t Lyanna just write a letter to her family telling them she was happily married and to put down their swords? I guess maybe there wasn’t time… we don’t really have a clear timeline of events leading up to and including the Rebellion and it sounds like things kicked off pretty quickly. Plus, the Mad King did burn Ned’s dad and older brother alive when they went to King’s Landing to ask for Lyanna back so it’s unlikely a peaceful outcome was ever on the cards.

Even if Lyanna mentioned this nugget of information on her deathbed it would have been too late. Robert was already King by the time Ned and his group reached The Tower of Joy (where Jon Snow, er, Aegon Targaryen) was born, so it wouldn’t have made any difference. However, there’s something to be said for knowing the truth upfront here. If Lyanna did love Rhaegar and wanted to marry him, why did it appear she had been kidnapped and locked away against her will? Well, the winners are the ones who write the history books, and the story of her kidnapping is probably an embellishment from Robert, who she was originally betrothed to marry. He was clearly jealous that she fell for Rhaegar during a tournament, and when she eloped with him, Robert - seeing her as his by right - went to war to claim her back. Even if he genuinely didn’t know it was her decision, this is a matter of a male Lord claiming his property. So, it’s all about cocks, in the end.

Lauren O'Callaghan is the former Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar+. You'd typically find Lauren writing features and reviews about the latest and greatest in pop culture and entertainment, and assisting the teams at Total Film and SFX to bring their excellent content onto GamesRadar+. Lauren is now the digital marketing manager at the National Trust.