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No one is safe on Game of Thrones—especially in its final season. Though we would love everyone to survive and live happily ever after in King’s Landing (hey—even the Night King), the internet’s Game of Thrones season 8 death predictions say otherwise. There are only a few more episodes until the final episode of Game of Thrones, and it’s almost inevitable that a few of our fan-favorite characters will before the series’ end. But who will they be? Well, to predict the Game of Thrones deaths in season 8, we scoured the internet for theories and spoilers that may clue us in on who will give take their final breaths this season.
Jon Snow, Sansa Stark, Cersei Lannister and more are at risk this season. But who will we actually say goodbye to and who will we see live on for another day? (Technically, we’re saying goodbye to all the characters because this is the final season, but we don’t want to see any of them die. OK—maybe Euron Greyjoy.) Either way, we have to brace ourselves for the possibility of losing some of our favorite characters. Read on to find out which Game of Thrones characters are at the highest risk of dying in the HBO series’ final season.
Jon Snow
We know Jon Snow lives until the season 8 finale based on Kit Harington telling Jimmy Fallon that he “was fucking there the whole time” (meaning that he makes it at least until the series finale.) But that doesn’t mean he survives the show. The first clue that Jon Snow will die came from the original pitch letter George R.R. Martin (the author behind Game of Thrones) wrote, which revealed that the series will end with either Jon or Tyrion’s death over their shared love for Daenerys. “Exiled, Tyrion will change sides, making common cause with the surviving Starks to bring his brother down, and falling helplessly in love with Daenerys while he’s at it,” the letter reads. “His passion is, alas, unreciprocated, but no less intense for that, and it will lead to a deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow.”
Key words here are “deadly rivalry”, which means the series will end with the death of either Jon or Tyrion (or both, TBH.) The other evidence that Jon Snow will die is that he’s the King of the North, which doesn’t have the best track record in the GOT world. The previous Kings of the North, Ned and Rob Stark, were both brutally murdered. (Ned was beheaded in season 1, and Rob was stabbed to death at the Red Wedding.) If three’s a charm, Jon will also be killed by the end of the season. Plus, Jon has already survived several near-death experiences on GOT (including when he died and came back to life), so the odds are likely against him. Sorry, Jon stans.
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Tyrion Lannister
Like Jon, Tyrion also has a 50/50 chance of dying, according to the pitch letter Martin sent before Game of Thrones was on TV. “Exiled, Tyrion will change sides, making common cause with the surviving Starks to bring his brother down, and falling helplessly in love with Daenerys while he’s at it,” the letter reads. “His passion is, alas, unreciprocated, but no less intense for that, and it will lead to a deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow.” Another clue that Tyrion will die came from Peter Dinklage himself, who pretty much hinted that Tyrion’s time on GOT will end in death. “I feel very, very—I’m trying to find the right word. I think he was given a very good conclusion. No matter what that is—death can be a great way out,” Dinklage told Vulture.
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Sansa Stark
There are several theories that point to Sansa’s death. The first was the GOT season 8 teaser, which saw Sansa, Arya and Jon walking through the crypts of Winterfell, where their late family members were memorialized with statues. Toward the end of the teaser, the three come across statues of themselves, which suggests that they will die like the rest of their family. Though Jon’s statue shows him as an older man, Sansa and Arya’s show them young, which suggests that if they do die, their deaths will happen soon. The next clue was Sansa’s line in the season 8 premiere: “Winterfell is yours”, which she told Daenerys when the Mother of Dragons came to Winterfell. Fans will remember, that Sansa’s late father, Ned Stark, told Robert Baratheon the same words before he was beheaded. It seems like too much of an Easter egg to be a coincidence. Sansa is donezo. The most recent clue hinting at Sansa’s death is an Instagram Sophie Turner shared this week of her with her eyes closed in costume. Though she claimed that the picture was of her “asleep”, many fans presumed that it was a shot of her dead. It does look that way based on the picture and other clues.
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Arya Stark
Like Sansa, the clue that Arya dies comes from the Game of Thrones season 8 teaser, which showed her, Sansa and Jon walking through the crypts of Winterfell, where they encounter statues of themselves—similar to those of their late family members. Because Arya and Sansa’s statues are of them young, this had fans theorizing that they will die this season, while Jon will live longer. If she does die, this would track with the April Fool’s prank Maisie Williams played on fans at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where she disclosed that Arya dies in the second episodes—only to reveal that it was a joke. Still, there are several clues that Arya will live. In a July 2017 Instagram, Williams captioned a picture of some bloody shoes with the hashtag, “#lastwomanstanding” and “#barely.” She also told The Guardian that Arya ends up “alone”, which suggests that maybe her family members die but not her. “It was beautiful. I ended on the perfect scene. I was alone – shocker! Arya’s always bloody alone,” she said. Hmm. Interesting. Very interesting.
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Cersei Lannister
In the GOT books, Maggy the Frog prophesied that Cersei will be choked to death by her younger brother, which led fans to assume that Jaime will be the one to kill her. “Three [children] for you. Gold shall be their crowns and gold their shrouds. And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar (High Valyrian for ‘little brother’) shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.
This theory tracks, considering there have been clues that Jaime will ally with the North and betray Cersei. (There also was a hint in the song Ed Sheeran sings in his season 7 cameo, “Hands of Gold”, which talks about “shame and bliss”—a reference many believe to be about Cersei and Jaime’s incestuous relationship. Plus, Jaime hand was gold for a time. If it’s not Jaime who kills her, fans are still confident Cersei will die. There’s also a theory that Cersei will die in childbirth (ICYMI, Cersei is pregnant with Jaime’s baby), which would also fall in line with the prophecy. Though it’s not Cersei’s younger brother who kills her, she will be killed by a “little brother.” If her unborn child is a boy, he will be the “little brother” to Cersei’s older children. Mind. Blown.
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The Night King
The Night King’s death (or redeath?) should be obvious. There’s no way he will end up on the Iron Throne at the end of GOT. The fans won’t have it! In a Mashable interview with Vladimir Furdik, who plays the Night King, Furdik revealed that the character’s big battle (which he described as “historic”) will be in the third episode. We assume that this is when the Night King will be killed, which is already being set up by GOT. In season 8’s first episode, Arya visits Gendry. She asks him to help her make a double-sided spear—on one end is dragonglass; on the other is Valeryian steel. As fans know, these are two materials used to kill White Walkers, which suggests that Arya will be the one to slaughter the Night King.
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Jaime Lannister
Jaime’s fate doesn’t look so good in the season 8 episode 2 teaser, where he is on trial in front of Daenerys for killing her father, Aerys Targaryen. (They don’t call Jaime the “Kingslayer” for nothing.” Is this when he dies? We don’t think so. But we think Jaime’s days are numbered. There’s a theory that Jaime will die in Brienne’s arms. The theory comes from a Reddit user who brought up the fact that Jaime told Bronn in Dorne that he wanted to die in the arms of a woman he loves. Though many believed that woman to be Cersei, the Reddit user theorizes that it’s Brienne. Here’s the theory: “But with Jaime and Brienne fighting wights in Winterfell, I anticipate Jamie will die in some valiant manner (perhaps getting Bran to safety – poetic redemption) and Brienne will cradle him in her arms at his passing. Jaime does love Brienne (romantic or not) so this would be an interesting twist. Then Brienne can go back to King’s Landing and when it’s all said and done, update Jaime’s chapter in the Kings-guard book with his heroic deeds.”
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Theon Greyjoy
Season 8 has teased Theon’s redemption story after he rescues his sister Yara from captivity. This is after he jumps ship when he realizes that he and Yara are being kidnapped by their uncle, Euron. After he rescues Yara, the two go their separate ways, with Theon traveling to Winterfell to fight for the Starks in the war. This is how he will die: By fighting for the Starks. A death for the Starks would honor Theon in the most emotional way, and it’s what fans believe will happen.
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Bronn
There isn’t much evidence that Bronn will die, but according to an AI, he’s the most likely. As reported by The Verge, a team at the Technical University of Munich created a machine to predict who will most likely die in GOT‘s final season based on statistics like how long they’ve lived and biographical data, as well as real-life factors, like if they smoke or how often they exercise. (They have it down to a science, people.) The most likely? Bronn, with a more than 80-percent chance that he will die before the series finale. The least likely? Daenerys with a 0.9 chance, which is why she isn’t on this list.
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Grey Worm
Jacob Anderson, the actor behind Grey Worm, hinted that his character will die in an interview on the Sunday Brunch. During the interview, Anderson talked about how no one is safe on GOT, even him. Host Tim Lovejoy told Anderson, “You sit there and you stay watching and they start killing everyone” to which Anderson responded, “You can never feel safe on this show”—hinting that he will die in the war against the Night King. After his response, Anderson quickly corrected himself: “We can never feel safe.” Was that a slip-up or was it a hint that Grey Worm will die?
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