The entire world is waiting for the Game of Thrones season 7 finale this weekend, and despite some criticisms of the show’s full-speed pace towards a final resolution, it’s been exciting ride, with what looks to be an epic final chapter.
As you can see in the video above, the Game of Thrones season 7 finale will center on the epic meeting of warring factions (The Lannisters, The North, Daenerys Targaryen and The Iron Islands), which will take place in King’s Landing. While it may seem like that’s the premise for another signature Game of Thrones “talky” episode, there are still some very big twists that could catch throw fans for a serious loop.
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Here are 5 Big Twists We Could See In The Game of Thrones Season 7 Finale.
Goodbye Lion
One of the biggest (but not all that unexpected) shocks would be if The Lannisters are finally brought down for good. A lot of fans are expecting that this parley between the warring factions of Westeros is going to end badly – so it’s just a matter of how.
While Jon Snow is a man of honor, Dany is more much more cunning and ruthless; she may not miss a chance to execute her biggest enemy (Cersei), even if doing so drives her and Jon apart. More to the point: Tyrion is as cunning as either Cersei or Daenerys, and may not miss an opportunity to get his maniacal sister, before she inevitably gets him.
Having the Cersei (and Jaime?) die would deliver a big shock to fans. Cersei’s pregnancy seemingly makes her safe… until you remember that that “Red Wedding” karma is a real b*tch. As Ayra Stark surely does…
The Wall Falls
The Night’s King has a bigger army than ever before, and thanks to the season 7 penultimate episode, “Beyond the Wall,” he now also has a White Walker dragon!
The finale episode will see the major players in this game of thrones all headed south to meet up in King’s Landing – which will leave The Wall seriously unguarded, at a time when it needs guarding the most.
With Dany, Jon, and all their cohorts painfully unaware that Viserion is now an undead ice-dragon, the Night’s King has a perfect opportunity to attack The Wall and breach it, once and for all.
A final sequence like that would drastically raise the stakes, and force Game of Thrones seasons 8 to hit the ground sprinting
Cersei Conquers
If there is one thing that we’ve all had to learn about Game of Thrones, it’s that Cersei Lannister is a survivor – and her survival usually comes at the expense of a lot of death and destruction.
This meeting in King’s Landing will provide Cersei with all the opportunity she will ever need to strike down all her enemies in one fell swoop, and it’s not like her to waste that opportunity. We’ve already seen Cersei and Qyburn whispering in secret this season: could they have been setting up some kind of trap?
Cersei has already made good use of some wildfire (R.I.P. High Septon), and she’s already bent the rules of hospitality to murder at leisure (Red Wedding) – so why should this occasion be any different? If Jon, Dany, Tyrion (or all of them) were to die, Game of Thrones fans might have a collective heart attack – and the show will forever solidify its place of infamy.
If things come down to a trial by combat, The Hound vs. The Mountain will be the battle fans want – and hopefully it goes better for Sandor than it did for poor Oberyn…
Tragic Destiny
One of the most popular Game of Thrones fan theories is that The Night’s King is actually Bran Stark. That could very well be true, and if so, the season 7 finale could finally reveal that ming-blowing twist to the audience, setting up some great dramatic irony for the battle to come.
For Jon Snow and the surviving Starks, the battle against the army of the dead would suddenly take on a very personal nature. For the audience, the break between season 7 and season 8 would be occupied with all sorts of Back to the Future-style time travel theories and explanations.
All-Out War
Right now, it seems as though the various factions of The Seven Kingdoms are working out a plan to unite against The Night’s King and the army of the dead – but that attempt at unity could take a serious left turn into complete and utter chaos.
Right now, there are simply too many powder kegs being piled into one place, and any one of the rivalries between the characters at the King’s Landing meeting could push thing into all-out war between the factions.
Game of Thrones has also done a sly job stacking the deck with potential surprise grudges when it comes ot the issue of who holds the biggest claim to the Iron Throne. Cersei has new heir growing in her belly; Gendry may actually be Cersei and Robert’s first born heir; and Jon’s secret origin may reveal that he has bigger claim to the Targaryen legacy than Dany!
More than anything, secrets and long-buried truths could split the factions of Westeros forever, and leave them all facing a threat in season 8 that picks them apart, one by one.
Game of Thrones airs its season 7 finale, “The Dragon and The Wolf” Sunday, August 27th @ 9/8c on HBO.
