- After eight seasons, three dragons, and countless deaths, Game of Thrones has officially come to an end.
- Even after the Game of Thrones series finale, however, we still have questions.
- Here are some of the biggest lingering questions, loose ends, and outright plot holes left at the end of the series.
Game of Thrones is over, and pretty much everyone has thoughts (most of which are not great, TBH). If, in addition to thoughts, you also have major questions, you're not alone. Here are some of the biggest lingering questions, loose ends, and outright plot holes left at the end of Game of Thrones.
1. Was Daenerys pregnant?
Over the course of the series, Dany made a WHOLE THING of her inability to conceive more children after her encounter with Mirri Maz Duur, the Lhazareen woman/witch who tricked her into letting Khal Drogo and her unborn "Stallion Who Will Mount the World" son die back in Season 1. In Season 7, during a particularly heavy-handed moment of what sure AF appeared to be foreshadowing, Jon Snow points out to Dany that Mirri Maz Duur might not have been the most reliable source of intel about the state of her womb—not long before he and Daenerys end up consummating their love.
It sure felt like the show was trying to tell us that Dany A) could in fact get pregnant and B) was definitely about to, courtesy of Jon's half-Northerner, half-Targaryen sperm. But then we literally never came back to this. It would have definitely added another layer of suck to what Jon had to do in the finale if he weren't just stabbing Dany, but his unborn child as well.
2. Why did Brienne move to King's Landing instead of becoming the head of Sansa's Queen's Guard in the North?
Brienne's whole schtick for as long as we've known her is that she is loyal to a fault and she keeps her oaths. The biggest oath she's ever made was to Catelyn Stark, when she promised to protect her daughters forever, essentially. Arya clearly declined said protection, but Sansa was happy to have Bre around, acting as her personal knight. Why, then, does Ser Brienne move South in the finale? And why don't we at least get a moment where Sansa's like, "Hey, Brienne, do me a solid and look after Bran the Broken now, k?"
3. On a related note, why doesn't Podrick Payne end up with Sansa?
Okay, so the show never even kind of hinted that this would be a thing, but I've been personally shipping it for years, so I'm including it. Sansa has been through the RINGER when it comes to men and, while it is satisfying for her to end up ruling alone, it would have also been very satisfying for her to end up with Pod. Why, you ask? Because he's gentle and kind. He's the best lover in all of Westeros and he has the voice of an angel.
And, as Brienne's squire, we know he's totally secure and comfortable serving under the leadership of a strong woman, so he wouldn't have a problem letting Sansa retain full authority in the North. He'd just be happy to be there by her side, singing her to sleep at night after making sure all of her wants and needs were satisfied. But no. He's in King's Landing, following Bran around like everyone else. SNOOZE. You could have had it all, Pod.
4. Did Jon Snow join the Wildlings at the end of the series?
It sure SEEMED like he did, but we'll always be left to wonder if the ultra honorable "son" of Ned Stark abandoned his post for life with the Free Folk or if he was guilted back to The Wall.
5. Is Gendry okay?
Because watching Arya reject his proposal was brutal and inquiring minds need to know. May you find love and happiness, hottest blacksmith-turned-lord in Westeros.
6. Is Brienne pregnant?
She's definitely not, but she technically COULD be, with Jaime's kid/Tyrion's nephew and isn't that some fun fan fiction to mull over?
7. Is Bran going to Warg into Drogon? And if so, to what end?
Okay, here's a serious one for you: In the final scenes of the show, Bran mentions that maybe he can find Drogon, which is a pretty clear reference to his Warging abilities. If Bran is able to Warg into Drogon, what would he do? Would he bring the dragon back to King's Landing? Would he try to find a way to keep the dragon line going? This is a pretty big question hanging over the series, considering the role Drogon directly played in destroying the country Bran is now leading.
8. What's going on in Essos?
Before Dany went Mad Queen in King's Landing, she spent years tearing through Essos, murdering leaders and "liberating" people all over the other side of the Narrow Sea. She also left her ex-boy toy, Daario Naharis, in charge of basically an entire continent as her proxy. What happens there now that Daenerys is dead? Word has to get back to Essos, right? Is Daario going to be overthrown and murdered by factions of the leaders that Dany usurped when she was in Essos? Did the changes she made there stick? Do the slaves remain free? We spent a solid six years on Dany's efforts to change the political landscape in Essos and now we have literally no idea what's happening there in the wake of her death.
9. Where did Arya get the money for her fancy Stark Direwolf boat?
This is trivial in comparison to some of the lingering questions, but Arya's boat to sail West, though gorgeous, seems like a waste of resources in a land that has to literally rebuild from ash and rubble, no?
10. Speaking of money and Westeros, why in god's name is Bronn the Master of Coin?
The answer here is "because he's the lord of Highgarden" and Highgarden, if you remember, was flush with cash. But that begs a bigger, deeper question: Why did Tyrion still give Bronn Highgarden after Cersei was dead? I mean, on the one hand, yeah, Bronn did make good on his promise to give Tyrion a chance to pay more than Cersei was offering when she took the hit out on him, but on the other hand, come on, Bronn. Yes, Bronn has always been a scrappy guy doing whatever he can to get ahead while looking out for number one. Yes, I know that makes everything about his actions totally in character and blah blah. Please don't @ me, I just don't feel satisfied with this outcome and I can't explain why.
11. Will Grey Worm ever find peace?
Of all the disappointing character outcomes in Game of Thrones, Grey Worm's complicity with Daenerys' slaughter of innocents has to be near the top of the list. While Dany's descent into madness was a long time coming, Grey Worm's really did hinge on the murder of Missandei. At the end of the series, he's headed to Naath, her homeland and the place they planned to go together after the war. I really just hope he's able to find peace, but he's still in a very dark place when we leave him.
12. So, was Jon Snow Azor Ahai?
Melisandre's whole purpose in the story was her search for the Prince That Was Promised and we know that when the Lord of Light brings someone back from the dead, it's because they still have a purpose to fulfill. It would seem that Jon's purpose was to kill Daenerys, which could mean that she was really the great evil and her reign would have been the Long Night of the prophecy. But, with Melisandre gone and no one else all that interested in the Lord of Light and his prophecies, we never really get answers about this part of the story, which launched approximately a million Reddit threads over the course of the series.
13. Why didn't Yara Greyjoy demand independence for the Iron Islands?
When Sansa Stark refuses to bend the knee to King Bran the Broken, it's great, but there's another powerful lady in Westeros who also should have been making a similar stand. Yara Grreyjoy (along with Theon) lobbies for independence for the Iron Islands from Daenerys, remember?
Now that Yara is officially the ruler of the Iron Islands, she seems fine with keeping her kingdom a part of the Seven Six Kingdoms? She doesn't even ask if the Iron Islands can have independence?
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