This post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones' series finale.
Game of Thrones is over and the last of the Starks are among the show's relatively few survivors. When we last see the Stark kiddos, Jon is leaving his exile on The Wall for a life with the Wildlings, Sansa is ruling Winterfell as the Queen of the North, Bran is the King of Westeros, randomly, and Arya is going off to be the lone wolf we always knew she was at heart.
Specifically, Arya declares that she doesn't plan to return to the North ever because she's going to find out "what's west of Westeros." All of the maps apparently end with Westeros and Arya is determined to explore lands unknown, like the badass adventurer she is.
Our very last glimpse of Arya is her on a very ornate and beautiful Stark-ified boat, sailing off for her adventures, so we don't actually get to see what's west of Westeros—yet, anyway.
The moment feels like a tease, like something that's intended to pique our interest. "What is west of Westeros?" you might have gone to sleep and woken up wondering after the finale. It's possible that we'll learn the answer to that question in HBO's planned Game of Thrones prequel, potentially called Bloodmoon.
Why, you ask? Well, first of all, HBO has made it clear that the show, which is to be set thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, will show us a side of the world we haven't yet known.
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The show, which stars Naomi Watts, is said to chronicle "the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend, only one thing is for sure: It’s not the story we think we know."
George R.R. Martin, author of the A Song of Ice and Fire books on which Thrones is based, has said of the prequel's setting: "Westeros is a very different place. There’s no King’s Landing. There’s no Iron Throne. There are no Targaryens—Valyria has hardly begun to rise yet with its dragons and the great empire that it built. We’re dealing with a different and older world and hopefully that will be part of the fun of the series."
So what's west of Westeros? A girl doesn't know and neither do Game of Thrones fans—but they might both get to find out soon(ish).
The Game of Thrones prequel series, if picked up to series, is still a while away. According to reports by The Sun, principal photography began in Belfast, Ireland in early May 2019.
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