With Game of Thrones Season 7 proceeding at lightspeed, we’ve already discovered plenty during the season’s rapid march. But there are some narrative strands that remain – as yet – unresolved. And we’re desperate to see them tied up before the close of GoT’s penultimate season, which will be upon us before you can say Targaryen-Stark. Imminently, in other words.
Here are the storylines for which we’re most gagging to see resolution in the final two episodes of Season 7.
Three riders for three dragons
As a Targaryen, Daenerys has inherited the trait of being able to tame, bond with and ride on dragons. We’ve seen Daenerys raise three dragons as GoT has progressed.
Dany reckons she’s the only surviving Targaryen. But we know she’s not. With the revelation at the close of Season 6 that Jon Snow also has Targaryen blood, we’ve been asking at what point Jon might mount one of her dragons.
In Episode 5, we saw him petting Drogon as Dany flies in to land. This auspicious moment signaled Jon’s ease with the beast and, more tellingly, Drogon’s ease with him. The dragon seems to sense Jon’s heritage. Could the moment he takes to the skies on the back of one of Dany’s dragons be imminent?
And what of the third dragon and rider? Since we saw Tyrion back in Season 6 releasing Rhaegal and Viserion from their chains, and the dragon duo responding positively to him (they didn’t eat or burn him), fans have had a sneaking suspicion that Tyrion might also possess Targaryen blood. It would explain why his father harbored quite so much hatred towards him – yes, his birth resulted in his mother Joanna’s death, but we can’t help feeling there’s more to it. Did Tywin know that Tyrion was a bastard? A result of a liaison between Joanna and a member of the Targaryen bloodline perhaps?
We also can’t wait to see how Dany will react when she finds out she’s not the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.
Samwell piecing together Jon’s identity
When Gilly delivers the most pertinent information of the entire season to Samwell, it’s dramatic irony at its finest.
In case you’ve forgotten (hah – unlikely), Gilly casually drops in that she’s just read that High Septon Maynard annulled Prince Rhaegar’s marriage and wed him to someone else at the same time in a secret ceremony in Dorne.
But while the audience knows that this means Jon Snow is all but confirmed as the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne over Daenerys – as the son of deceased heir Rhaegar (Dany’s elder brother) and his second wife (highly likely to be Lyanna Stark) – Sam has no real reason to think this information could have much bearing on anything.
However, you would have thought that if Maynard had gone to the trouble of recording this fact – and knowing that he’s a stickler for detail – he would also have written down the name of the bride. And that Gilly would have read it out. Which would have made Sam take a bit more notice of what Gilly was saying.
Well, whatever – she didn’t, and so it was a case of in one ear and (possibly) out the other. Although we have a sneaking suspicion it’s still sitting somewhere in between both ears, swishing around in that vast brain of Sam’s ready to be recalled at a significant moment. But will that moment occur before the end of the season? And will it take someone else to trigger it?
The identity of the Prince That Was Promised
Sigh. We’ve had no concrete clues about who the identity of the Prince That Was Promised might be. Melisandre once mistakenly thought it was Stannis Baratheon – now dead – and then she thought it was Jon Snow. She changed her mind again, though, latterly believing it to be Daenerys Targaryen. The whole thing was blown wide open when it was revealed to the audience that the High Valyrian word for prince is without gender and so can mean male or female.
However, there’s also speculation it could be Beric Dondarrion, who has been reborn several times over. The prophesied prince is said to be the reincarnation of an ancient hero known as Azor Ahai who is set to save the world. He will apparently have been born amid smoke and salt – and will have a flaming sword, which we know Beric to have.
There’s also talk of the chosen one being Jaime Lannister or Davos Seaworth. But there are so many candidates now, we’d like to see this at the very least narrowed down.
Gendry’s role
Gendry was reintroduced with quite a fanfare in Episode 5. We found out Robert Baratheon’s bastard son has been keeping a low profile working right under his enemy’s nose in a blacksmith’s.
Davos headed to Flea Bottom expressly to find him, and Gendry declared himself very up for getting on board – leaving behind the swords he’s been forging in favour of wielding an intimidating club hammer thing he looks intent on using. In fact, no sooner has he upped and left his undercover role arming Lannister soldiers than he’s swinging it about the heads of a couple of nosy Lannister guards.
But we’ve reason to believe that Gendry might soon go the way of Dickon Tarly. Why? There are parallels in the way the characters have been brought back into the series.
Dickon and his boyish good looks and loyalty to Jaime Lannister were a focus of Episode 4. What could be Dickon’s significance, we asked? Building him up to take him out it seems. Episode 6 saw Dickon’s swift demise at the hands of Daenerys and a certain fiery-breathed creature.
Gendry’s re-entry feels similarly fateful in Episode 5. Could Gendry be about to bow out in comparable fashion? Davos’s words to Gendry are certainly foreboding. “Safety is never a permanent state of affairs,” he says. “Bad things are coming. You should know what you’re heading into.”
Eagle-eyed fans also noticed a couple of moments in the trailer for Episode 6 which seemed to show The Hound tackling a wight with Gendry’s hammer. Could this signify that Gendry has met his demise ahead of this moment? There’s also a flash of Sandor Clegane at another moment very definitely holding a sword, so…
Watch this space.
