Game of Thrones Season 7 commences on Sunday night. Once again we dive into the Seven Kingdoms, where winter has arrived. We await the battles to begin, and the drama to unfold. And, of course, we wait to see which one of our favorite characters bites the big one. It happens every year. We lose someone that guts us completely, or catches us completely off guard…or both.
So, some of The Pop Break’s Watchers on the Wall got together to choose the characters they believe will meet their maker by season’s end in the…
Game of Thrones Season 7 Dead Pool
DJ Chapman — Arya Stark
The inevitability of your favorite character dying in Game of Thrones has been such a staple of the series since Ned Stark’s demise in 2011 (or in 1996 for you hardcore book fans) that by now it is all but a certainty.
That is why this season fans will be saying a heartfelt goodbye to Arya Stark. That’s right, the scrappy, loveable, sword-wielding, murdering, pie-baking Stark will not be making it to Season 8. If we know anything about the show so far, it’s that not every character gets to see their dreams realized. We are nearing the end of this show and many characters are set up to do amazing things, whether it be Jon, Dany, Cersei, Arya, and yes, even Bran. Arya has a list of people she wants to kill and she aims to get it done. However, if the show has anything to say about it, I am confident Arya will fall short of her goal. Now, that does not mean she isn’t going to have a badass finish, so here is my prediction for how she will go out.
Here’s who’s left on Arya’s list: Cersei, Ilyn Pain, the Mountain, the Hound, Melisandre, Beric Dondarrion, and Thoros of Myr.
Most of these characters are set up to do some pretty awesome things this season. Whether it is in a fierce battle in the coming war, some nifty sabotage, or maybe even some Internet theorized epic showdown between two brothers (see: Cleganebowl), many of these characters will be featured heavily. Arya will likely cross some of these names off her list, maybe some lesser names like Ilyn Pain and Beric Dondarrion, but it is hard to see how she will take out the Mountain or even Cersei. Now, yes, maybe some of these characters will die by other means, but it’s hard to see Arya finish off her list. It is much more likely she will meet up with Jon and Sansa, take part in some epic battle, and go down helping her family that she has not seen in years.
Arya is a great character who is able to get away with a lot. She got her Faceless Man powers for free when she should have been killed, she made it through Harrenhal relatively unscathed, she even got rescued from King’s Landing by Yoren, thanks to some great perception on his part. Even if Arya does finish her list, where does that leave her? My theory is that she meets up with Nymeria. Remember Nymeria? Becomes the leader of a pack of wolves and takes out a Lannister army who is campaigning in the North, only to fall in battle after taking out hundreds of soldiers with her wolf army. This seems like the most fitting way for Arya to die by the sword, and will be one of the more satisfying deaths in the Game of Thrones series.
Matt Heasley — Beric Dondarrion
I believe Beric Dondarrion will be the first to meet his fate this season. The red priest Thoros of Myr has brought Beric back from the dead several times now using the kiss of life. The last time the TV series showed him being brought back to life is when the Hound cut him in half during his trial by combat. In the books the Brotherhood Without Banners comes across Catelyn Stark’s dead body floating down the river and Beric gives her the kiss of life and brings her back from the dead. This kills Beric for good and Catelyn takes over as the head of the Brotherhood. This storyline has been excluded from the show, so I believe Beric and the Brotherhood will accompany Jon Snow north of the Wall and Jon will die again. I believe Beric will give Jon the kiss of life and resurrect him once again. Jon will come back to life but this will kill Beric for good. I believe Jon will become the new head of the Brotherhood just like Catelyn does in the books. So I think the Hound will end up fighting for Jon Snow.
Matt Gilbert — Ser Davos Seaworth
Bid farewell to the Onion Knight and the sexiest Irish brogue this side of Volantis. Because I’m calling there’s no way he makes it to the end of this season. I love him too, but a character like Ser Davos Seaworth is simply too good to last in this world. A knight so honorable you’d think he grew up running through the halls of Winterfell instead of the slums of Flea Bottom. And maybe that’s to be his downfall. While the circumstances surrounding the King in the North (and rightful king of Westeros) are foggy, to say the least, it just doesn’t seem right that Davos would make it all the way to another great battle for the Iron Throne. And that’s assuming the wights don’t get to him first. Which, since he’s just a few leagues away from the Wall, isn’t a guarantee.
I could not possibly presume to know exactly how our four-fingered friend will meet his fate. Last season I predicted that Cersei would die when Jaime killed the Mountain in a trial by combat, so I’m not exactly Maggy the Frog. But what I do know is his arc is very nearly done. While Ser Davos considers his knighthood from Stannis to be his greatest accomplishment and serving the one true king of Westeros to be his duty and passion, the only aspects of his post-smuggling life he found true success in were on the battlefield and as a father. The battle has been won, and now he knows the truth regarding the last person in the seven kingdoms he truly loved.
After losing his son, Matthos, on the Blackwater, Davos found redemption in the Princess Shireen. I don’t think I need to remind anyone what happened there. But now that the truth has come out in the Season 6 finale, Liam Cunningham’s explosive (Emmy snubbed!) fury erupting at Melisandre means he has come full circle and he must become another reminder of the most honest and most vexing Valyrian phrase that haunts every character and every plot on either side of the Narrow Sea. Valar Morghulis.
Matt Heasley — Yara Greyjoy
Second, I believe Yara Greyjoy will die this season. Yara is an important character in the books, but her name has been changed and so has her storyline for the show. In the books, Euron’s brother Victarion Greyjoy is the rival for the Salt Throne. Once Euron wins the kingsmoot, he sends Victarion to Essos to treat with the Dragon Queen, Daenerys Targaryen, and give her a marriage proposal on behalf of his brother Euron. Victarion plans to betray Euron and marry Daenerys himself and take the Salt Throne for himself as well. Daenarys has a vision at the house of the Undying of Euron Greyjoy being her biggest threat for the Iron Throne. In the books, Euron has a large horn he found in the ruins of Valyria, that is said to be able to control dragons. When one of Euron’s slaves blows on the horn, the slave’s lungs turn to ash and he dies, showing that the horn does have special powers. I believe Euron will kill Victarion in the books once he sees him as a threrat and he will do the same thing to Yara on the show.
I believe both parts of the Iron Fleet will meet in battle this season and Euron will be the victor. I think he will kill Yara and keep Theon as a prize, since Theon is a eunuch and he can’t challenge Euron for the throne.
Lisa Pikaard — Petyr Baelish AKA Littlefinger
As we enter the next season of Game of Thrones (about time!), there is one person who just has to go, our resident manipulator, Littlefinger. And what better way to kill him than to have the young woman whom he is in love with strike the fatal blow? Petyr Baelish has tried to coerce the women of the Stark family to fall for him since day one and it’s repugnant. First you pursue the married matriarch of the family, but now that she’s dead, you’re going after her daughter? Sick.
Yes, Petyr may have helped Sansa and Jon Snow win the battle, but Petyr is going to be the little devil on Sansa’s shoulder, poisoning her against her “brother.” While some people may believe that Sansa is going to fall for it and there will be a division between her and Jon Snow, I disagree. Sansa is so much smarter than that. She is going to recognize that Littlefinger is a crazy and manipulative pain in the ass who is only looking out for his own best interest. While Sansa figures out what Littlefinger is up to, she is not going to let him know she knows. She may even play into his adoration for her, be on his side, make the audience think she is on his side. Mark my words though, the moment will come when she will stab him in the back, literally and figuratively. This season he is finally going down and Sansa Stark is the one who is going to do it.
Josh Sarnecky — Cersei Lannister
Cersei is screwed.
Now that she has become Cersei of House Lannister, First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, etcetera, etcetera, she is both more powerful and more vulnerable than ever. She may sit upon the Iron Throne, but her claim is fairly weak considering the three (illegitimate) children tying her to the throne are dead. Tywin, Tyrion, the High Sparrow, and the small council may no longer be in her way, but they are also no longer there to prevent her from doing something rash (well, more rash than usual). Cersei may wear the crown, but her enemies far outnumber her allies. Daenerys is finally on her way to take back the throne and is backed by House Martell, House Tyrell, half of House Greyjoy, an army of Unsullied, the Dothraki, and three dragons ready for some barbecue. Even Cersei’s own subjects hate her. Yes, the odds are staked heavily against everyone’s favorite incestuous, mariticidal queen.
Now that the target on her back is bigger than ever and she’s painted herself into a political corner, I don’t see how Cersei can make it out of this season alive. Even if Daenerys wasn’t gunning for her, Cersei has made far too many enemies (well, besides the ones she blew up) to survive. I think there are three ways that Cersei could likely meet the Many-Faced God this season:
(1) Frustrated by Cersei’s incompetent and self-serving rule, the common folk of King’s Landing could rebel against the queen. We’ve already seen a riot break out during Joffrey’s rule and the commoners deride Cersei during her walk of atonement (what a shame that was), so it isn’t difficult to believe that the commoners could be her undoing if things in the capital go south.
(2) Cersei may take her own life if Daenerys’s forces appear poised to take the city. The queen came awfully close to committing suicide during the Battle of the Blackwater, and she may be even more likely to end her life during a siege now that the things that gave purpose to her life, her children, are all dead.
(3) Finally, and most likely in my opinion, Jaime himself may kill his sister. The Kingslayer has been on an uneven path to redemption since his introduction to Brienne and slaying the queen could ironically be the conclusion to that journey. Jaime would likely be motivated by a realization that his sister has become a monster and/or a desire to protect her from Daenerys, the commoners, and/or herself. I particularly like this possibility because of how well it mirrors the regicide that gave Jaime his infamous nickname and how it bookends the moment that the twins’ relationship was revealed in the series premiere. Just as Jaime was willing to kill Bran out of love for his sister, he may decide to kill Cersei because of his love for her. After all the Lannister siblings have gone through together, I can think of no fitter end to their story.
Jaime Lannister – Bill Bodkin
We know Jaime loves his sister, but don’t for one second think that he is not hurting as a father. All his children are dead. His youngest, took his own life most because of his actions towards Cersei, and her actions towards not only his rule, but his wife.
I believe Cersei is going to spiral out of control this season, and it will be up to Jaime to stop her — whether it be her asking him to end it, or he does it on his own.
Once his love is dead, what more does he have left to live for? Jaime will then take his own life, or throw himself into a fight he cannot win. He’ll die by the sword, for sure.
