We’re officially midway through Season 6 of Game of Thrones—and with no new novel from George R. R. Martin to guide us, when it comes to what we can expect going forward, book readers are almost as much in the dark as A Song of Ice and Fire virgins. This year, the show has delivered one high-stakes twist after another, leaving some fans wondering how the next five episodes can possible top what’s come before. And there’s one more wrinkle: Now that the show has a vague end date on the horizon (hello, 2018!), how should we expect the whole saga to wrap up?
With all these questions swirling, Vanity Fair special correspondent, Game of Thrones fan, and non-book-reader Nick Bilton asked Vanity Fair’s resident Game of Thrones expert (and devoted book reader) Joanna Robinson to clear a few things up for him. Here’s what could be in store for the wild world of Westeros.
Nick Bilton: Let’s just start at the end. Do you think this whole thing is going to end well? I mean, G.R.R.M. is notorious for giving his audience unhappy endings. Is there a chance that the show and book finale is just everyone dying?
Joanna Robinson: Wow, jumping right to the end?! Well, Martin has promised a “bittersweet” conclusion, akin to what we find in Lord of the Rings. So, yes, I definitely expect quite a few more favorites will die before all is said and done. We can’t have seen the last of the dead Starks. But I don’t think we’re headed for a nihilistic ending where the White Walkers take over the earth and everyone is in their undead thrall. The realm will be saved—at the cost of a few of our heroes. Whoever your favorite character is? Well, knowing George, that person won’t be among the survivors.
Bilton: I once sat next to Jon Snow on a flight from England. He was really nice, and really short, and my sister (who was on the flight) was freaking out because she has a huge crush on him. Anyway, I digress. (This is actually a question.) Do you think he’ll end up with the Mother of Dragons, and together they’ll save the world of men and rule the seven kingdoms and live happily ever after?
Robinson: I used to think this! First of all, Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke would be adorable together. Second, the books are called A Song of Ice and Fire, so I think many people assume it will end with Jon (Ice) and Dany (Fire) together. But the more I see of the show, the more I’m enamored with another theory: that Daenerys won’t be a hero of Westeros. She might actually become a villain. We see her making more and more bloodthirsty decisions—the Targaryen family motto is the ominous “Fire and Blood.” It would be just like Martin to set her up to be the conquering hero, only to watch her become a mad and tyrannical villain just like her father. That’s my favorite, new pet theory, and nothing I’ve seen in this season makes me think otherwise!
Bilton: We saw in the latest episode that Bran can go back in time and actually affect the future. (R.I.P., Hodor, Hodor, Hodor.) Is it likely that he’ll actually play the most important role in the show? What does it mean now that he can travel through time? Could he save his father? And Hodor?
Robinson: Well, when Bran went back to Winterfell and warged into Hodor, he didn’t change the reality of Westeros as far as we know it. Hodor has always been Hodor. So, thus far, we haven’t really seen Bran change anything, right? We may find out that he’s caused things we don’t know about yet, but I think we have to take the Three-Eyed Raven at his word: “The past is already written; the ink is dry.” Bran won’t save Ned; he won’t stop the Red Wedding. But he might save the realm based on what he learns while traveling through time.
Bilton: Were you shocked to see how the White Walkers were created? (I was!) And, what do you think that little, or big, plotline means for the future?
Robinson: I was very shocked! Some book readers called this one a while ago, but I admit it caught me by surprise. I think more than anything it’s part of a theme this season about muddying the waters between good and evil. Dan Weiss and David Benioff talked about this a lot when the Tower of Joy scene aired a few weeks ago. What Bran saw somewhat deflated his previously held notion that Ned Stark was pure honor. Now we know that the Children of the Forest created the greatest evil in the Seven Kingdoms, and also that those terrifying ice warriors were once human victims themselves. So I really think that’s the main purpose of showing their origin. Oh—and the use of dragonglass, a.k.a. obsidian, in their creation will also come into play. That’s what Meera had on the end of her spear, and it’s going to be useful in the war to come.
Bilton: Are the Lord of Light people good or bad? I can’t tell what is going on with them.
Robinson: I think the followers of the Lord of Light are zealots. Zealots, as we know, are dangerous. I truly believe that Melisandre and this new priestess, Kinvara, think they are working toward saving mankind. And if they have to burn a few cute, little girls with greyscale or give birth to a killer shadow baby or two in order to do so, well it’s all for the greater good, right? Whether their ends justify their means, we shall see—but I think they are true believers. And we, the audience, have seen some evidence of their Lord’s power. Melisandre may not always be the best at reading her prophecies, but someone is definitely trying to send her a message.
Bilton: I’m sensing a theme here, as if the road to hell is paved with good intentions. (That is, Daenerys Targaryen, the Lord of Light worshipers, and the High Sparrow.) Do you think there’s a world in which the opposite is true, where the bad people become the righteous? Can Ramsay “Douchebag” Bolton turn into a good guy?
Robinson: I think there is no redemption coming for Ramsay. At this point, the show has worked really hard to get us to hate him more than we hated Joffrey. (A tall order!) And I think the only way to pay that off is to give us the satisfaction of his death. Though satisfaction isn’t usually the order of the day in Westeros. But I’d place money on Ramsay not making it out of this season alive.
Bilton: What’s going on with Arya Stark? It seems like she’s got something bigger planned than just wanting to join a group of assassins. She seems much smarter and beguiling than that.
Robinson: Actress Maisie Williams warned us all that we would be bored by her plot this season. And guess what: some people are! But, thankfully, it looks like we’re done with the whack-a-blind-girl phase of her training; now she actually gets to express more than misery. Did you see the joy on her face when she went to that play? Better yet, I think we’re almost done with her time in Braavos. Most viewers are hoping she’ll head back to Westeros soon. But the big question is, in an upcoming battle between ice zombies and dragons, what role will a girl and her Needle have to play?
Bilton: This is all so stressful. I feel like rooting for one character over another is only going to leave me with the same feeling I had when I caught my fifth-grade girlfriend, Emma, holding hands with another boy in class. Should I just expect that the people I love on this show are going to disappoint me?
Robinson: I think now that Weiss and Benioff seem to have an end date in mind, we can expect things to get a little more unpredictable in the world of Westeros. More unpredictable than that Hodor reveal? Yeah, maybe. We haven’t seen a major character with the name of Stark or Lannister die and stay dead in a while. As the show steams ahead to its conclusion, expect everything to feel even more unsafe. In other words, don’t even whisper the name of your favorites out loud unless you’re ready to say good-bye.
