Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Game of Thrones Season 8 is going to be explosive. The final chapter of George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy saga is destined to deliver some of the craziest battle sequences in film and television history. Heroes will fall, castles will burn, and not everyone is going to make it out alive. In fact, we don’t expect most of our favorites to make it through the long war ahead.
We already know that four main characters are destined to collide in deadly ways: the Night King is going to face off against Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen at Winterfell, and then at some point, Cersei Lannister is going to enter the fight and pick off the survivors. The only question we have — beyond who “wins” the so-called “Game of Thrones” — is which of these four will outlast the rest?
While we can foresee an ending where maybe, just maybe, Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen make it to the end together, we doubt such a happy ending will come to pass. This is Game of Thrones, after all. We also know that it’s highly likely that none of the four makes it to the final scene of Game of Thrones. But who’s going to outlast all the rest? Will it be Jon Snow, the hero of the North? Daenerys Targaryen, the mother of dragons? Cersei Lannister, the cunning and ruthless power player? Or will death and ice bury them all? Will the Night King reign supreme?
There are arguments to be made for and against each of these four major players to outlast the rest in Game of Thrones. Read our take below and let us know whom you think will be the one to outlive them all. Vote in our poll!
Jon Snow
Why He’s Going to be the Last One Standing: Jon Snow has been on the traditional hero’s journey since Game of Thrones first began. He was the bastard son of a great lord who was determined to forge his own path. Then he set off to join the Night’s Watch where he learned about loyalty, honor, patience, and how to give a Wilding girl a “lord’s kiss.”
Jon Snow is more than just a former Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and the King in the North; as the secret love child of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, he’s the true heir to the Iron Throne. If the show doesn’t end with him defeating the Night King and sitting on his family’s throne, then what was his long story arc for?? He is the one who will save the realm, and it’s not like he’s good at dying. He’s been brought back from the dead before.
Why He’s Doomed to Die (and Stay Dead): First of all, he wants to stay dead this time around. He’s told Melisandre as much, and that seems like foreshadowing.
Second, if Jon Snow is “the Prince Who Was Promised,” it is highly likely that he will sacrifice himself to defeat either the Night King or Cersei Lannister, securing peace for Westeros.
Third, Game of Thrones is not a story that likes to give its characters happy endings. Jon Snow surviving and ascending to the Iron Throne is too neat, too tidy, and too typical for this saga.
Daenerys Targaryen
Why She’s Going to be the Last One Standing: Much like Jon Snow, her lover/nephew (vom), Daenerys has been living out a hero’s rise to power. She started out in exile, the younger sister and pawn of an odious would-be tyrant. Then married into a foreign warrior culture, which she not only assimilated to, but conquered. Oh, and then she brought dragons to life and set about conquering a continent. She has always made it her mission to reclaim Westeros. Now with a partner at her side (again, vom), she has her goal in her grasp. The only problem is they have to deal with the Night King.
Sign up for Decider’s Game Of Thrones newsletter — it’s everything you need to get you prepared for the final season! Delivered weekly.
With her dragons, Dothraki, and Unsullied, Daenerys is uniquely armed to face down the Night King, and perhaps the most likely to survive. Also, it’s been hinted that she will be able to have another child — an heir — with Jon. So her happy ending is in sight. And it would be a triumphant ending for the show, as well.
Why She’s Doomed to Die (and Stay Dead): Triumph? Happiness? Are you new here? This is Game of Thrones and no one can have a happy ending.
As we explained with regard to Jon Snow, we expect Game of Thrones to end thanks to some heart-wrenching sacrifice. Furthermore, the lesson of Game of Thrones has always been that doing the good and noble thing usually has disastrous consequences.
And about that baby…Daenerys’s own mother died in childbirth, and pregnancies are notoriously difficult for Targaryens, as well as women in Westeros. Maybe she’ll beat the Night King and die giving birth to her heir? Just a thought.
Cersei Lannister
Why She’s Going to be the Last One Standing: Uh, because she’s the only smart person left in Westeros? While everyone else traipses North, right into the path of the Night King’s army, Cersei has planned a cunning power play. She gets to stay safe in King’s Landing as Queen, while Euron brings her the Golden Company, the world’s most elite mercenary army, to take on whomever wins the Battle of Winterfell. She knows how to play people, and she has outlasted everyone who’s stood in her way so far.
Why She’s Doomed to Die (and Stay Dead): Because far too many people want her dead. Being ruthless has helped Cersei survive this long, but it’s also created way too many enemies. Just one of them has to turn on her in the right moment.
Also, all that stuff we said about Daenerys and the dangers of childbirth? Cersei is in the midst of an actual geriatric pregnancy, putting the risks higher for a safe delivery. And like Daenerys’s mother, her mother died giving birth to Tyrion. If Arya doesn’t kill her, that baby will.
The Night King
Why He’s Going to be the Last One Standing: Well, it would certainly be shocking, wouldn’t it? Not to mention that the odds are stacked against our heroes. Because of the Night King’s specific skill set, any warrior who falls in the fight will be absorbed into the enemy’s forces.
He’s going to survive because he’s already undead, and because it would be the kind of devastating, soul-crushing twist Game of Thrones is perfect at delivering.
Why He’s Doomed to Die (and Stay Dead): Because it’s all been leading up to this…a battle between the living and the dead, and even death must die.
But more seriously, the big battle for humanity seems to be the Battle of Winterfell, set to be Episode 3 in Season 8. There are three more episodes after that, and that means that some of our heroes will survive this final battle. Otherwise, those last episodes will just be Cersei getting drunk in King’s Landing, you know? So the Night King will fall. Right? Right. (Well, maybe.)
