Game Of Thronessixth season has already knocked some entertaining fan theories on the head. But there are many others that persist and some of them are thoroughly bizarre. If you’re up-to-speed with the show, cast your eye over our pick of the best fan predictions currently doing the rounds.
These aren’t necessarily spoilers, because nobody knows if they’re true. But they might be, so be warned.
The Waif is Tyler Durden
The Waif has been the constant pain in Arya’s neck (and more recently abdomen) as she’s tried to fit in with magic assassins The Faceless Men. But the only people who seem ever to see The Waif are Arya and Jaqen H’ghar, and Jaqen never speaks to them both at the same time (often dismissing one from the room so he can speak to the other). Hence, there’s some thought that The Waif and Arya are the same person, the former induced by the latter drinking the water at The House of Black and White. The point: to finish off Arya’s humanity and individuality, and truly make her just A Girl.
Jaime and Cersei will die in a murder-suicide
This one rests on Maggy The Frog's prophecy to Cersei, which has been remarkably accurate so far. The final bit said that Cersei's grief would drown her and the ‘Valonqar’ would throttle her. Valonqar means ‘Little Brother’, which Cersei has always taken to mean Tyrion, because he’s her brother and he’s little. But her twin and incestuous lover Jaime was born after her, making him a little brother in a different sense. Fan thinking here is that Cersei will finally be pushed over the edge (by something like the death of Tommen) and attempt to set off all the caches of Wildfire still stashed around King’s Landing (she’s promised to burn everything more than once already). Jaime, having previously killed the Mad King in similar circumstances, will be forced to do the same again, but won’t be able to live with the consequences this time.
Missandei is a Faceless Man
Daenerys’ confidant and, currently, Tyrion’s slightly suspicious political ally, Missandei speaks a vast number of languages for her apparently young age (and in the books even has memories of experiences that would seem to predate her birth). And yet despite her mastery of foreign tongues, she calls herself ‘This One’, which some have pointed out is rather like ‘No One’ or ‘A Girl’. Hence, she’s a Faceless Man in disguise. Although what the House Of Black And White might want with Daenerys is unclear. Missandei has had ample opportunities to kill her, so it can’t be that…
Ned Stark isn’t dead
Bran has the knowing of the Warging – leaving his own body to inhabit another one nearby – and this theory is based on the idea that it runs in the family. So while we saw Ned Stark lose his head at the end of the first season, the suggestion here is that he didn’t die, but simply warged into someone close, like Ilyn Payne. Payne is on Arya’s death list. That would be awkward.
A Song Of Ice And Fire is The Book Of Revelation
It’s well documented that George R.R. Martin has taken huge inspiration from the Wars Of The Roses, but some observers have also mapped Game Of Thrones onto the Bible’s apocalyptic Book Of Revelation: the Bible’s seven-headed dragon is the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, and so on. If they’re right, this version of events should ultimately see Jon Snow leading the White Walkers in a final battle against whatever fiery forces Daenerys has assembled.
Bran built Winterfell and the Wall
Bran the Builder erected Winterfell and The Wall, and Bran Stark is named after him… or so we think. This theory posits that they’re the same Bran, and that our Bran warged back in time to build his own ancestral pile and ensure his future existence. Don’t think about this for too long: it’ll make your head hurt.
Bran was the voice in the Mad King’s head
Connected to that is the idea that the Mad King’s final words, ‘Burn Them All!’, are along similar lines to ‘Hold the door!’: a kind of time-travelling Bran transmission. Maybe Bran is at the wall, fending off White Walkers, and his shouts echo backwards like they did to poor Hodor. This theory is slightly suspect in that we aren’t aware of anything connecting the Mad King and Bran. But that’s not to say we won’t learn something at some point.
Everyone’s a secret Targaryen
Perhaps one of the most ‘accepted’ fan theories is ‘R+L=J’: the one that says Jon Snow isn’t the son of Ned Stark and a mystery woman, but of Rhaegar Targaryen and Ned’s sister Lyanna (Ned having promised Lyanna on her deathbead that he’d raise Jon as his own). Jon therefore combines ice (Snow/Stark) and fire (Targaryen), which makes the Song Of Ice And Fire specifically his.
There’s a prophecy about ‘The Three Heads Of The Dragon’, which would make Jon the second along with Daenerys. But the third? Some say Tyrion, who in this version of events would be the bastard son of Joanna Lannister and Mad Aerys. That’d fit with why Tywin hates Tyrion so much. OR, on the other hand, some people are saying the third mystery Targaryen is Sam Tarly: another one despised by his own father for reasons that currently seem disproportionate.
Meera Reed is Jon’s twin sister
This doesn’t seem to be based on much apart from Meera and Jon looking slightly alike. But there’s a bit more to it than that, if you listen to the right people. The idea here is that Meera was another child born in the Tower of Joy at the same time as Jon, adopted by Howland Reed, the only other man who got out alongside Ned. Her and Jon are definitely the same age, and we’ve barely been told anything about her mother. And Meera’s a good fighter, as was Lyanna and as is Arya. And Lyanna might have been a disguised knight at a tourney once who fought to defend Howland’s honour, meaning he owed her a debt. Yup, it’s pretty thin.
Varys is a woman (or a fish)
Aaaand the best one of all. We’ve been told forever that Varys is a eunuch. But what’s really going on below his waist is that he’s actually a woman. Not only that, but s/he’s the mother of Aegon Targaryen (and Ilyrio Mopatis was his real father). This is why Varys was so keen to get Aegon on the throne.
Or if you don’t like that, there’s the even madder theory that Varys is half fish, transformed by the sorcerer in Myr not into a eunuch but a Myrman (do you see?). So the big robes in this case are hiding fishy bits. This is why he’s not at all phased when Tyrion threatens to throw him off a boat. And why he doesn’t have a bed in his room (because he sleeps in some sort of bucket like Odo from Deep Space Nine). In this universe, Varys' cohort Illyrio was also hiding a fish tail under his plentiful robes.
We promised you fan theories. We didn't promise they'd make any sense.
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