Leila6

I fully agree with this. If Bran really does end up “king” with Arya and Sansa, it would be deeply unsatisfying and illogical. What’s the point of having characters like Dany and Jon learn to rule, to figure out their tax policies, as GRRM wants, if an omniscient, robotic being is the endgame ruler? How is that narratively fulfilling? Why would “That’s not me,” trained assassin Arya do an about-face (hehe) and want to play politics? Much has been made about Sansa as a power player (in the show at least), but the true thrust of her character arc on the show is about embracing her Starkness and reclaiming her northern identity. But she’s going to end up as the power behind the throne in the backbiting south? It all makes no sense to me, and if that’s how they end it, they’re going to have to do a lot of building up to it in the very short time they have left, which doesn’t seem achievable.

Despite the betting shenanigans, I can’t buy Bran as endgame king/ruler unless he learns much better control of his TER-ness powers and lack of affect. He has the benefit of being basically omniscient, but would anyone really be inspired to follow or love the Branbot?

Assuming he is talking about Cersei, any guesses as to what the set is? We’ve already seen the throne room, the dungeons, the dragon skulls room, the map courtyard, and Cersei’s bedroom. I’m not sure what else it could be in the Red Keep, so it seems like it has to be somewhere else. But where? The big King’s Landing set they constructed wasn’t finished yet in March, IIRC.

I think you might be taking claytoy’s response too seriously here. I read that original conversation, and in context, it came across to me as tongue in cheek, not a real leak. ETA: Do we have any spoilers about whether Jon and Dany marry? I can’t recall anything about that from the leakers who seem most legit (debatably, of course). Since I think everyone is 99.999% sure Dany will be pregnant next season, I will find it hilarious if Jon does indeed end up fathering a bastard, even if the baby does get quickly legitimized.

I think breaking the wheel is just a fancy way of saying she’s going to stop its rotation—with Targaryens on top.

There was a very good fanfic I used to read (which unfortunately seems to be on permanent hiatus) in which Tyrion betrays J&D for two reasons: (1) to save Cersei’s child and (2) because Jaime sacrificed himself to set off a wildfire bomb at Winterfell against the AOTD, and Tyrion never forgave J&D for orchestrating the mission and letting Jamie go. I think something like this is plausible, but definitely not betraying them for Cersei’s sake.

That’s not what I said at all. I said because they are the monarchs, not because they know each other. The power relationship is the concern. Which would be a reason not to give the trial any hint of unfairness, so it goes off without a hitch and can’t be questioned later.

Neither of those were trials. The trials we actually witnessed were Tyrion and Loras (perhaps more, I can’t remember), and there were evidence and witnesses and a quasi-jury.

If they’re the reigning monarchs (or soon to be so), it could be argued that nobody would want to return a verdict against what they perceive to be the king and queen’s wishes. Their presence could give away their wishes, based on how they reacted to things.

Off the top of my head: They want the trial to be as fair (or at least appear as fair) as possible, so they stay away to avoid their presence swaying the verdict. It’s too emotionally painful, and they are not needed to give evidence. Dany is giving birth. Jon and/or Dany are recovering from a serious injury and cannot attend. Something is going on with the dragons that only they can take care of. As part of their new system of governance, they’ve decided to set up a separate legal branch of the government, of which the crown takes no part. I’m not saying it definitely is one of these options, but there are plenty of possibilities that preclude concluding Jon and Dany must be dead.

Or it could be misdirection, foreshadowing what happens with Tyrion.

No way in any shape or form do I think the remaining Starks would allow Tyrion to be regent alone for baby Targ.

IIRC, claytoy also said that the big rumor he’d heard (which enty confirmed was the same as friki’s reveal) was represented on friki’s shirt except the IT part, and he said this before Kaysen. Some people thought that meant there’d be no IT in the end, but he could’ve jut meant the spoiler does not state who ends up on the throne.

Don’t read into that. Their info came from the Hollywood Reporter.

Well, crap, now I’m afraid Jon really is going to die. And if that’s the case, I don’t actually want to watch Season 8. But if it’s not the case, it’ll probably be a more enjoyable viewing experience if this huge twist isn’t spoiled. I’m so toooooorrrrn. Also, if Jon dies by some sort of shocking betrayal again, I’m going to lose it and hate this show forever. (Yes, Jon is obviously my favorite character, haha.)

If Jon dies and Dany rules alone, I will regret ever having watched this show.

And it allows Dany to fall in love with him and see the truth of the AOTD before learning Jon has a competing (better, from an inheritance standpoint) claim to the throne. If she had known that beforehand, she probably wouldn’t have grown to trust him as she does. They need to trust each other and act as a united front in this war if they have any chance of winning.

So it's not really a big leap that she could burn down Winterfell or Kings Landing. There is plenty of foreshadowing. It seems a safe bet that Dany will not only be swooping in and burning wights. Whatever she does do it's bad enough that the actress is fucked up by it. I disagree with your interpretation of Emilia’s comment. She was talking about filming Daenerys’s last scene, and whatever her last scene is, it won’t be burning down Winterfell, just by logic of chronology. More to the point, though, you’re interpreting this as Emilia being upset by whatever Dany’s last scene is. Whereas I think she’s saying it messed with her head, as an actress, to have to do the last scene for this character that she’s been playing for nearly a decade. She felt pressure, again as an actress, knowing that would be Dany’s “lasting flavor” for the audience, and she didn’t want to mess it up.

Just because she has an affinity for fire, you think she sets Winterfell aflame? That’s a big leap.

I would hate this. It’s like BSG redux, plus baby.

I wonder if this is the third holy shit moment. It seems like something that would have to come from GRRM. Agreed, it makes no sense. Her plan last season was to let the AOTD thin out Jon & Dany’s forces so they would be weakened when she hit them back with the GC. Why would she send the GC north in a harsh winter to attack Winterfell? Some of her forces would die on the way there, and she’s not trying to help neutralize the NK threat. Keeping the GC in reserve at KL is logical, to either fight J/D or AOTD. Maybe she’s just *that* pissed about Jamie deserting her?

I don’t see where in that spoiler it says anything about someone falling off their dragon and dying. All it says is he saw a scene where someone died, and potentially a different scene where a dragon roared in the snow near the Red keep. Is there more to it somewhere?

It’s not a random Maester; he was referring to Qyburn.

I’m more and more starting to believe Craic_Chancer’s possible leaks on Reddit, compiled here. Plus, their username is so Irish, but not in a way that most Americans would realize, so if they’re a fleaker, at least they’re likely to be an Irish fleaker.

The reddit fleaker is at it again, with more “info” about the editor bay leak from yesterday. Update: A handwriting analysis has now definitively exposed this leaker as fake.