During its action-packed Season 6 finale, Game Of Thrones finally confirmed "R+L=J," the popular fan theory (and a relatively normal one considering some of the craziest Game of Thrones theories) that claimed Jon Snow was not in fact Eddard Stark's bastard son, but rather the secret offspring of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Ned's sister Lyanna. Although the theory has yet to be confirmed in the pages of George R.R. Martin's A Song Of Ice And Fire series, there was enough evidence that the theory was essentially considered canon by many fans. So it was nice to see everyone proved right when the show afforded viewers a glimpse inside the infamous Tower of Joy and saw baby Jon wrapped in his mother Lyanna's arms.
But the fans aren't always so right when it comes to their theories. Remember when everyone was convinced that Hodor was the Great Other — aka the god of the White Walkers? Yeah, that didn't exactly pan out, did it? Or that time when some people claimed Roose Bolton was an immortal skin-stealing vampire? Not so much.
Believe it or not, those are only two of the many insane theories floating around out there. With five years having passed since Martin's last book and so much time to kill between seasons of HBO's hit series, can you really blame the fans for keeping themselves occupied with outlandish predictions?
While we wait (longer than ever) for Season 7, here are 11 of the craziest Game Of Thrones theories about what might be ahead for the show's characters:
1. Meera Is Jon Snow's Twin Sister
Speaking of the Tower of Joy… Some theorists claim that we still haven't seen the whole story of what went down in that castle. Those people would contend that Lyanna didn't give birth to just one baby, but two: a boy and a girl. Then Ned took one of the children and his companion Howland Reed took the other, which means Meera is Jon Snow's twin sister, separated at birth. While there's nothing to immediately disprove this theory, the question remains — why? What would the point of this reveal be? And isn't it a little too Star Wars?
2. Bran Will Make The Mad King Go Mad
After Bran warged into Hodor in the present while greenseeing Hodor in the past and broke the stableboy's mind, some viewers became convinced that something similar would happen between Bran and King Aerys Targaryen… thus driving the Mad King mad and precipitating the events of the entire series. But since Hodor's mind-melting required the man to be alive in both the present and the past — and Aerys is very much dead in the present — it seems unlikely this will actually come to pass. Plus the idea that Game Of Thrones will end in some True Detective-esque "time is a flat circle" nonsense seems a bit silly.
3. The Waif Killed Arya
After Arya's uncharacteristically stupid actions led to her being stabbed in the gut by the Waif, viewers tried to come up with theories to explain the situation — most of them involving Jaqen H'ghar and facechanging. But in the end, what we saw was what we got: the Waif stabbed Arya, but ultimately the Stark girl emerged victorious and killed her enemy in a blind duel… or did she? What if the Waif actually killed Arya in that dark room, and returned to the House of Black and White wearing the girl's face? Now she's in Westeros masquerading as the long-lost Stark and wreaking havoc. (Hopefully not, though.)
4. Daenerys Will Marry Jaime
Ever since the Mother of Dragons declared her intention to marry a Westerosi nobleman and left her lover Daario behind in Meereen, fans have been wondering who Daenerys will marry. The most likely choice seems to be Jon Snow; but what if she ends up marrying someone else entirely? Someone like… Jaime Lannister, perhaps? As reddit user ransof suggests, if Jaime ends up paving the way for Dany's conquest by turning Queenslayer and murdering Cersei, Dany might just be grateful enough to marry him and put an end to the long feud between their houses. Plus, as her Hand of the Queen, Tyrion could probably make a pretty good sales pitch for his own brother.
5. Margaery Is Still Alive
Believe me, I wish this one could be true more than just about anyone. But did you see that explosion? Nothing within a 10 block radius of the Great Sept of Baelor made it out alive. Still, that hasn't stopped fans of the character from coming up with the wildest theories for how Margaery Tyrell could possibly still be alive, from "she hid behind a pillar" to "she ran really fast," and from "she's fireproof because she's secretly half-Targaryen" to "she'll be reborn from the ashes as Azor Ahai, the Prince that was Promised, and become the third head of the dragon" (as reddit user FiendlyNate predicts).
6. Gendry Will Be The Third Dragon Rider
Where is Gendry? That question gets asked an awful lot, ever since King Robert's bastard rowed off into the night after being set free from Dragonstone by Ser Davos in Season 3. Well, reddit user aces1803 might have the answer: he's biding his time until he returns and claims his rightful place as one of the prophesied three heads of the dragon! After all, Robert Baratheon had a bit of the blood of the dragon in him (his grandmother was a Targaryen), which means Gendry does, too. It's highly unlikely that it's enough to let him control a dragon, but it's still cool to think about.
7. Podrick Is Tyrion's Son
According to A Wiki Of Ice And Fire, Tyrion Lannister was born in 273 AC. In Martin's novels, it's revealed that Tyrion wed and bed his young wife Tysha at the impressionable age of 13, which would make it 286 AC. Guess what AWOIAF lists as the birth year of Tyrion's squire, Podrick Payne? That's right: 286 AC. Coincidence? Well, maybe. But not if you ask Redittor maggiemalk, who theorizes that Tywin Lannister knew of Tysha's pregnancy — which is part of the reason why he orchestrated the girl's horrific gang rape, in order to obscure the child's true parentage. And then Tywin's warped family values are apparently what led him to send Podrick to Tyrion as a squire when the boy was all grown up. Possible? Sure. But it feels more like a soap opera plot twist than an Game Of Thrones revelation.
8. Daario And Euron Are The Same Person
Granted, a dent was put in this long-standing theory when the show finally got around to casting Euron this season — and the rogue Greyjoy is most certainly not played by Michiel Huisman, who plays Daario Naharis. But with so much glamoring and facechanging going on in the show these days, some fans are still clinging stubbornly to their belief that the pirate and the sellsword are one and the same, and that when "Daario" has been off on missions for his Khaleesi, he's really been returning home to the Iron Islands to build a fleet to help her conquer Westeros. Crazy or not, having this theory be true would be one way to keep Daario on Game Of Thrones next season.
9. Quaithe Is Dany From The Future
Since Bran started teleporting his mind through time, this theory stopped seeming as utterly preposterous as it once was. But still, Dany has displayed no magical powers of her own outside of fireproof skin and dragon-hatching — not to mention it's a long way from having visions of the future to actual, physical time travel. Plus, the show seems much less interested in the identity of the creepy masked woman than the books, where she has popped up again to deliver more cryptic advice since Dany left Qarth. This might be one of the few mysteries Game Of Thrones actually leaves unsolved.
10. Varys Is A Mermaid
Say what? Yes, there are people out there who have spent time compiling evidence that Varys is really a merman in disguise, like reddit user AllegraGeller. (There's probably a fairly large overlap with the people who believe Roose Bolton is a vampire.) Then again, most of that evidence consists of the character being described as "slimy" and that one time Tyrion threatened to throw Varys into the sea and Varys told Tyrion he would be "disappointed in the results," so I wouldn't hold too much stock in it.
11. Ser Pounce Is The Prince That Was Promised
Yes, there really is a seven-and-a-half-minute video devoted to this "theory." Enjoy.
Will any of these crazy predictions come true? Probably not. But we'll find out when Game Of Thrones Season 7 premieres sometime next summer.
Images: HBO; Giphy (10)
