This New 'Game Of Thrones' Script May Have Revealed The Fate Of Some Key Characters

I’m still shook over the finale of Game of Thrones Season 7, and now that I’ve had a few months to process it all, I’ve been battling with a few burning questions; Is Jon Snow ever going to realise he’s a Targaryen? Is he going to ride a dragon? Will Jon and Ghost ever be reunited? (You might be able to tell who my favourite character is.) That said, another major question I have is who dies in Game of Thrones Season 8?

While there isn't any news on Jon (for now), some think that show bosses may have revealed the fate of Beric Dondarrion and Tormund Giantsbane. In the finale of the last series, it looked like they were goners for sure. But thanks to the Emmy gods and GoT showrunners however, it turns out that the pair may have actually survived.

You see, the Emmy nominations were announced recently and naturally HBO threw Game of Thrones in for consideration — unsurprisingly, it racked up a staggering 22 nominations. One of the gongs it's up for is the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. In order to be considered, HBO had to submit a script, which was then released online publicly for cinephiles to devour. The script put forward was titled The Dragon and the Wolf, and as fans pored over the document's very word, they noticed something; one small glimmer of hope hidden in a throwaway line.

If you can cast your mind way back to 2017 and the actual finale episode, you’ll remember that Tormund and Beric were hanging out on top of the Wall and keeping an eye on the White Walker chaos unfolding beneath them. As they were distracted however, an undead Viserion came out of nowhere and decimated the Wall as they scrambled to safety. The last thing we saw of the pair was Tormund’s frightened face, then the show cut to a shot of the wall crumbling to pieces.

Now, let’s move onto the actual script. Towards the end of showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ script, Tormund and Beric’s supposed last moments are described below:

"TORMUND (shouting a command) Run! Run!

Tormund and Beric lead their wildling comrades to the stairs carved in the ice -- Eastwatch has a massive zig-zag stairway, not an elevator like Castle Black.

They run for their lives and disappear from view."

Allow me to direct your attention to the very last line. They "disappear from view." Not, "they are both brutally murdered by a zombie ice dragon" or "they are crushed fatally under the Wall" as I initially thought. I have a feeling that if they’d really kicked the bucket, Benioff and Weiss would probably have explicitly written that in there. (And, knowing their penchant for gruesome dramatic deaths, they would have ensured they met a horrific end described in painstaking detail.)

It could very well be that my sweet, problematic, ginger wildling Tormund is still alive and kicking, alongside Beric — though we know now that not even death can keep Beric down. In fact, there’s a number of interesting fan theories surrounding Beric and how he could be a crucial part of the next series due to the fact that he’s what George R. R. Martin has called a "wight animated by fire"; the opposite of the White Walkers.

I don’t doubt that Game of Thrones will undoubtedly scoop up a handful of awards when the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards takes place on September 17. That said though, the fantasy series will have to contend with some other major players this year, which are set to give the HBO show a run for its money. The show may have 22 nominations, but Westworld and Saturday Night Live is hot on its trail with with 21 nominations and The Handmaid’s Tale with 20.

Given that Game of Thrones has actually won 38 Emmys since it exploded onto our screens, I don’t think it’ll break the cast and crew’s hearts if they don’t end up winning every category. It would be a little selfish at this point, TBH.