'Game of Thrones' season 8's Great War has its origin in these four riveting episodes
HBO's most popular show, 'Game of Thrones' is approaching its end and so does our quest to find out who will sit on the Iron Throne, and whether the Night King will be defeated. Unlike other tales, where the good has always survived the bad, it is nearly impossible to predict which way the story will turn in the David Benioff and D. B. Weiss created show. However, over the course of the show, there were some episodes which left behind subtle hints for us indicating what can be expected from the final season.
The top four episodes have been chosen based on where Season 8 will pick up from. While choosing the episodes we have considered those who have survived until now, what happened to the characters in relation to the Night King, and how the subsequent events might lead to the culmination point. Before season 8 of Game of Thrones airs, here's a brief refresher on the episodes that have led us to the inevitable end.
1. 'Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things' (Season 1, Episode 4)
Taken from Tyrion Lannister's (Peter Dinklage) iconic dialogues, as he tells Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright), "I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things," the line had already paved the way for the characters who are destined to survive on the show. Over the course of the show, in the last seven seasons, we have seen that the cripple, Bran Stark, the bastard, Jon Snow (Kit Harington), and the broken things which perhaps includes all those people who were torn from their lands and families, such as Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), Arya (Maisie Williams), and Sansa (Sophie Turner), live through even the darkest moments. However, it is not confirmed if they will survive the Long Night that is now coming to Winterfell.
2. 'Fire and Blood' (Season 1, Episode 10)
The most significant moment of this episode was the final scene where Daenerys rises from the ashes, untouched by fire, and her three dragons finally take birth. Barely a few episodes later, in 'A Dance With Dragons', this event is once more reflected upon when Daenerys takes control over Slaver's Bay in Meereen, and Benerro of Volantis (or Kinvara on the show) proclaims that Daenerys Targaryen is Azor Ahai returned. Benerro tells Tyrion, "Her coming is the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. From smoke and salt was she born to make the world anew. She is Azor Ahai returned." Azor Ahai is the legendary prince who is destined to end the Long Night by killing the Night King with his Lightbringer sword. Although Daenerys does not hold a sword, she herself has played the role of a lightbringer as each time she rose from the ashes to start a new revolution destroying the old order.
3. 'The Door' (Season 6, Episode 5)
Although this episode was nothing less than a tear-jerker as Hodor met his last days, it was the final call for Bran to establish himself as the three-eyed raven. He discovered that while he is able to visit the past and experience the events, he is also capable of altering them. He warged into Hodor's body taking away his speech, thus, setting the entire timeline of the present events to move backward. This in a way set out the conspiracy theory that Bran might actually be the Night King due to his ability to change the past. During the visits, he met the Night King who was the only one to see him and Bran was inflicted with an ice-mark when the Night King touched him. While this again happened in the past, Bran's reality immediately took a turn as with the ice-mark the Night King was now able to locate him. Perhaps that very mark will in the end turn the Stark boy into a White Walker, and soon the Night King- after all the Night King is known to be a Stark.
4. 'Beyond The Wall' (Season 7, Episode 6)
This had practically set the stage for the Great War that is about to come in Season 8. Perhaps the most significant event of the show took place here, when Daenerys lost Viserion, one of her dragons to the Night King. This proved that the Night King and the Mother of Dragons are now equal when it comes to power. While on one hand Daenerys is unhurt by fire and can come out of anything alive, the Night King is practically an immortal zombie. This episode was clearly indicative of the brilliant clash of power that is about to take place in Season 8, and perhaps Season 1's predicton of Daenerys being the Azor Ahai might come true when the Great War comes.
'Game of Thrones' Season 8 is set to premiere on HBO on April 14, and with Winter already here it is time to decide who lives and who dies in the game of thrones.
