Game Of Thrones Series Finale Major Theories: What Will Happen In Season 8, Episode 6?

Episode 5 of Game of Thrones was a big deal on several fronts, and not just because it was full of deaths and finally gave us Cleganebowl. Nothing was more impactful than Daenerys's decision to go Mad Queen and burn King's Landing. Before she did that, she killed Varys--but he was also trying to kill her. Before the series finale, there were some potentially big clues about how Dany might die in Episode 6.

If you're eager for a look ahead, check out the finale trailer and Episode 6 photos. Beyond that, we also have an in-depth look at the most important character who didn't make it into the show, Young Griff, and a discussion about how Daenerys's decision means we'll never see her break the wheel.

Every time you think it can't get worse, it does. In Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5, "The Bells," Daenerys, in an act of rage and vengeance, burned nearly all of King's Landing to the ground. This happened after the soldiers had already surrendered the city and dropped their swords. There were two key shots that illustrated just how catastrophic the carnage and the loss of innocent life were.

The first shot was the snaking path of fire, as Dany and Drogon wove through the city, laying waste to everything beneath them. I initially thought she was flying straight for the Red Keep, in a final, decapitating strike again Cersei and her Queensguard. That she instead used Drogon like a massive, flaming lawnmower, to burn the city in neat rows, was irredeemably evil. (That said, the previews of Episode 6 have only shown us Dany's back, so we're left to wait for the finale to find out what her personal reaction to her actions is. Our other key characters, like Tyrion and Arya, seem justifiably shellshocked.)

The second shot was of the caches of wildfire going off as the city burned; they looked like little puffs of green smoke amidst the carnage. Even in the Mad King's worst case scenario, where he would have set off every cache of wildfire in the city out of spite, he would have done a fraction of the damage that Dany did. What he planned to do was considered beyond the pale by Jaime, to the point that he broke a sacred vow. Where does this massacre rank in that hierarchy?

Here are five theories headed into Episode 6, the final episode of the series. The chances of any sort of happy ending are long gone; let's just hope to break even at this point.

Varys opened the episode by writing a letter, and from what we could make out, he was revealing the truth about Jon Snow's parentage. He burned that letter right before he was executed; that one, at least, was not sent.

This did not, however, preclude any other letters being sent. If his intent was to undermine Dany's rule, he may have sent out scores of little notes to all four corners of the Seven Kingdoms revealing the truth. And his network of "little birds" could handle much of the rest.

Dany may be queen at the moment. But her rule will be compromised from the start, depending on how far Varys's actions went before Tyrion stopped him.

Also of note: the apparent possibility that Varys may have been plotting to poison Dany.

For years, fans have been parsing Melisandre's prophecy to Arya in Season 2:

"I see a darkness in you. And in that darkness, eyes staring back at me. Brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes. Eyes sealed shut forever. We will meet again."

A couple of weeks ago, it seemed that the first two parts of the prophecy had already come true. She killed Walder Frey, who had brown eyes. Then she killed the Night King, who had blue eyes. And thus, her third victim would be Cersei, who had green eyes.

But after tonight, that's no longer possible.

Instead of Cersei, perhaps the prophecy was referring to Daenerys, who also has green eyes (although if the show was true to the books, they should be purple--but whatever). A lot of the carnage in this episode was shot from Arya's point of view, as she tried (and failed) to save the women and children around her. That might be enough motivation to push Arya toward one last act of vengeance, despite the Hound's warning to choose a better path.

In the New Testament of the Bible, Revelations 6:8 states:

"And I looked, and behold a pale horse: And his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him."

Arya rode a pale horse out of King's Landing at the end of the episode, surrounded by fire and all sorts of post-apocalyptic imagery. And perhaps, it's just that--a cool allusive shot meant to underline Dany's savagery. But if Arya is meant to kill Daenerys, it could also be foreshadowing; Arya is now Death, and she has one last soul to claim.

At this point, there's three likely eventualities for the series finale; either Jon becomes King and kills Dany (and hopefully, melts down the Iron Throne), or Dany becomes Queen and kills Jon. Or, they both die.

If Jon becomes King, then his Hand will almost certainly be Ser Davos. Time and again, the Onion Knight has been a steadying hand at Jon's side, both giving him wise advice and keeping him grounded. He smoothed over two alliances for Jon Snow: the first with House Mormont and the second with Daenerys.

There has to be a reason why he has survived, against all odds, into the endgame of the show. Other honorable men such as Barristan Selmy, are long dead. Davos is the last of his type: a remnant of the past with wisdom, who also hopes for a better world than the one he grew up in.

After this most recent bloodbath, all bets are off. We could very well be in store for a darkest timeline ending, where Daenerys kills everyone who doubted her--Tyrion, Jon Snow, Davos, etc--and rules over the ashes of the Seven Kingdoms from the Iron Throne. Just because Arya is fated to kill Daenerys, doesn't mean she will; Melisandre has been wrong before, like when she placed her faith in Stannis. And Arya has always been given the choice of whether or not to fulfill her destiny.

It's times like this that we remember the interview that Emilia Clarke gave to Vanity Fair in the lead-up to Season 8. When speaking about the last scene she shot, she had this to say:

“It f****d me up. Knowing that is going to be a lasting flavor in someone’s mouth of what Daenerys is…"

Of course, directors don't always shoot their scenes chronologically. But if this is a reference to Dany's last scene, it certainly doesn't sound like she meets a righteous death or some necessary redemption.

For the final, sixth episode of Game of Thrones' final season, it'll be a good idea to prepare ourselves for the worst while hoping for the best.