SWMBO and I speculate on this. My take goes something like this:
Jon Snow, Dany, Sansa, Arya, Tyrion, Theon, Bran and Rickon survive.
They all reunite and retake Winterfell. Theon gets his hands on Reece and gets some serious payback. They then wage war against the Night Walkers. Dany’s dragons carry the field by incinerating the zombies and the Night Walkers. After that, they go for King’s Landing.
Arya teams back up with the Hound. The Hound kills Jaime and goes after Cercei. He and the nameless golden knight (who will turn out to be the zombied Mountain) kill each other. Arya gets to Cercei and kills her in a most satisfying manner.
We think that, due to vagaries hinted at about their births, we’ll find that Jon and Tyrion are related to Dany. They re-establish the Targaryen dynasty with Dany as the Queen or Empress and Jon as the Hand.
Arya reunites with her brothers and Sansa. who takes her rightful place as the Lady of Winterfell. Sansa reunites with Tyrion and accepts him as her true husband since he treated her honorably after their marriage.
We have to watch GoT on DVR, so I’m not in real time. We watched the Battle of the Bastards last night and it took out two of my predictions: Rickon got whacked and Theon didn’t get his payback.
However, Sansa did. Having Sansa tell Bolton that his memory would be erased forever and then turning his own dogs loose on him and watching them eat his face was just as good. And as she walked away, that little smile just before the scene changed…let’s just say that Sansa has grown up and has truly become the Lady of Winterfell.
I knew in advance about the deaths of Rickon, Ramsay, Tommen, the High Sparrow, and Walder Frey due to leaked spoilers but now that that’s over, my pure speculation:
Cersei will make it pretty close to the end, but of course she’ll die and it will probably be at Jaime’s hand (the unexpected and tragic valonqar of prophecy, which she always thought referred to Tyrion). Jaime will then die tragically himself, possibly at the hands of Brienne for maximum tragic effect. Bonus points if she uses Oathkeeper.
Even though Cleganebowl didn’t happen the way we thought it would, there is still zero doubt in my mind that Sandor is gonna end up killing Gregor Clegane (again), simply due to the fact that he was finally revealed to be still among the living. That’s the only appropriate loose end for him to tie up. Sandor may or may not make it out alive himself, but he’ll probably meet Arya again before all is said and done.
Tyrion has a decent chance of living to the end. I hope he does. Varys will probably live as well.
Daenerys and Jon Snow will also make it very close to the end, but there’s a strong likelihood of tragic deaths in store for one or both. I think they’ll also end up fucking, before they find out that they are aunt and nephew. Also at a minimum one of her dragons will die; possibly all three.
Bran will live, because really who gives a shit about Bran enough to kill him?
Sam and maybe Gilly will live, but definitely Sam. He needs to be the one to record the tale for future generations, and put his maester training to good service for the Night’s Watch or whomever else, even after Jon Snow is gone. Despite his brief stint as ‘Sam the Slayer’, he has never really been a combatant and he’s an important force for the future, and in a way will be part of Jon’s legacy. He may also find the cure for grayscale and cure Jorah Mormont.
Littlefinger, Sansa, Theon, Yara, Grey Worm, Missandei, Melisandre, Brienne, and Ellaria Sand/Sand Snakes: all dead.
Arya is a tough one. I’d put almost 50/50 odds on her, as well as Davos.
There’s the Game of Thrones, and then there’s the Song of Ice and Fire.
The Game of Thrones is almost over. The few remaining players (chiefly Cersei and Littlefinger plus their entourages) will die as the board is cleared for the SoIaF. Sansa may fall at this point, or may be able to refocus her energies on fighting the White Walkers, in which case she gets to live longer. Dany thinks she’s playing the GoT but is going to get a slap in the face from reality shortly after she lands and be a major player in SoIaF. That slap may involve the death of Missandei. Euron is also a GoT player and will fall to Theon and Yara. (Possibly Theon dies here too.) The Sand Snakes probably die here too because I can’t see them letting go of vengeance to focus on the bigger threat of SoIaF.
The North is now almost fully engaged in SoIaF, with Sansa only needing to stop Littlefinger dicking around. Deaths should come aplenty as the North engages the White Walkers: Tormund, the Hound (assuming he does come North with the Brotherhood), Brienne, most of the Night’s Watch. When Dany gets with the programme and the dragons come North, Grey Worm dies. Tyrion should survive as not in the front line. Sansa might fall holding Winterfell.
Bran dies in mystic combat with the WW, achieving something useful along the way (he can’t be exposition genie for ever).
Jaime is interesting. He should be a GoT player and so die relatively early. But he’s on the verge of turning away from Cersei. And he’s got a Valyrian steel sword. The sword is needed in the North. The easiest way for that to happen is for him to take it there. Although that does mean he’ll have to get better at using it. (Oh, how I’ve missed those montages). This gives Bronn a chance to die in the North too.
Jorah Mormont will turn up and die at some point.
Arya is too wrapped up in her revenge plan right now, so probably dies trying to fulfill that rather than reuniting with her family.
