The 6 Characters Most Likely to Survive Game of Thrones

Sam's final shot in "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" seemed more than a little foreboding, with him and Gilly gazing at each other in bed over the sleeping form of Little Sam on the eve of battle, calling to mind the elderly couple in Titanic, right before they go down with the ship. Still, we think Gilly and Little Sam will be in far more jeopardy down in the crypts than Sam will be up on the Wall. As Sam points out a few times while the people of Winterfell prepare for battle, he's made it through several skirmishes with the White Walkers intact and has even taken out a few of the dead himself. Most likely, he'll get through this one, too, and live to eventually become a maester, although he'll suffer some devastating losses along the way.

We were totally rooting for these two kids to make it work, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. No main character on Game of Thrones has uttered the phrase "Valar Morghulis" more frequently than Arya Stark, and her preapocalypse tryst with Gendry doesn't bode well for either of their longevity. However, while at least half of this couple is likely doomed, we're not entirely sure which half it is.

Arya still has unfinished business in Westeros: not only is there still a name left on her list, but she's finally reunited with her family and made peace with Sansa, so it would be a shame to lose her now . . . although that sort of sentimentality has never seemed to matter much to this show before.

On the other hand, Gendry is the last living Baratheon, and unless Arya became pregnant during their one time together (which seems unlikely, since one assumes that a girl would've been careful), losing him now would mean that House Baratheon is gone for good. Several of the Great Houses have already been wiped out — RIP House Tyrell and House Martell — but we suspect the show has a reason for keeping a Baratheon around for this long.

One of these two is almost certainly on the chopping block, but the other one is most likely safe. If we had to place a bet, we think the odds may favor Arya ever so slightly, but really, this one could go either way.

While being a walking, talking homing beacon for the Night King doesn't seem to offer the best odds for long-term survival, Bran's all-seeing abilities as the Three-Eyed Raven give him a unique perspective that may enable the armies of the living to get a leg up on the White Walkers. Not only does Bran possess knowledge that Daenerys, Jon, and their armies can use to effectively strategize against the armies of the dead, but he'll also be receiving his own personal protection detail to guarantee his safety.

Granted, we expect keeping Bran safe to be a taller order than anyone realizes, but as Sam points out in "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," keeping Bran safe is about more than protecting a single person; it's about preserving the histories and memories of the world of men. When you consider Bran is the sole protector of all human history, he feels pretty safe.

Things aren't looking great for House Lannister at the moment; Jaime and Cersei just met their bitter end. Tyrion, on the other hand, feels safer than either of his siblings, even if he has suffered a few advisory hiccups lately. Throughout the show, he's shown himself to be a forward thinker and a keen strategist, skills that won him the title of Hand of the Queen. Our hope is that, before the final chapter of Game of Thrones comes to an end, we'll see Tyrion and Sansa come together as equals to concoct the ultimate winning strategy. Considering how drastically the armies of the living appear to be outmatched by the armies of the dead, it will likely be wits, not strength, that will prove to be their most valuable asset.

Long gone is the frivolous, shallow girl of season one, who wanted nothing more than to marry well and live a comfortable life (which, considering that Sansa was barely even a teenager in season one, wasn't that unreasonable of a life goal). While Sansa began her journey as a timid, naive child, after apprenticing under the likes of Cersei Lannister, Petyr Baelish, and Olenna Tyrell, the current Lady of Winterfell has grown into possibly the smartest and most cunning player left in the game. Sansa may not be a fighter, but her wits are sharper than Valyrian steel, and we don't expect that anyone — undead or otherwise — will be savvy enough to get the best of her.

Now that the Targaryen-shaped cat is out of the bag, it seems likely that Jon is the Song of Ice and Fire spoken of in the series title, with his half-Stark and half-Targaryen blood making him the heir to the Iron Throne. While it's technically possible that the show could still kill him off after spending seven full seasons leading up to the reveal of Jon's true identity, it doesn't seem very likely. We didn't stick with Jon through multiple battles, betrayals, heartbreaks, and literal death only to lose him now, mere steps from the finish line. Plus, there's something to be said for the ultimate winner of the Iron Throne being someone who's never been driven by any sort of personal ambition but by a selfless desire to do what's best for the people who depend on him.