As much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news, I think there may be a certainty about Game of Thrones season seven [1] we may have to face: that it may spell the end for our heroine, Daenerys Targaryen. As we know all too well, all men must die, and that sadly includes badass women [2] we've been rooting an entire series for. I don't want it to happen — I am one of the many who really wants to see Daenerys claim her birthright and end the entire show with her on the Iron Throne (preferably with Jon Snow by her side [3]). Alas, that all may be for my fan fic, because there are several signs that actually point to the death of Daenerys Targaryen — and this season to boot. Let's talk about why the Mother of Dragons may actually be doomed.
The Hints About the Big Season 7 Battle
Forget the clash for the Iron Throne; Ser Davos reminds us that White Walkers are the real threat [4] in one of this season's trailers. Given that the show has been building up to a showdown of the living vs. the White Walkers since, oh, the first scene of the entire series, we know it's going down this season. Time reported that they witnessed an epic battle [5] when they went to the set, which has got to be the big dead vs. living war. The on-set reporter wrote that he witnessed Emilia Clarke as Daenerys riding around on a mechanical rig during the battle (likely this scene of her on a dragon [6] from the trailer). If she's central to the battle, that means she's also a target . . . and likely not to survive.
The House of the Undying Prophecy
A recent theory about Daenerys's vision in the House of the Undying [7] back in season two suggests the vision is now relevant, reminding us that in said vision, she enters a tent in snowy territory — signaling the aforementioned upcoming battle with the White Walkers [8]. In that vision, Drogo and the child they lost are there, waiting for her. The symbolism is strong: Daenerys will emerge from the snowy challenge to her destiny, a happy afterlife with her true love and their child.
It Would Make Her the Most Important Character in the Series
Think about it: if Daenerys dies in the most important battle Westeros (and this series) has ever seen, it would be poetic. Westeros has to get those White Walkers [9] out of the way before they can get back to the matter of who's getting the crown, and Daenerys sacrificing herself to save the world is even better than sitting on some throne that even Joffrey had a turn at. Again, to quote Davos: "If we don't put aside our enmities and bound together, we will die. And then it doesn't matter whose skeleton sits on the Iron Throne."
Daenerys has to redeem the Targaryen name some way — the madness of her father helped perpetuate this mess they're all in, after all. But rather than take back his position (and allow the potential for her, too, to eventually go mad), what if she instead saves the whole damn world?
For a show full of devastating character deaths, it would be heartening for a major one to mean something so profound.