Which Game of Thrones Season 6 Theories Came True (and Which Were Ruled Out)

Status: TBD
While we haven’t seen Nymeria yet, there’s no ruling out her possible return sometime soon. Arya’s coming back to Westeros, so it seems like the perfect time for a reunion.

Original Theory: After banishing ber beloved companion, Nymeria, in the Riverlands during season one, Arya has grown quite a bit — and so has her direwolf counterpart. While Nymeria hasn't come up again in the show, it's heavily implied in the books that she continues to roam the Riverlands with a pack of wolves, hunting. Given the Stark clan's strong connection with their house sigil animals, many believe that Nymeria will make a triumphant return at some point . . . and it could very well be this season.

Status: True
The Wildlings fought valiantly with Jon in the Battle of the Bastards, and at heavy cost. (R.I.P., Wun Wun!)

Original Theory: The second season six trailer features fiery-haired wildling Tormund Giantsbane speaking very ominous words that appear to refer to Jon Snow's death . . . but most fans speculate that they are actually spoken to Jon, after he inevitably comes back to life.

Rather, the man Tormund was "wrong" about is Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall — instead, it's conjectured that the wildlings will band behind newly revived Jon Snow (who has always championed for their rights) and join him in a battle for Winterfell.

Status: True
Bran has proven that he can influence his visions by shouting to a young Ned Stark and driving Hodor mad — and now that he’s taking over for the Three-Eyed Raven, there’s only more to learn about his abilities.

Original Theory: After a preview showed the Night's King grabbing Bran's arm during what is, presumably — because he is standing — one of his greenseer visions, fans launched into theory mode. What does this mean for Bran's abilities? If he is able to be touched during a vision, does that mean he is an active participant? If so, does that mean he could change the outcome of his visions?

During a Reddit analysis of the season six trailer, one user noted: "The fact that the Night's King is grabbing Bran is interesting. For a while, I thought Bran's visions just had him being a passive bystander. I didn't think others could see or that he was an active part of the event."

In response, another Redditor replied: "There was an interesting comment in another thread about how the Night's King might be able to actually access Bran's consciousness — he looks so scared and confused in that clip where he's with the NK, so it doesn't look like he meant to go there. Might be the NK has some similar greenseer powers that allow him to interact with Bran."

Regardless of what special powers Bran is revealed to possess, we're excited to see more of his training with the Three-Eyed Raven beyond the wall.

Status: Unclear
With Shaggy-Dog, Summer, Lady, and Greywind all out of commission, the only opportunities for other Starks to warg are dependent on Jon and Arya. We’ll have to stay tuned and find out if their warg abilities are ever explored!

Original Theory: Though the show hasn't touched on it much outside of Bran's character arc, in the books, the Stark children all have an extraspecial connection with their own direwolf — a warg-like connection. Arya, Jon, and Bran all have "wolf dreams," during which they experience the world through their own wolf's body, and Rickon's wolf (Shaggy Dog) is noted to possess the same wild emotional reactions that he does. The remaining Stark wolves will likely play an ever larger role in this upcoming season.

Some fans even believe that the reason Jon is able to come back to life without losing parts of his former personality is because, before dying, he warged into his wolf, Ghost.

Status: True
One of the Red Wedding's perpetrators, Roose Bolton, met a bloody end thanks to his son, Ramsay. Hopefully we’ll see the rest of this theory come true in the finale — Walder Frey deserves it.

Original Theory: A brief glimpse at a Frey wedding — with Lannister soldiers in attendance, no less — during a season preview was enough to send the internet into a tizzy about Stark vengeance for the Freys' bloody betrayal. Some believe that Arya Stark will return to the Twins to exact revenge on Walder Frey herself, while others believe that vengeance could come in the form of Jaime Lannister or one of Lord Walder's resentful kin. Either way, it's about time that justice was served.

Status: Partially true
Tyrion did take Quentyn’s place by visiting Dany’s two imprisoned dragons, but instead of being lightly toasted, he bonded with Viserion and Rhaegal before unchaining them.

Original Theory: The storyline of Quentyn Martell (son of Dornish Prince Doran and nephew of Oberyn Martell), who travels in secret to find and attempt to wed Daenerys Targaryen, is notably absent from the TV series — and by the looks of the trailer, Tyrion Lannister might be taking over key parts of Quentyn's role. Because of the dragon-fire fatality that abruptly ends Quentyn's storyline, most fans don't want this to happen, but based on the preview scene where Tyrion visits Daenerys's chained-up dragons, Rhaegal and Viserion, it seems that it could — at least in part. Whether Tyrion is the one on the receiving end of the fatal blast may be another story, though . . .

Status: TBD
This hasn’t been confirmed or ruled out yet!

Original Theory: It sounds far-fetched, but the theory that Tyrion Lannister is actually Daenerys's half-brother — the bastard son of the Mad King Aerys and Joanna Lannister, who died birthing him — is actually quite popular. In the books, he has white hair (a Targaryen trait) and an early fascination with dragons, and a history of intermarrying within the Targaryen bloodline often led to physical consequences (like, theory-believers assert, Tyrion's dwarfism) when having children. If Tyrion is indeed on the receiving end of a dragonfire blast during season six, there's a chance he could emerge unscathed and really shake things up as a Targaryen.

Status: True
Ah, that sweet reunion — it was everything we ever wanted.

Original Theory: As each of their storylines leads to the Riverlands — Brienne is shown riding in front of Tully banners in promotional material for season six, and Jaime's men appear at the aforementioned Frey wedding — it might be time for another taste of the dynamic duo. Which would mean . . .

Status: True
With Brienne and Jaime's reunion comes Pod and Bronn. These pairings are unstoppable!

Original Theory: When Podrick still served as Tyrion Lannister's squire, he and Bronn bonded over Pod's own skills in the lady-pleasing department. Well, based on an in-depth analysis of an earlobe — yes, an earlobe — shown in the trailer, it looks like Bronn and Pod may bump into one another again (maybe on less friendly terms than before).

Status: True
Arya made an extremely dramatic exit from the Faceless Men, taking a life before she bounced.

Original Theory: Preview footage of a bloodied Arya fleeing on rooftops has many fans wondering if, during season six, she runs away from her duties to the Faceless God and the House of Black and White. Whether her stash of personal effects (aka Needle) is discovered, she decides that her need for revenge is too great to truly become "no one," or she's just plain sick of the physical torture that comes with the territory of her apprenticeship, Arya might very well flee from the Faceless Men and return to her homeland.

Status: True
Unfortunately, Rickon only came out for a short period before meeting a gruesome end in the Battle of the Bastards. So long, little guy.

Original Theory: Rickon has been MIA since parting ways with Bran, but many believe he ended up at Bear Island (home of the Mormont family) or with the Umber family. With an imminent "Battle of the Bastards" between Ramsay Bolton and a revived Jon Snow for dominion of Winterfell, it's extremely likely that Rickon will return — either as a bartering chip used during this battle for the North or as a reminder to Stark lieges about who their true leaders are.

Status: TBD
It’s pretty much a sure thing that Cersei is planning something dastardly in retribution for her imprisonment and walk of shame, but we’ve yet to see it.

Original Theory: Do we really think that Cersei Lannister would let herself be paraded, naked and bloody, through King's Landing without a plan for revenge? Not her style, especially when she's got a veritable Frankenstein's monster — The Mountain — on her side. There's also quite a bit of theorizing that the Tyrells and the Lannisters could be pitted against one another due to manipulation by the High Sparrow.

Furthermore, Jaime Lannister will likely be thirsty for vengeance against the Faith Militant for torturing, humiliating, and threatening his sister/lover's life.

It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Status: True
Davos, Sansa, Jon, and the Wildlings make a good team — now we’re just worried about how Littlefinger’s return will affect their partnership.

Original Theory: After combining two frames from the trailer to create an extremely convincing image of Sansa and Ser Davos Seaworth together in a room bearing a Mormont sigil in the background, Reddit's Game of Thrones fandom is almost entirely convinced that the two are teaming up on a mission to rally the North behind the reunited Stark house. With Sansa, Rickon, and a newly revived Jon together in the North, it would be a convincing argument indeed.

Status: Ruled Out
We learned how the White Walkers were created this season, and while the name of the Night’s King was never spoken, he had blonde hair and light eyes — Starks are known for their dark features and sullen faces.

Original Theory: Legend has it that the Night's King, leader of the White Walkers, was a Stark — and since we'll be getting much more information about him this season, that fact will likely be confirmed.

Status: TBD
Will Jon learn about his real mom and dad when burying Rickon in the Winterfell crypt? Hopefully we’ll find out soon!

Original Theory: The theory that Jon Snow is actually the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark is so convincing that it is basically revered as canon within the Game of Thrones fandom. Scenes featuring King's Guard knights donning Targaryen armor and battling in front of a tower in the season six promotional material point to flashbacks about the Tower of Joy, where a young Ned Stark battled Rhaegar Targaryen to the death and found his sister Lyanna dying inside, which could finally reveal her dying words — and entrustment of the newborn baby Jon — to Ned. If Jon is brought back to life and learns of his Targaryen heritage, he could be the "ice" to Daenerys's "fire."

Status: Partially True
The Hound is definitely back, but it turns out that he never actually died — and since trials by combat have been outlawed by King Tommen, it’s unlikely that he’ll face off with the zombie Mountain this season.

Original Theory: A cryptic hint from actor Ian McShane indicates that he might bring fan-favorite Sandor Clegane, The Hound, back to life during season six. Given The Hound's long-standing beef with his brother, The Mountain, this could very well mean that both resurrected brothers battle it out in a glorious, long-anticipated fight sequence nicknamed Cleganebowl by hyped-up fans.

Status: Partially True
Sansa definitely has a darker streak these days — one that really came to light when she watched her husband, Ramsay, be eaten alive by his own hounds. However, she doesn’t have a faithful band of soldiers helping her hang people throughout Westeros, and she’s certainly no revived, river-bloated corpse.

Original Theory: Another unexplored storyline from the book series is that of Lady Stoneheart — the vengeful, revived corpse of Lady Catelyn Stark, who travels Westeros seeking justice for the Red Wedding. Since the show has so far ignored this creepy character arc, many believe that Sansa Stark will dole out the revenge that her mother so desperately sought.

As another Redditor puts it: "That'd be interesting actually — we've been wanting the vengeance of Stoneheart for so long, and having her coming back and doing it for us, instead of Stoneheart herself could be way more powerful. Especially as her pain has been drawn out for a further two seasons. She's lost so much, and now she truly gets the chance to get even."