14 Major Questions Game of Thrones Needs to Answer in Season 8

Some of us ship it hard, others swear it's a terrible idea. But season seven ends with a definitive answer: Jon and Daenerys have become way more than just allies. To an innocent bystander they might look like two young beautiful people who have seen too many terrible things and just want some happiness with each other. But we all know the real story. Not only are they very, very related, but Jon has more of a claim to the Iron Throne than his new queen.

So what happens to the lovebirds when they arrive at Winterfell and hear the news? The season eight trailer has plenty of scenes of the two of them, but nothing that seems to suggest some sort of falling-out. Will Dany take Jon out before he has the chance to threaten her rule? Will Jon decide that he'd rather rule himself and try to unite the Northern houses against Dany? Will they corule and create a schedule for who gets to sit on the throne on which day?

We've known for a while that there will be an epic showdown at Winterfell in season eight, with many of our faves coming together to face down the Night King. The trailer shows Jorah, Brienne, and Grey Worm solemnly awaiting the army of the dead while Varys, Gilly, and baby Sam seem to be taking shelter in what could be the Winterfell crypts. We also see Arya in the midst of battle, as well as running from some sort of mysterious threat through the castle halls.

It's already been confirmed that the battle happens midseason, which means its outcome might not necessarily determine how the season ultimately ends. Could our heroes lose this round? Will they be forced to regroup and retreat south, closer to Cersei and the Golden Company? Will we lose one or more of our favorite characters to the Army of the Dead?

Season seven ends with Cersei tricking the good guys into thinking she's sending her armies to help fight the White Walkers, while in fact she plans to wipe her enemies out using the Golden Company mercenaries. Her reason for the betrayal is to protect her family — which, after Jaime's dramatic exit, leaves only her and her unborn child.

Cersei would do just about anything for her children, so why is she drinking in the season eight trailer? Sure, this queen loves her wine, but Cersei refuses to drink with Tyrion in the season seven finale which immediately clues him in to her pregnancy. The trailer also only shows Cersei in a way that keeps her stomach hidden. Will something happen to her baby? Was she lying the whole time about being pregnant?

It might not be critical to the plot of the season, but we have to cling to small moments of happiness, right? One of the reasons fans loved Gendry Waters to begin with was his sweet connection with Arya, and now that Gendry's back in the game (and in the season eight trailer!) how will the reunion of Robert Baratheon's son and Ned Stark's youngest daughter play out? Will Gendry do a cartoon-level double take the first time he sees her all grown up? Is Arya so dead inside that she won't even care? Will Gendry end up with Sansa?! Inquiring minds need to know.

The Cersei pregnancy bombshell was a shock, but there's another character whose pregnancy would be even more world-changing. Daenerys is certain that she cannot have any more children after the witch Mirri Maz Duur turned her unborn child into a monster (and her husband Drogo into a vegetable) back in season one. She emphasizes this multiple times in season seven, specifically to Jon Snow, who seems a little skeptical about the word of a witch. Fans theorize that not only is the idea that Dany is barren false, but that she will get pregnant . . . with Jon's child.

After what we learn about Jon's claim to the throne at the end of season seven, a child he has with Daenerys could cement a whole new Targaryen dynasty. If Dany does get pregnant, would that affect her reaction to Jon's true lineage? Would the fact that they have a child together keep her from going against him? And vice versa — if Jon decides he wants the throne, would he be able to go up against the mother of his child?

The saga of Theon Greyjoy is a tragic one. Sure, he started out as a jerk and betrayed the family he'd grown up with, but he's gone through horrific trauma and come out the other side wanting to help the good guys however he can. In season seven he's too frightened by his uncle Euron's attack to save his sister Yara from being kidnapped, but by the season finale he resolves to get her back from his uncle's clutches so she can still take her place as ruler of the Iron Islands.

We're all rooting for him to succeed, but Theon and his followers are facing down a very serious (and very insane) enemy who's out to get what he wants at any cost. The season eight trailer doesn't show either Theon or Euron, so we can only wonder. Will Theon be victorious? Will he and Yara restore the Greyjoy house to glory?

When it comes to aces in the hole, not much is better than dragons. They ensured the victory of Daenerys's ancestor Aegon the Conqueror when he invaded Westeros, and they ensure a victory for Dany pretty much every time — you mess with Khaleesi, you get burned. But then the Night King ruins everything (as usual) in season seven and kills Viserion right in front of his mother and siblings. As if that wasn't bad enough, Viserion is turned into a zombie ice dragon and freezer burns a huge hole in the wall. Not cool.

Now that Dany has vowed to help Jon destroy the Night King it's only a matter of time before she faces him again, which means it's only a matter of time before she finds out one of her babies is now an ice-breathing creature of evil. We've seen the damage zombie Viserion can do, so the best tactical move would be to take him out ASAP. Will Dany be forced to make Rhaegal and Drogon kill their brother? Will she have to watch Viserion die a second time?

Jon and Daenerys might be the more dramatic, destiny-fulfilling pair, but Jaime and Brienne have given us major feels since season three. Brienne is the one person who has a real connection with Jaime (other than Cersei), and she's also the only one who knows the truth about how Jaime earned his infamous nickname. It's easy to see that Brienne has feelings for Jaime, but there's always been a Cersei-shaped object in the way of Jaime coming to terms with how he really feels about Brienne.

That object is out of the way, since Jaime peaces out of King's Landing for Winterfell at the end of season seven. Will their close proximity fighting for the good guys finally push them to confess their feelings? The season eight trailer reassures us that Tormund survives Viserion's attack at Eastwatch — will his brush with death make him proposition Brienne before Jaime can get a word in?

Much like the Starks, life hasn't exactly been kind to their direwolves. There are only two of the family's wolves out there at this point — Ghost and Nymeria — and it's looking like everyone's favorite Northern family could use all the help they can get this season. Will Ghost be beside his best pal Jon Snow during the Battle of Winterfell? Maybe Nymeria will sense Arya is in danger and return with a pack of wolves in tow? We can only hope . . .

This is it, the last chance for the two Clegane brothers (lifelong enemies) to go head-to-head. Now that they're squarely on opposite sides, it seems like only a matter of time. The only one who can hope to stand up to the Mountain in hand-to-hand combat is the Hound, and the latter has been ready to take down his brother for years. Will he be the one to finally defeat Cersei's terrifying zombie protector? Will he feel like he's finally made up for all the bad stuff he's done in his life? Alternatively, will they fight side by side?

Cersei Lannister has known her dismal future since she was a child, all thanks to a prophecy from Maggy the Frog. In season five's premiere we see this in a flashback, and lil' Cersei is told she won't marry the prince, but the king instead. That king turns out to be Robert Baratheon. Maggy also correctly predicts that Cersei will have three children, but they will all die. The final part of the prophecy made in the show is that Cersei will be replaced as queen by a younger, more beautiful queen, and Cersei clearly believes this means Daenerys.

However, there's one part of this prophecy that didn't make it into the show. Maggy the Frog tells Cersei that after all her suffering, she will be strangled to death by the valonqar, which in Valyrian translates to "little brother." Cersei has hated Tyrion from the day he was born, so it's no surprise that she assumes the prophecy refers to him. The hatred is mutual — Tyrion confesses in season seven that he's thought about killing Cersei more times than he can count.

But Tyrion isn't Cersei's only younger brother. And after season seven, he isn't the only brother whose relationship with Cersei has completely deteriorated. Many fans are convinced that in the end, Jaime Lannister will be the one to kill his sister and lover, fulfilling the prophecy in a way Cersei never could have seen coming. Will he storm into King's Landing after Cersei has descended into true madness and repeat history by slaying a ruler bent on destroying her own people?

One of the significant prophecies in A Song of Ice And Fire is centered around the legendary Azor Ahai, who lived way before our heroes and defeated the darkness that had taken over the world. The prophecy goes that Azor Ahai will be reborn "amidst salt and smoke to wake dragons out of stone" as the Prince Who Was Promised and stand against the darkness again. Azor Ahai followed the religion of the Lord of Light, which is why Melisandre is bent on seeking out the person she believes is the hero reborn and helping them rise to power.

However, we learn in season seven that it might not in fact be the Prince Who Was Promised who defends the world against darkness — it could also be the Princess Who Was Promised. Fans have long thought that Jon and Daenerys are both top contenders to be the hero reborn, as they're both natural leaders who protect others and stand up to evil. Will it be Jon? Will it be Dany? Will it be someone else?

Ominous footnote: the OG Azor Ahai defeated the darkness using an especially powerful sword, which only got its power after he plunged it into the heart of his true love. If either Daenerys or Jon is the hero reborn . . . will one be forced to kill the other in order to be victorious over the army of the dead?

Game of Thrones is never shy about killing off beloved characters, hated characters, and a lot of horses. Our only solace has been the fact that the show couldn't kill everyone, because there would be no one left to continue the story. That doesn't apply anymore since the final season is upon us, so anyone and everyone is up for grabs.

It's a good bet that a few favorites might perish during the Battle of Winterfell, to up the stakes even further and fuel the survivors' determination to face whatever comes in the finale. But then all bets are off. Who will die heroically in battle? Who will die in the arms of a friend or loved one? Who will sacrifice themselves to save someone else? Will someone come back as a wight?

As Cersei says, in this game "you win or you die" . . . there's no in-between. With the all-consuming final stand that awaits in season eight, the ultimate victor will be the one who survives. There are characters with taking (or keeping) the throne in mind (Cersei, Euron, and Daenerys) and there are characters who simply want to defeat evil, but might be the one who survives to take the mantle of royalty (Jon, Sansa, or even Tyrion).

That's not to say that the ultimate winner won't be someone no one predicts. Samwell Tarly would be a pretty fair and wise king, right? Who wouldn't want to see Lyanna Mormont whip the Seven Kingdoms into shape?