WHERE ARE WE NOW?

GAME OF THRONES MOVES INTO ITS FINAL PHASE - BUT WHAT COULD BE IN STORE FOR OUR BELOVED DENIZENS OF WESTEROS?

Jon Snow, of course, is in the thick of things. A Stark is back in Winterfell, but there’s a snake loose. Littlefinger called chaos a ladder, and his machinations are surely not over. Deep GOT history tells us men forged ties with White Walkers in the ancient past, and Littlefinger has a habit of choosing the side most likely to win. The slimiest man in the Seven Kingdoms is surely not above forging an ice-cold alliance...

Daenerys, meanwhile, appears destined to claim the Iron Throne. Yet she knows nothing of the White Walkers, and her dragons are surely going to be needed in the North, where time-worn tales of sleeping ice dragons could prove a spectacular counterpoint to their fiery menace. The song of ice and fire is yet to be sung, but it’ll likely be a duet between Jon and Dany, related (all but confirmed now, surely) by blood, and destined to either save the Westeros or watch it burn.

Of course, Cersei Lannister is a further complication. The Queen of Westeros is showing shades of mad King Aerys (could the stockpile of Wildfire under King’s Landing become a weapon to wield against the White Walkers?), though we all know what Jamie did to him. Maggy the Frog’s prophecy said Cersei’s brother would kill her, and while we all presumed that’d be Tyrion… well, it’s not much of a leap from Kingslayer to Kinslayer is it?

Mad queens, dragon-led armies, ancient prophecies – and that’s before you factor in the erstwhile Greyjoy fleet, a potential Cleganebowl or the wild-cards that could flip the script at any moment. What will Sam discover at the Citadel? Will Arya complete her kill list? Where the hell is Gendry? Can anyone have a happy ending in this show? Let’s be