Game of Thrones Hope Chest: what we most want to see happen on HBO’s blockbuster series

Game of Thrones has never been about giving readers or viewers what they most want. Its author and screenwriters prefer to build fan expectations, then overturn them for narrative impact and, sometimes, pure shock value. Yet, fans maintain hope that at least a few of the characters will reach satisfying, well-deserved endings. So it’s time for the return of Game of Thrones Hope Chest, the weekly poll where we put all of our hopes together in one place. We aren’t asking what you think is going to happen on Game of Thrones. We’re asking: what do you most hope to see happen.

This week, there’s really just one question: do you want to see Daenerys Targaryen saved? That raises a host of other minor questions, including can she be saved, and should she be? In Game of Thrones’ penultimate episode, “The Bells,” she slaughters thousands of people in what amounts to be a whim and a tantrum. She’s been set up as potentially dangerous and power-mad over the course of the show, but she’s still never proven herself capable of mass-murdering children and non-combatants — until now. Is there any way for her to come back from what she’s done?

Game of Thrones has never been about giving readers or viewers what they most want. Its author and screenwriters prefer to build fan expectations, then overturn them for narrative impact and, sometimes, pure shock value. Yet, fans maintain hope that at least a few of the characters will reach a satisfying, well-deserved ending. So it’s time for the return of Game of Thrones Hope Chest, the weekly poll where we put all of our hopes together in one place. We aren’t asking what you think is going to happen on Game of Thrones. We’re asking: what do you most hope to see happen?

This week, we’re diving deep into the tinfoil hat area of the internet — or at least, what used to be the tinfoil hat section before shows like Westworld helped fan the flames that were already making wild speculation seem like valid fan response. There’s a growing craze for in-depth TV breakdowns, a bottomless hunger for Game of Thrones conversation, and a lot of potential attention and interaction is available to people who come up with Game of Thrones ideas that no one’s suggested before. All of these elements have produced a perfect little hothouse where bizarre Game of Thrones theories can nestle and grow and get progressively weirder and wilder. Keep an open mind (and, simultaneously, don’t take too much of this too seriously), and some of these ridiculous theories can be pretty enjoyable.

Game of Thrones has never been about giving readers or viewers what they most want. Its author and screenwriters prefer to build fan expectations, then overturn them for narrative impact — and sometimes for pure shock value. And yet fans maintain hope that at least a few of the characters will reach a satisfying, well-deserved ending. That’s why there’s Game of Thrones Hope Chest, a new weekly poll where we put all our hopes together in one place. We aren’t asking what you think is going to happen on Game of Thrones, we’re asking: what do you most hope to see happen?

This week, we’re headed into the season finale, with a chance that we won’t see any more of the show until 2019. So this is our last chance for a little closure on the storylines continued or opened in this season. There are plenty of unresolved plot threads at the moment, and some of them, we’re absolutely guaranteed not to see wrapped up, like the undead menace in the north, or whether Cersei’s ultimately going to sell out her theoretical allies. But there’s at least a possibility that we’ll get some reveals on other dangling plotlines.

Game of Thrones has never been about giving readers or viewers what they most want. Its author and screenwriters prefer to build fan expectations, then overturn them for narrative impact — and sometimes for pure shock value. And yet fans maintain hope that at least a few of the characters will reach a satisfying, well-deserved ending. That’s why there’s Game of Thrones Hope Chest, a new weekly poll where we put all our hopes together in one place. We aren’t asking what you think is going to happen on Game of Thrones, we’re asking: what do you most hope to see happen?

This week, we’re considering some astonishing news from season 7, episode 5, “Eastwatch.” Cersei Lannister, the current occupant of the Iron Throne, has informed her brother Jaime that she’s pregnant again, he’s the father again, and she’s planning to let Westeros know both things, because she DGAF anymore. After spending her whole life hiding her incestuous relationship with her brother, and hiding the three resulting children by claiming their father was her husband King Robert Baratheon, she’s decided that she’s queen now, and she’s gonna do what she wants. This is clearly a terrible idea: she’s been dogged by incest rumors for years, and they’ve turned both the people and the nobility against her. Now that she’s an embattled queen, with the North in rebellion, an army of undead about to invade, and a foreign claimant to the throne torching her men and her supplies with a full-on firebreathing battle-dragon, this is not really the time to risk losing support by trying to push a social agenda based on brother-banging.

Game of Thrones has never been about giving readers or viewers what they most want. Its author and screenwriters prefer to build fan expectations, then overturn them for narrative impact — and sometimes for pure shock value. And yet fans maintain hope that at least a few of the characters will reach a satisfying, well-deserved ending. That’s why there’s Game of Thrones Hope Chest, a new weekly poll where we put all our hopes together in one place. We aren’t asking what you think is going to happen on Game of Thrones, we’re asking: what do you most hope to see happen?

This week, we consider the final shot of season 7, episode 4, which has Jaime Lannister plummeting into a suspiciously deep channel of water after a failed attack on Daenerys and her dragon Drogon. It looks like a tragic death scene — he’s wearing heavy armor, and that water goes down forever — but for the most part, internet pundits aren’t buying it. He’s too major a character, we too obviously don’t see a clear death moment, and besides, a previous poll here shows that a sizable minority of viewers are hoping he’ll hang around long enough to murder his sister Cersei. There are plenty of theories about how he’ll survive, but fans of the show are pretty sure he’ll survive.

Game of Thrones has never been about giving readers or viewers what they most want. Its author and screenwriters prefer to build fan expectations, then overturn them for narrative impact — and sometimes for pure shock value. And yet fans maintain hope that at least a few of the characters will reach a satisfying, well-deserved ending. That’s why there’s Game of Thrones Hope Chest, a new weekly poll where we put all our hopes together in one place. We aren’t asking what you think is going to happen on Game of Thrones, we’re asking: what do you most hope to see happen?

One spoiler ahead for season 7, episode 3, “The Queen’s Justice”

Game of Thrones has never been about giving readers or viewers what they most want. Its author and screenwriters prefer to build fan expectations, then overturn them for narrative impact — and sometimes for pure shock value. And yet we fans maintain hope that at least a few of the characters will reach a satisfying, well-deserved ending. That’s why there’s Game of Thrones Hope Chest, a new weekly poll where we put all our hopes together in one place. We aren’t asking what you think is going to happen on Game of Thrones, we’re asking: what do you most hope to see happen?

This week, we’re looking back at an episode filled with boat murder, alliance-building, secret messages, and callbacks to season one — and ignoring all of it in order to focus on the romantic sequence between Grey Worm and Missandei. It was an extremely rare case where Game of Thrones depicted sex as a consensual, pleasurable connection between people who actually like each other, as opposed to something transactional, violent, or both. (It was also a ridiculously rare case where the show’s non-white cast got a little screen time that wasn’t about violence or servitude. They didn’t even get interrupted by boat murder!)

Game of Thrones has never been about giving readers or viewers what they most want. It’s author and screenwriters prefer to build fan expectations, then overturn them for narrative impact — and sometimes for pure shock value. And yet we fans maintain hope that at least a few of the characters will reach a satisfying, well-deserved ending. That’s why there’s Game of Thrones Hope Chest, a new weekly poll where we put all our hopes together in one place. We aren’t asking what you think is going to happen on Game of Thrones, we’re asking: what do you most hope to see happen?

This week, we’re looking at the prophecy about Azor Ahai, a legendary Game of Thrones figure who may have saved Westeros from the previous coming of the undead White Walkers with his flaming sword Lightbringer, and theoretically will be reborn “amidst salt and smoke” to re-forge Lightbringer and save the land again. Typically, the reborn Azor Ahai is known as the Prince Who Was Promised, although as with all things Game of Thrones, there are different interpretations; some fans think the reincarnated Azor Ahai and the Prince are different prophecies. But let’s not get too buried in the minutiae.