The epic drama, fantasy and incest series that is Game of Thrones has finally come to an end, but fans have been left scratching their heads over a few little show details.
For a TV series built on so many theories, plot twists, and fake-outs, fans were eager to see how all the loose threads and outstanding prophecies would finally all come together in the end.
While there were some satisfactory character arcs in those final scenes, there were also a lot of big plot twists that had been presented to viewers in earlier seasons that were now seemingly forgotten or just left out of the finale all together.
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest Game of Thrones plot twists that eventually all came to nothing.
In the end, did it really matter that Jon Snow was born Aegon Targaryen?
One of the biggest Game of Thrones twists of all took place at the end of season seven when we learned that Jon Snow was in fact not the bastard son of Ned Stark. He was in fact secretly born Aegon Targaryen, the legitimate son and heir of Daenerys’ brother Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.
While his true parentage did act as sort of a catalyst for making Daenerys paranoid about her own rightful claim to the Iron Throne, in the end it had no real bearing on the story. It did not allow Jon to eventually become king and did not save him from a life of exile.
It was a big storytelling punch that just did not stick the landing.
What was the point of Arya’s Faceless Man tricks?
Arya Stark spent a great deal of her Game of Thrones time in Braavos, where she picked up her assassin skills and of course all of her impressive Faceless Man tricks.
While these skills were put to great use in the season seven premiere where Arya, in disguise as Walder Frey, took out all the villains who had mercilessly murdered her family at the Red Wedding.
It was an incredible scene, but then it appeared as if Arya/the show forgot she ever had this special set of skills.
Many fans speculated that her Faceless Man tricks would be the key to her taking out one of the big bads in the finale, either Daenerys or Cersei, but unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the plot twists that just died a quick death.
Why on earth did they try and make us think that Tyrion Lannister might be in love with Daenerys Targaryen?
In the season seven finale, Jon and Daenerys finally gave into their growing feelings for each other and had sex on a boat while traveling to the North. During this sex scene, there was a long and established shot of Tyrion outside the door to their room, which a million intense expressions crossing his face as he figured out what was happening.
It seemed like a set up that he was either in love with Daenerys himself or that he knew they were related and would stop their union.
Neither of these story threads were ever picked up again.
Why was there all that build up around Cersei’s death and how the Valonqar prophecy would play out?
OK, to be fair, this particular plot twist was actually set up in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books and not on the TV show itself. But it was still a popular and twisted theory that many fans expected to play out in the series finale.
The majority of this prophecy involving Cersei’s fate was spelled out during a season five flashback moment of her as a child visiting a witch. It was inferred, but not spelled out, that the “Valonqar” which means “younger sibling” would kill her and so Cersei decided that meant Tyrion would be the death of her. It was a plot twist that fuelled so much of her character development through the show.
Of course, nothing that interesting came to pass in the season finale.
Need to debrief on the Game of Thrones finale? Mamamia’s Holly Wainwright and Clare Stephens unpack every confusing, surprising and infuriating detail on The Recap podcast below. Post continues after audio.
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Top Comments
Why did they make the reanimating of The Mountain such a big, mysterious thing? I thought he was going to be some kind of secret weapon or something, and in the end, he was just Cersei’s bodyguard.
ETA: Also, all the fuss about Cersei being pregnant in the last couple of seasons, all came to nothing.