Spoilers through Season 6 of 'Game of Thrones' follow.
There's a certain formula to Game of Thrones. The second or third-to-last episode tends to be a big battle.
Last season that was the wonderful episode Hardhome, which featured Jon Snow facing off against the White Walkers.
The season finale tends to be less big budget, and often less surprising. Last season, of course, we got the "death" of Jon Snow in the finale. But we also got Cersei's walk of shame, and Dany flying off on the back of Drogon. Big events, but not quite as huge or epic as the battle against the White Walkers and their army of dead.
In Season 4, the 9th episode was the battle against the Wildlings at the Wall---another big Jon Snow-led battle.
The finale, on the other hand, dealt with the fallout from the rest of the season, though it also had Bran finally arrive beyond the Wall at his destination (only to be shuffled off for an entire season thereafter.)
The death of Oberyn "The Viper" Martell came in episode 8. The infamous Red Wedding was the 9th episode of Season 3. Without looking, I can't even recall what the finale was about.
So what about this season's finale? Surely nothing so dramatic as the death of Jon Snow will occur---unless they kill of Dany (which would be so amazing and unexpected!)
But I do think at least one seriously dramatic event is about to occur in King's Landing. Some other big pieces may fall into place as well, and the ball should finally start rolling in the stories of both Daenerys and Arya, both of whom have languished too long abroad.
In any case, here are five predictions for the Season 6 finale:
To sum up: Littlefinger will make his big power play in the North; Varys will arrive in Dorne; Arya will come out of the shadows, possibly making her first appearance in Westeros in a very long time; the White Walkers will show up at the Wall; and Cersei will burn King's Landing to a crisp. Other stuff not mentioned in the video: It's possible Dany will set off for Westeros only to run into some new conflict. I'm less interested here, however, since Dany can overcome any conflict without barely lifting a finger. Nor do I expect much in the way of CGI since that budget was almost certainly blown last week. We'll get some Bran, of course, though this ties in with my White Walkers prediction.
I also think we'll see some big turning point in the role of the show's best villain, the High Sparrow, though I honestly don't know what that will be. He can't go out in a blaze of wildfire, can he? That seems too...flashy.
I also made ten predictions for this entire season. I'll go through those again soon and see where I was right and where I was wrong. Some of the season's best moments I certainly didn't see coming, such as the revelation of Hodor's sad fate.
What do you think will happen Sunday night?
Update 6/26/16
A couple quick updates.
First off, I've edited the post to make it clear that Hardhome wasn't the second-to-last episode of the fifth season, but rather the third-to-last.
Second, I've completely forgotten to write about the Hound and Brienne. I do think it's likely that these two encounter one another, though I'm not entirely sure it will be in the season finale. Certainly with Jaime at the Twins, and both Brienne and Sandor Clegane in the general vicinity, there's plenty of room for crazy encounters.
I also like the theory that Cersei accidentally kills Tommen, though I almost like the idea of her simply alienating him more even better. Cersei cut off from her son completely would be a more poetic fate.
I also don't believe we learn any major Jon Snow secrets, but I do think we get something important out of Bran.
Thanks for all your feedback!
