It’s really easy to put Game of Thrones on an unrealistic pedestal, especially with its final season upon us. The show has almost always been as fantastic as any other great series out there. The detail that’s been created for the show is simply astounding. The commitment to turning fantasy-tropes on their heads has been rewarding. The acting, the design, the music, the gut-wrenching twists and turns, and the sheer spectacle of it all has been nothing short of masterful. In short, this is a brilliant series that will stand the test of time and earns every once of love that it gets. But that doesn’t mean that it’s perfect. In fact, there’s been a number of story, continuity, and character issues that have plagued even the best episodes (again, we’re talking about the show, not the books). Fan outrage at the inclusion of some of the entries on this list is unavoidable. There will be someone who can nit-pick or cry-out against specific points being made here. Just know that great story-telling is capable of going down roads that won’t please everybody. It’s all in the eye of the beholder. So, let’s address these issues with some class and kindness, shall we?
But not everything on this list is meant to anger fans. In fact, some fans have been the ones to come up with theories about the final season, as well as what’s really been going on, that make even more sense than certain decisions made on the show. Therefore, these fans should be applauded. Without further ado, here are 15 Things That Make No Sense About Game Of Thrones (And 10 Fan Theories That Do).
How Viserion Was Dragged Up From The Bottom Of The Lake
A horde of wights dragging up the body of Dany’s slain dragon from the depths of a frozen lake was a pretty silly image. First of all, where did they get those giant chains from? We have never seen the wights create anything. They purely dismantle. And, chances are, the wildlings and the Night’s Watch wouldn’t have had chains that big up North. But the biggest issue of all has to do with how those chains got around Viserion in the first place. In episodes like Hardhome, it was explained that the Wights can’t swim. And yet, they would have had to get the chains around this beast. There’s nothing wrong with turning Viserion into a wight, but how they did this made no sense.
The White Walkers Are Pure Evil
Of all the issues on this list, this is the most likely to change. At least, we certainly hope it does. After all, A Song Of Ice And Fire author George R.R. Martin has been adamant about turning fantasy-tropes on their heads. Specifically, he doesn’t like the image of Good Vs. Evil. But so far, the White Walkers, as well as their mindless army, have been portrayed as nothing but bad with zero motivation or stakes, beyond wanting chaos. Luckily, we have the all-important final season to correct this issue. Hopefully, the answers we get will make these character appear to have some sense.
Fan Theory: The Night King Is A Stark
This fan theory is one of the most engaging and adds some credibility to the obvious connection between The Night King and Bran. There’s a long history between The Starks and the magic of the North. This includes a time in history called The Long Night which ended with Battle for the Dawn. It’s possible that the White Walkers captured a Stark baby and used it as a ploy to get the North to stop fighting. This baby could have become The Night King who seeks vengeance on those who gave him up. After becoming the Night King, he could have struck a deal to stay away from Winterfell as long as Starks lived there; of course, we know how important that is to the Starks. This all makes sense when you think of the mean twists George R.R. Martin likes.
Lack Of Payoff In The Loot Train Battle
Many bloggers, video and the like, have commented on this particular episode from Season Seven. It was visually spectacular but really didn’t have the pay-off that it’s set-up and build deserved. Here, we had two sets of characters that we really cared about facing off. It was the perfect opportunity to create the classic Game of Thrones bittersweet moment that causes us to mourn the deceased and praise the victor. But that didn’t happen here. Despite having all of the main characters in harm’s way, all of them made it out unscathed. Having Dany burn Bronn alive, or even Jaime for that matter would have created an interesting dynamic between Tyrion and Dany.
The Marathon To Eastwatch
It’s not exactly clear how long Jon and his team were out beyond the wall in the penultimate episode of Season Seven, but it shouldn’t have been enough time for Gendry to run all the way back to the wall, send a letter to Dany, and finally get Dany to fly her dragons beyond the wall. One can argue the timeline here as much as they want, all of this just felt utterly sloppy and made zero sense. Besides, Gendry bolting to Eastwatch felt silly in its own right. Why even pick Gendry to do this? Jon doesn’t know that he’s got an Olympic-level athlete in his ranks. He’s barely known the guy.
Fan Theory: Tyrion Will Betray Dany And Jon
Fans believe that a very important conversation took place between Tyrion and Cersei at the end of the Season Seven finale. After all, the scene was cut off and Tyrion was miraculously allowed to leave her clutches and return with a favorable offer to Jon and Dany. It just doesn’t add up. Then, we must also consider that look on his face as he heard Jon and Dany together. Something’s up here. This would be gut-wrenching given how happy we all are that the three main characters seem to be getting along, but this just wouldn’t be faithful to Martin’s uncompromising writing.
Tommen’s Inconsistent Age
All of the younger characters had to be aged up when adapting the books to the series. It was an understandable decision given how actors age in real-life. But the writers of Game of Thrones really pushed it when it came to Tommen. The Lannister Prince was supposed to be seven when we first met him, then nine by the time he becomes King. Even if the character was aged up to 12 or 13, it still wouldn’t explain the casting of 19-year-old Dean-Charles Chapman, who, by-the-way, was a much older replacement than the previous actor who played him.
Arya And The Hound Didn’t Talk About The Mountain
Technically Arya and The Hound did talk about The Mountain while traveling together, but Arya didn’t discuss her hatred for Sir Gregor. This is odd since it would have totally been something that the pair would have bonded over. After all, there aren’t two people in Westeros who dislike The Mountain as much as these two. It’s odd that The Hound didn’t notice that his brother made Arya’s hit-list just like he once did. It all feels a little odd and definitely like a missed opportunity.
Fan Theory: Jamie Will Take Out Cersei
If we’re to believe the entirety of Maggy the Frog’s prediction, Cersei’s little brother (AKA her “Valonqar”) will be the reason she meets her well-earned end. Although Tyrion is the obvious little brother to end her life, Cersei’s twin, Jaime, is minutes younger than her. This means that he still qualifies for the prediction. Additionally, fans know that this is the likely destination of this storyline because it makes the most thematic sense to end Cersei’s life at the hands, or, rather, “hand”, of Jaime. Not only would it make sense given their relationship, but Jaimie has already taken out one monarch before, might as well deal with another.
Littlefinger’s Loss Of Control
There was a time when the Master of Coin was winning the game of thrones. There was nobody more predictably unpredictable than him. The moment you had him figured out, he turned the tables. But eventually, Littlefinger became a servant to a plot that he was no longer in control of. This started to happen as soon as the writers had no more books to adapt. They had him make a few chess moves that didn’t make sense to his character, such as giving Sansa to the Boltons. Ultimately, his nonsensical plot came to a head when he tried to play Sansa and Arya against one another. This made his demise far less important than it should have been.
The “Capture” A Wight Plan
Tyrion’s plan to bring a wight back from beyond the wall in order to convince Cersei to join the war was a dumb plan from the start. Someone who has been as consistently intelligent as Tyrion wouldn’t have made such a reckless choice. First of all, he wouldn’t have risked the two most important people in the war, not to mention three incredibly rare dragons. Secondly, he had no idea just how tricky it would be. But most importantly, Tyrion knows that this plan wouldn’t affect Cersei. She doesn’t care about zombies. Heck, she even employs a zombie of her own in her Queen’s guard. This entire plot thread, as exciting as it was, felt uninspired and frankly made zero sense.
Fan Theory: Melisandre Will Return With An Army
Melisandre left us with a very eery message; that she will return to Westeros before the end of the story and meet her end alongside The Spider. This leaves the question why is she leaving to begin with? Well, some fans believe that she is enlisting the help of her fellow Red Priests, including Kinvara in Meereen. She could even be heading to Volantis to enlist the army that protects the city and temple within, The Fiery Hand. This would be a particularly helpful way to return to the story and may even help her win back favor with Jon Snow.
How Euron Built His Ships
First of all, how did Euron Greyjoy and his team build the biggest navy in Westeros so swiftly? Seriously, the guy started out with just his fleet of ships and then became the most powerful naval commander in Westerosi history thanks to a huge armada. But, more importantly, how did he get the wood to build his expanded fleet? The Iron Islands are not known for their vast forests. They’re made up of barren rock and salt water. Sure, the Iron-born pillage as they see fit, but there was no mention of them deforesting the coast of Westeros. That would have been something the Boltons would have noticed.
Benjen’s Random Appearances
The vanishing of Uncle Benjen Stark was something that was focused on in the First Season and then quickly forgotten. It was mentioned once or twice after, but it certainly didn’t get the build that bringing him back needed. Uncle Benjen ended up coming to his nephews’ rescue twice beyond the wall. Both times, the character literally came out of nowhere with practically no set-up. Sure, we knew he was trying to infiltrate the White Walkers, but there wasn’t much of an explanation of how he was half-alive and half-zombified nor anything else, for that matter. The way the writers handled his final appearance was particularly sloppy. At least, he managed to save Jon Snow.
Fan Theory: Bran Could Be The Night King
Very little is known about The Night King as well as the extent of Bran’s time-traveling and warging abilities. The show has been notably silent about the details these storylines in order to have them become big reveals at the end of the series. This is one of the reasons why some fans claim that the two are intrinsically linked. Given Bran’s psychic connection to The Night King, as well as his time-traveling ability, fans seem to think the two are one-and-the-same. After all, even their wardrobe is eerily similar.
Fan Theory: Sansa Will Betray Jon
Based on the material released on the upcoming season, it seems like Sansa won’t be happy about Jon bending the knee to his new crush, Dany. And given that loyalty in Westeros is something that’s often met with gut-wrenching pay-offs, it’s likely that Jon will face dire consequences for this choice. One such consequence could be Sansa turning on him. After all, the North is the most important thing to her and Jon seemingly betrayed it to a Targaryen. Sansa’s unhappiness could be made worse by the reveal of Jon’s true heritage as well as Dany’s fiery temper and connection to The Mad King.
The Totally Un-unique Lannister Necklaces
Every fan pretty much agrees that the Dorne plot from Game of Thrones was the weakest and the most mishandled. So, we’re not going to talk about that as practically all of it was a nonsensical mess. But the moment that led to it also was. We’re talking about when Cersei gets sent a necklace that apparently only she and Marcella had. Unfortunately for the writers, Joffrey already gave Sansa the same necklace back in the day when he was trying to court her. Additionally, Tyrion gave Ros her very own Lannister necklace back in Season One. So, apparently, this necklace was pretty easy to get making it hold substantially less meaning.
Fan Theory: The Night King Wants Bran
This fan theory comes straight from those who read into a comment made by Vladimir Furdik, the man behind The Night King. He told Entertainment Weekly that his character has a very specific target he wants to rid himself of. Given the fact that he has come into contact with both Jon and Dany and didn’t really attempt to bring them down, it’s likely that this target is actually Bran. This would also tie into the theory that the two are one and the same. The Night King could be trying to prevent something from happening by taking out the new version of himself. Or, at the very least, he could see Bran’s powers as a negative for his people and that’s why he wants to take him out.
Deep Water By The Loot Train
We return to one of the most exciting episodes of Season Seven to point out another odd moment. This would be the final shot, where Jaime is knocked off his horse by Bronn and plunged into the depths of the river. It was a totally edge-of-your-seat moment but it also made no sense. Given that Jaime is riding through the water on his horse moments before, the river would have had an unrealistically deep drop-off. That just doesn’t seem accurate to what we saw of it. After this moment, it’s also strange that Dany and Drogon didn’t see the pair emerge for air. It all just seems too lucky.
How Did Arya Survive Her Fight With The Waif
Arya has always been a particularly tough cookie, but the fact that she survived the attack by the Waif was pretty unrealistic. After all, the Waif does manage to sneak up behind her and plunge her blade into Arya’s gut. Arya then manages to run away from her would-be-assassin and get to Lady Crane’s place in order to be tended for. Given how much Khal Drogo’s wound effected him in the First Season, it doesn’t make sense that Arya would not only survive this but also engage in an epic parkour chase through the streets of Braavos.
