The season finale of Game of Thrones just wrapped up Season 6 with an amazing conclusion. The writers this season have plowed ahead full speed, moving the show’s many stories forward at breakneck speed. (WARNING: Spoilers ahead. Seriously.) In just one episode, Game of Thrones killed off at least five major characters in one big explosion, turned Arya into a psychopath, and gave us a new King in the North. So much has happened in the past few weeks. Even so, some theories and plot elements from the book never made a Season 6 appearance. Here are the major events we didn’t see in Game of Thrones Season 6 and the odds of ever seeing them at all.
Lady Stoneheart
Let’s get this one out of the way. In case you’ve somehow missed this significant book spoiler, Catelyn Stark is actually alive (sort of), leading the Brotherhood Without Banners in the Riverlands. Just like Jon Snow’s rebirth, Catelyn has come back from the dead, though maybe a little worse for wear.
Some fans predicted that, despite the showrunners and Michelle Fairley declaring her well and truly dead, Catelyn would appear as Lady Stoneheart in Season 6.
Season 7 Odds: Slim to none. The Brotherhood Without Banners did return this season when the Hound signed up to join their merry band, but there was no undead woman in their ranks. We’ll likely never see Catelyn’s return outside the books.
The Horn of Winter
Also known as The Horn of Joramun, The Horn of Winter is a fabled horn that could bring the Wall crashing down. According to legend, Joramun was a King-Beyond-the-Wall who raised the Giants with his magic horn. It was said that by blowing the horn again, the Wall could come toppling down. If you recall, Mance Rayder allegedly had the horn back during his siege on the Wall. Mance threatened to blow the horn if Jon didn’t give the free-folk safe passage through the Wall.
We were shown the horn being destroyed when Mance was executed. However, Tormund Giantsbane later told Jon that the horn was a fake. The real horn, if it exists, was never found. Could the Horn of Winter still play a crucial role in the war to come?
Season 7 Odds: Very high. During Benjen‘s cold goodbye, he told Bran the Wall has magic spells that prevent the undead from passing through. If the White Walkers hope to pose a threat to Jon Snow’s unified North, they must find a way to actually move south.
The Wolf Pack
All but two of the Stark Direwolf’s lie dead. Ghost, Jon Snow’s wolf, is burying bones somewhere in Winterfell. Where is Arya’s wolf, Nymeria? The show makes a brief hint towards Nymeria’s whereabouts, which are made much more explicit in the books. Nymeria is currently leading a huge pack of wolves through the Riverlands, killing and eating wild game as well as Lannister soldiers.
Season 7 Odds: Slim to decent. Direwolf CGI is expensive, and the showrunners have clearly favored investing their budget in epic battles and flying dragons, which explains Ghost’s absense during the Battle of the Bastards. With Arya back in Westeros though, there’s a chance the huntress reunites with her Direwolf.
The Three Heads of the Dragon
Book readers are intimately familiar with the prophecies delivered to Daenerys in the House of the Undying. One of these prophecies states, cryptically, that “the dragon has three heads.” George R.R. Martin has confirmed that this alludes to each of Dany’s dragons having one dedicated — even destined — rider. He’s also confirmed that these riders need not be Targaryen. The dragons grew massive in size in Game of Thrones Season 6, but only Dany ever rode a dragon.
Season 7 Odds: Decent. Why have three dragons when you can only ride one? Now that Tyrion has fully committed to Team Dany, maybe he could be one of the heads. At the same time, the show never actually gave us the “three heads” vision, so this could be a storyline Game of Thrones completely abandons.
The Death of Cersei
Back around episode 8, I predicted the Hound would kill Cersei in Season 6. I was clearly wrong. Still, we know from the fifth season that young Cersei visited a witch and received a prophecy that all three of her children would die — which we now know came true. We also know the witch predicted Cersei would die at the hands of the “Valonqar,” which means younger brother in High Valyrian. Is her death imminent?
Season 7 Odds: Very high. With no more children to protect, the time has come for Cersei to die. My new prediction? Jamie will kill Cersei within the first few episodes of Season 7. He is the “younger brother” after all, and he’s already killed one king for trying to blow up King’s Landing. Whose to say he won’t do it again for the Queen that actually did use Wildfire on her own people.