7 A Song of Ice and Fire theories that were disproven in Game of Thrones

One of the things that made Game of Thrones so great was the ability to chat with fellow fans about various theories. Many of these theories came up thanks to the book series A Song of Ice and Fire by author George R.R. Martin, while others developed from the series itself.

There were certainly plenty of fan theories that did come true. For example, many fans theorizes that Jon Snow was actually the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen long before it was officially confirmed onscreen. However, plenty of other theories didn’t end up playing out as expected.

Here’s a look at five A Song of Ice and Fire theories that turned out to be completely disproven by the end of Game of Thrones, which adapted all the books Martin had written and then kept going through to the end of his story. Martin still has at least two books left to finish. Of course, he could still change things in the books to come!

Tyrion or Jaime would kill Cersei Lannister

In A Song of Ice and Fire, we learn that when she was a child, Cersei Lannister visited a woods witch who prophecied that one day she would be killed by the valonqar, which is High Valyrian for "little brother." A version of this prophecy showed up in the TV series, but without the valonqar element. Still, some fans were convinced that she would be killed by one of her two younger brothers: Tyrion Lannister or her twin Jaime, who was slightly younger than her. Tyrion was the most likely choice.

In the end, Cersei was killed by the Red Keep falling down around her as Daenerys firebombed King's Landing from atop her dragon. Jaime tried to save her, and the two ended up dying together. In a way, I would have loved to have seen Jaime’s hand on her neck just as a way to show how the prophecy sort of came true, but either way, she didn’t die at the hands of either brother.

That said, you could argue that Tyrion allied with Daenerys and helped her come to Westeros, so in a way he had a hand in Cersei's death. That feels like a stretch, though.

Bran Stark would warg into a dragon

Among Bran Stark's abilities as the Three-Eyed Raven is the ability to warg into (which basically means possess) animals and sometimes people. He would most often warg into his direwolf Summer, seeing the world through his eyes. That led to the theory that he would eventually warg into a dragon. Especially after the Night King brought back Daenerys' dragon Viserion as an undead flying onster, fans figured that could be key in the inevitable battle between the living and the dead.

That didn’t happen. Instead, Bran went to the Winterfell Godswood when the Night King attacked the Stark stronghold, waiting for the Night King to come to him. The rules around warging are never firmly established, but perhaps warging into undead creatures isn't possible.

Anyone other than Bran would sit on the Iron Throne

Throughout the entire series, nobody ever through that Bran would end up becoming the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. There were theories that Jon would claim the Iron Throne, or that Daenerys would get to reclaim the Iron Throne in the name of the Targaryen dynasty. There were even theories that Cersei would win the war in the end and continue on as queen after the end of the series, or that Sansa would sit it.

In the end, the Iron Throne itself was melted down by Drogon, but had it still existed, Bran would have sat it. Bran cannot have children, which seems like a recipe for another war of succession. But Tyrion spun that into a positive, inching Westeros toward democratic rule by suggesting that the powerful lords and ladies of the realm could meet whenever a new ruler needed to be chosen and decide as a group.

Jon Snow would kill the Night King

The White Walkers were a major part of the story without actually being a major part of the story, at least at the beginning. We knew that there was something looming beyond the Wall, but it took several seasons for us to learn the particulars about the undead army, the Night King its leader, and how they came about. However, from the beginning, the popular theory was that the White Walkers would invade Westeros and possibly make it as far as King's Landing, and that Jon Snow — the man who had spent the most time fighting them — would kill their leader.

None of that happened. The Night King made it as far as Winterfell, and it was Arya Stark who killed him. She was the secret candidate; the Night King was death personified, and Arya knew more about than practically any other character on the show, avoiding it and dealing it out.

Bran would become the Night King

One of the craziest theories to come out of the Song of Ice and Fire community was that Bran would end up becoming the Night King. The theory was that Bran would use his abilities as the Three-Eyed Raven to project his consciousness into the past and end up warging into the man who would become the Night King. Another theory was that he would actually time travel somehow, according to Watch Mojo.

In the end, the theory was probably way too far-fetched. The Night King was one of the First Men, turned into the Night King by the Children of the Forest. No time travel needed, but certainly some magic!

Tyrion would be a dragonrider

Daenerys Targaryen had three dragons, and fans figured that meant three riders. Fans had another theory that Tyrion wasn’t actually a Lannister but rather a secret Targaryen, the result of a tryst between the Mad King Aerys Targaryen and Tywin Lannister's late wife Joanna. If that were true, there was a chance that Tyrion could become a dragonrider. After all, he was able to get close to the dragons when they were held beneath Meereen when he was managing things in the city.

With Drogon becoming Daenerys’ dragon and Rhaegal becoming Jon’s, it looked like Tyrion would end up with Viserian. That didn’t happen, as Viserion ended up killed and ridden by the Night King.

The Waif wasn’t a real person

When Arya Stark was staying in Essos and training to be a Faceless Man assassin, some Game of Thrones fans suspected that there was a bit of a Fight Club thing going on with Arya and the Waif, her rival in the House of Black and White. Some believed that the Waif wasn’t a real person, but rather a figment of Arya's imagination that she had manifested to help her deal with her strange and difficult situation.

This could make some sort of sense with everything that Arya had been though, but the end of the sixth season made it clear that the Waif was very real. Once Arya defied the Faceless Men, the Waif was all too happy to try and kill her for her transgressions, but Arya got the best of her in the end.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.