'Game of Thrones' Season 8 Spoilers, Leaks, Theories, and Trailer Breakdown

Game of Thrones Season 8 is finally (finally!) set to air starting on April 14, but die-hard fans (Inverse included) have been thinking about how the series will end ever since Season 7 wrapped up almost two years ago. There’s no shortage of theories and rumors about how Game of Thrones will end, and with Season 8 in sight we’re rounding up all our favorite fan theories.

While we wait for the final Game of Thrones episodes to begin, here’s a rundown of some of the best GoT theories, leaks, and spoilers around. We’ll keep updating this post too, so check back soon. anytime the wait for Season 8 gets to be too much for you to handle.

Winterfell Crypts Teaser Trailer

In January 2019, HBO released a teaser for Game of Thrones Season 8 featuring Sansa, Arya, and Jon Snow exploring the crypts under Winterfell. This isn’t actual footage from any new episodes. Instead, it was filmed specifically to tease the show’s return, but there’s still plenty we can learn from the trailer.

First, fans quickly noticed that when the three Stark siblings find statues of themselves in the crypt, only Jon’s appears to be an older version of himself. That has some people thinking Sansa and Arya will die in Game of Thrones Season 8, though others pointed out that it could just have to do with the difficulties of recreating Jon’s beard in a sculpture.

Read more: There Could Be a Depressing Clue in the New *Game of Thrones S8 Trailer

Next, we broke down all the old quotes heard in the trailer, which all seem to be about Jon. Here’s what they could mean.

Read more: Here’s What All the ‘Game of Thrones* Quotes in the S8 Trailer Really Mean

We also broke down the significance of that feather, and no, it’s not a reference to Bran being the Three-Eyed Rave.

Read more: Easter Egg in the Game of Thrones Season 8 Trailer Teases a Huge Reveal

But speaking of Bran, the Stark boy’s absence could be more important than you think, particularly when it comes to how Jon Snow will learn the truth about his parents in Game of Thrones Season 8.

Read more: Bran’s Absence in Game of Thrones S8 Trailer May Tease a Shocking Reveal

Westeros is actually a Westworld theme park

Here’s a classic fan theory we really love that ties together two popular HBO shows. The theory goes that Game of Thrones will end by revealing that the entire series has actually been about pre-programmed robots in a fantasy-themed resort that also includes Westworld. There’s almost no way this will actually happen, but just imagine if the final shot of Game of Thrones is Ed Harris as the Man in Black shooting the Night King while riding on the back of a flying dragon…

Read more: New Game of Thrones Theory Says Westeros Is ‘Westworld’

What Varys Heard in the Flames

As a child, Varys was sold into slavery and castrated by an evil sorcerer as part of a spell. As an adult, Varys describes hearing a voice from the flames used in that spell speak in a foreign language, but we never learn what it said. However, a recent leak claimed to reveal exactly what the fire said, and why it could be relevant to Game of Thrones Season 8.

Read more: Will Game of Thrones Season 8 Reveal What Varys Heard in the Flames?

Arya Saves the World

This interesting theory combines Arya’s boring Season 6 arc — the plot where she had to do assassin training while blind for some reason — with some interesting tidbits about Season 8’s big battle scene. Based on the knowledge that filming the final showdown between humanity and the White Walkers took “55 nights,” along with the fact that Arya knows how to fight without being able to see, one fan guessed that her skills could come in handy during that epic battle. She might even be the one to kill the Night King.

Read more: Game of Thrones Season 8 Leaks Suggest Arya’s Assassin Skills Will Be Key

The Science of Survival in Game of Thrones

Let’s take a break from the theories for a moment to discuss this study from two Australian researchers who turned their love of Game of Thrones into science. By watching every episode of the show and recording data on each character who died, they were able to explain which traits lower your lifespan in Westeros. To almost no one’s surprise, it turns out the best way to stay alive is to “change your allegiance” by betraying whichever house you were born into at some point and switching sides, which probably explains why the noble Starks keep ending up dead.

Read more: Study Suggests Game of Thrones Survivors Have 3 Traits in Common

Jamie Lannister Kills the Night King

They don’t call him the Kingslayer for nothing, right? As this theory points out, Jamie may also have the weapon to do it: the giant crossbow he used to fight the dragon in Season 7.

Read more: A New Game of Thrones Theory Gives Jaime a Very Important Role to Play

What George R.R. Martin Means by “Bittersweet”

Martin may never finish writing the books that inspired Game of Thrones, but he already knows how the story ends, and as he’s said multiple times, it’s “bittersweet.” Now that the final season is within sight, we may have a better idea of what that actually means. Our best guess? Almost everyone dies and the remaining human survivors are forced to build a new wall further south, leaving them with even less space to live at the end of Season 8.

Read more: New Game of Thrones Theory Explains the Author’s Biggest Ending Clue

Cersei Becomes the Night Queen

This is a popular theory that no one really takes seriously. Would it be cool (and fitting) if Cersei becomes a White Walker? Absolutely. Will it actually happen? Probably not. However, a new theory suggests one reason it could come to pass. What if Cersei decides to become an undead monster intentionally, seeing an alliance with the Night King as a better alternative to bending the knee to Daenerys? It might be drastic, but it’s also just petty enough to be the exact type of maneuver Cersei might seriously consider.

Read more: Chilling Game of Thrones Theory Explains How Cersei Becomes Night Queen

“Winterfell is yours, Your Grace”

HBO released a five-second clip of Game of Thrones during the Golden Globes, but it was enough to launch an army of new fan theories. What does Sansa mean when she welcomes Daenerys to the North with those words? And what kind of Easter eggs could be hiding in this tense Game of Thrones moment? That one line of dialogue has led us down a few different interesting paths regarding the future of both Sansa and her younger sister Arya.

Read more: Game of Thrones Season 8 Teaser Easter Egg Foreshadows Doom for the Starks

Read more: [Arya’s Absence From New Game of Thrones Footage May Have Big Implications]https://www.inverse.com/article/52296-game-of-thrones-season-8-spoilers-release-date-may-explain-where-arya-went

Game of Thrones Season 8 premieres in April on HBO.