Jaime, Arya, and The Hound

Just for fun, I'd like to share a few of my guesses about what might happen in the last 2 episodes of Game of Thrones.  These guesses will probably be wrong ( because Game of Thrones has always been unpredictable ), but I've got to do something to fill the time before the next episode.

( Before I go on, this post assumes you have watched Games of Thrones up to and including episode 4 of season 8.  If you haven't gotten that far yet, you probably should not read further. )

I'm going to start by posting a link to a video that's been making the rounds because ...
1) It is delightful.
2) The theme of the video is related to one of my theories below.

Arya and The Hound video

So, anyway, on to my theories ...

By the end of the last episode ( episode 4 of season 8 ), we know that 3 people are heading down to King's Landing, independent of Dany and Jon's war maneuvers.  Those 3 are ...

Jaime Lannister
Arya Stark
Sandor "The Hound" Clegane

All 3 of them are on their own personal mission.

The Hound: He wants to kill his brother, Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane

Arya: She wants to kill Cersei Lannister ( and possibly The Mountain as well.  I believe The Mountain is still on Arya's kill list, but I've got to believe that her primary focus is on Cersei ).

Jaime: The show hasn't made it entirely clear what his mission is, but it has something to do with Cersei.

Ever since Games of Thrones started, lots of fans of the show ( particular book readers ) have theorized that Jaime would ultimately be the person who kills Cersei.  I agree with those theories.  From a narrative sense, it would be most poetic and dramatic if Jaime is the one who ends Cersei's life.

Fans have also have strong feelings about who should ultimately kill The Mountain.  Ever since The Mountain and The Hound briefly squared off with swords on the jousting field in season 1, fans have been clamoring for a rematch, even giving it the name "Cleganebowl".  I'm certain there will be a Cleganebowl, and I'm certain The Hound will prevail and kill The Mountain ( Of course, I was also once certain that Ned Stark would be the hero for the run of the show, and later was also certain that Rob Stark would be the ultimate hero of the show. ).

Assuming I'm right, and Jaime kills Cersei and The Hound kills The Mountain, what is there left for Arya to do?  What is her role in the story at that point?

Unfortunately, I think her role is to die.

Specifically, I think she is going to die at the hands of The Mountain ( hopefully not a head crush - I don't think I could watch another one of those ).  The reason I believe this is that Arya dying at the hands of The Mountain perfectly meshes with The Hound's narrative arch.  As much as The Hound hates his brother, I believe he loves Arya more.  It's been clear for a while that The Hound views Arya as the daughter he never had ( The scenes they spent traveling the countryside together are among my favorites in the show. ).  If the Mountain kills Arya, it will give the The Hound the motivation he needs to overcome all of his fears and doubts and finally defeat his bully of a big brother.

I know after what we've seen from Arya for the last few seasons, it seems unlikely that anyone could kill Arya, but I think The Mountain is a special case.  There's no doubt in my mind that Arya can outfight The Mountain, and there is no doubt that Arya will be able to get past The Mountain's defenses to stab him several times.  However, considering that the Mountain is now an undead Frankenstein monster-type creature, I don't think those stabs will have the desired effect.  I think The Mountain will shake off those stabs, get his hands on  Arya, and then ... ( please no head crush! ) ... The Hound will have to watch the person he loves the most die ( or perhaps Arya will just be mortally wounded, because after The Hound kills The Mountain, it would be nice if the show gave Arya the kind of final words they denied Jorah ).  I think that ultimately, The Hound will kill The Mountain by chopping off his head, because I can't think of any other good way to kill the zombie-Mountain.

This isn't necessarily what I want see happen ( because Arya is one of my favorite characters ), but I think the show has been leading us to this moment for a while.

Now, as far as Jon and Dany go, your guess is as good as mine.  If I had to take a completely wild guess, I'd say that Jon will die doing something brave and selfless, Dany will blame her blinding ambition for Jon's death, reverse the heel-turn she's been engaged in all season and decide to really "break the wheel" by declaring that all the Seven Kingdoms free to rule themselves and having Drogon melt the Iron Throne.

Of course, I'm probably completely wrong about all that, but whatever happens, I'll be glued to my TV the next two Sunday nights.

Rich