25 Game of Thrones theories fans need to know for season 8

Episode 65 (season 7, episode 5), debut 8/13/17: Joe Dempsie.

photo: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO

Gendry will become the king of Westeros

Even though Gendry spends the better half of Game of Thrones rowing around the ocean, it’s clear that his character is important to the ultimate plot of the show in some way. If he wasn’t, there’s no reason he needed to survive Joffrey’s purging of Robert’s bastards—or Melisandre’s insistence that Stannis should sacrifice him because of his king’s blood.

Not only have the showrunners kept Gendry alive for this long, but they made a point of bringing him back into the fray during season 7, even though the fandom had long accepted that they’d forgotten about the boy completely. It’s possible that the writers just wanted to tie up that particular story line, but it’s also possible that Gendry could play a larger role in the series.

In fact, it’s even possible that Gendry will be the one sitting on the Iron Throne when the credits for the last episode roll. While some fans might consider that to be a disappointing ending, given that we’ve watched Dany and Jon come so far over the course of the show, it would also bring the series full circle. It began with a Baratheon on the throne, so why couldn’t it end with one? Gendry would make a far finer king than Robert ever did.

There are also fans that believe Gendry to be the son of Cersei and Robert, meaning that he would have more than a mere bastard’s claim to the Iron Throne. Of course, after Joffrey’s reign, Westeros probably wouldn’t take well to Gendry’s coronation if that were the case.