The last, and perhaps most epic, season of Game of Thrones is almost here. If you’re in India, the first episode will be available at 6.30 am on Hotstar on April 15. The last time we saw fresh episodes of Game Of Thrones was in 2017, so it’s been a long wait for fans of the show. While waiting, fans came up with several theories – both outlandish and surprisingly plausible – on what would happen in the final season.

We’re sure you have your own, but we found some of the best and most plausible Game Of Thrones season 8 fan theories. Here are 10 theories on what will happen on the show starting this Monday.

1. The Night King will raid the Stark crypts and find new soldiers

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Remember the shot from the latest Game Of Thrones trailer where Arya is running from something? She looks frightened, and we know by now that she doesn’t get scared easily. If you watch closely, you will also notice that Arya is running from the crypts of Winterfell. According to this fan theory, Arya is running from the crypt to tell the rest of the Starks about what she just saw – the dead Starks coming back to “life” as wights.

This could also be a tribute to Catelyn Stark returning as Lady Stoneheart, a character that features in the books but not in the show so far. That would only happen if her body was ever returned to Winterfell.

2. Daenerys will become the Night Queen

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She already has white hair and pale skin, much like the White Walkers. When Daenerys went to the House of the Undying in season 2, she has a vision. In this vision, she meets her husband, Khal Drogo, and their unborn child north of the Wall. Of course, this is all part of a dream-like situation where she also sees the Iron Throne. Another fan theory suggests that Daenerys will lose her remaining dragons too in the north. When that happens, the theory says she will join the Night King to be reunited with her children.

3. Sam is the Prince That Was Promised

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According to this Game Of Thrones fan theory, Samwell Tarly is the child of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell. Remember, Rhaegar was married to Elia before he annulled this marriage to marry Lyanna Stark, Jon’s mother. The theory suggests that baby Sam was taken by Varys and given to the Tarlys, one of the most loyal Targaryen families. According to what we’ve seen about Rhaegar’s character, Sam could have inherited his love for books, poetry and songs from his father.

4. One of the Stark girls becomes Lady Stoneheart

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Lady Stoneheart was a character in the books who never showed up in the TV series. Not so far, at least. In the books, Catelyn Stark returns as Lady Stoneheart. But since we haven’t seen any hint of this in the show, fan theories say Arya or Sansa could become Lady Stoneheart during the battle with the White Walkers. While it could be perfect for Sansa so that she can finally get her revenge from everyone who has wronged her, Arya could be a good candidate too. She has unmatched skills which would be somewhat necessary in the present Game Of Thrones universe.

5. The White Walkers are the good guys

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So far, we only the story from one side. We don’t know why the Night King and his army are doing what they’re doing. This fan theory is a bit complicated and stems from the theory that Bran is actually the Night King. Here are some details for this theory:

“How do you protect life when you know the only thing you can do is bring death and when you know that no one has the power to stop you from inflicting it? Destroying the source of magic that keeps him bound to the curse: the main Heart tree at the Isles of Faces that is at the center of all Weirwood trees in Westeros and killing himself by killing Bran … This is why the army of the dead completely turns around and goes back North when the Night King marks Bran. Because killing Bran is the priority … Had they known, all Westerosi people had to do was let the Night King and the White Walkers pass through … As a result, who would be the villain in this scenario?”

6. Bran and the Night King are ancient enemies

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In an interview to Entertainment Weekly, Vladimir Furdik, the actor who plays the Night King, said, “People will see he has a target he wants to kill, and you will find out who that is.” This was one of the bases for the theory that claims the Night King is gunning for Bran. If that’s the case, will he turn around and go back once he does kill the Three Eyed Raven? Or will the Night King wreak havoc as we all expect him to. Read the fascinating fan theory here.

7. Jaime, or Arya pretending to be Jaime, will kill Cersei

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Season 7 ended with Jaime and Cersei being at odds with each other. The incestuous brother-sister duo disagreed on how to deal with the threat of the Night King’s army. Cersei, being true to character, wants to betray Jon and Daenerys while Jaime wants to fight for the living, alongside the Stark and Targaryen armies. So this fan theory doesn’t seem too far-fetched. It suggests that Jaime will finally turn on his sister and kill her. This also dates back to the prophecy that has haunted Cersei her entire life. The prophecy has been correct so far. It said she would lose her three children. It also said, “And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar (High Valyrian for ‘little brother’) shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.”

A separate fan theory says that Arya will kill Jaime, take his face and proceed to strike off Cersei’s name from her list. This would also fulfil the valonqar prophecy, in a way. Arya would be wearing Jaime’s face, after all.

8. Cersei will kill herself

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We know Cersei to be proud and selfish. So would she let the Night King, or his wights, kill her? Or would she rather kill herself? This fan theory suggests that she’ll probably do the latter. As one Redditor points out,

“Everyone will be dragged down to the south devastated and defeated. Then if the white walkers and Night King reach Cersei, with a bulk load of wildfire around the city, she will probably blow up a big piece of King’s Landing area (just like she did with the Sept), disintegrating everything and everyone. Remember how she would kill herself and Tommen before at the Blackwater battle where she thought Stannis was going to win and overtake the city? Well, Cersei would rather kill herself and whatever is important to her than turning herself into a White Walker too.”

9. Bran started it all by being the voice in the Mad King’s head

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Remember how Bran was the voice in Hodor’s head? The phrase “Hold the door” became one of the most haunting things ever said in Game Of Thrones. What if Bran was also the voice in the Mad King’s head? As this Redditor says,

“We just watched the scene in which Jamie and Robert Baratheon were discussing the Mad King and the events around Jamie killing him. Jamie says that he kept saying “burn them all” even after he had stabbed him… My girlfriend brought up a good question that I had never considered – is it possible that he had some sort of vision of the future and saw that the White Walkers were coming and that is what drove him mad? And, as a result, he was saying “burn them all” in regards to the White Walkers?”

It’s possible that Bran was telling Aerys Targaryen to fight the Night King and to save Westeros from the White Walkers. It’s also possible that Bran was using his powers to get Aerys on his side in his own war against the Night King.

10. Jon becomes the Night King

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This is the most fascinating and most heartbreaking fan theory, according to us. A fan on Reddit says,

“Azor Ahai will save the world from the Night King. What we speculated about was the idea that the Night king is actually immortal, that there is no method to kill him for good and that even the Children of the Forest can’t control / kill him. The only way to “defeat” him is that (and this was just one possible way this might happen) someone has to “pull out” the dragonglass in his chest which was used to create him in the first place. By doing this, the Night King would “die”, but unlike what happens when someone kills a “normal” White Walker, none of the creatures the Night King “created” or turned would die. Instead, they would lose the mind controlling effect the Night King has on them and they would start doing whatever the fuck they want, i.e. rampaging around the country.

“To prevent this scenario from happening, someone has to take the place of the Night King by stabbing himself with the previously extracted dragonglass-dagger. By doing this, the person (in our mind Jon Snow) would sacrifice himself for the greater good, gaining control over all of the wights and walkers. He then would lead them back over the Wall back into the north where they would stay like it has been before since the last long night.”

This theory also suggests that turning into the Night King would mean that Jon loses all his “goodness”. Instead of saving the human race, he will come back again, as the Night King, and leave a trail of destruction behind him as he moves south. So it becomes a never-ending cycle of evil with no way to end it forever.

Which theory do you think is the most plausible?