Who’s going to die in Game of Thrones season 8? Odds on every character

Nymeria

We first met Nymeria, Arya Stark’s direwolf, in “The Kingsroad,” the second ever episode of Game of Thrones. And that’s the last time we saw her for six damn years before she popped up in season 7. Will she come back for season 8, and if she does, will she die?

A big part of me — most of me — says no and also no. Nymeria’s scene with Arya in “Stormborn” seemed like the final word on her character. Like Arya, Nymeria had changed since season 1. No matter how painful it was to accept, she’d formed her own pack apart from the Stark family, and was no longer a pet to follow her master on command. Arya and Nymeria will always be connected, but they’ve grown up and grown apart. It’s sad and wistful and a beautiful way to go out.

And if Nymeria stays out of the fray, she stands a good chance of being the only Stark direwolf to survive the entire series, Razor’s unshakable confidence in Ghost’s longevity notwithstanding. To me, that’s her best chance for survival. If the show DOES bring her back, I’m afraid they’d be tempted to give us a tragic death scene where Nymeria saves Arya from a mortal blow, and we’d scream and rend our garments and cry as Arya bravely soldiers on, battered but not broken. It’d be good TV, but I’m thinking of Nymeria’s welfare here.

Stay in the woods, Nymeria. Pay no attention to the distant sound of clashing swords and dragon roars.

Chance of death: 30%

Dan