The world of ice and fire was a world of prophecies, omens, and fortune-telling. But how many of Game of Thrones‘ such prophecies, omens, and fortunes actually came true? More than you might realize, even if the biggest one was never definitively answered.
The Dead Stag and Direwolf
True!
The Starks found a litter of direwolf pups in the show’s first episode, their mother having been killed in a fight with a stag, which also died. It was an omen for what would happen when Robert Baratheon (whose house sigil was a stag) asked Ned to be his Hand.
Stannis: The Lord’s Chosen One
False!
Melisandre believed Stannis was the Lord of Light’s hero, but a defeat at the hands of the Boltons and a death sentence from Brienne cut that prophecy short.
The Red Priestesses’ Judgment of Daenerys as the Lord’s Chosen One
False!
As Daenerys bathed the Night King in dragonflame, it looked like she might truly be the promised hero that the Lord of Light’s clergy believed she was. But when he walked away unscathed, this prophecy went up in smoke.
Hound’s Vision in the Flames
True!
Thoros had the Hound look into the flames, and there he saw a wall of ice and a mountain pass where the dead were. That ended up being where Jon and his merry band of wight hunters captured a dead soldier.
Bran’s Visions
True!
Among his many visions, he saw a Three-Eyed Raven, a massive weirwood, Cersei using the Mad King’s wildfire, and Drogon’s shadow flying over King’s Landing all before they happened.
Melisandre and Varys Dying
True!
Melisandre told the Spider she would return to Westeros to meet her end, and that he too would die in this strange land. Neither of them ever saw Essos again.
Arya “Will Close Many Eyes Forever”
True!
Not only did she fulfill Melisandre’s prediction by killing lots of people, she closed all of the White Walkers’ blue eyes forever.
The Stallion Who Mounts the World
True!
It wasn’t a great khal who united all the Dothraki into a single khalasar; it was a khaleesi. Daenerys burned the khals and emerged from the flames as the promised Stallion.
House of the Undying
Half true.
Daenerys saw a destroyed throne room i n her vision at the House of the Undying, and she made that a reality when she burned King’s Landing. But the other half of her vision—walking out past the Wall into the snow to find Khal Drogo and their son—did not prove relevant.
Maggy the Frog on Cersei’s Future
True!
She married the king, had three children with golden crowns and golden shrouds, and was stricken down when a younger, more beautiful queen came for her. Maggy got it all exactly right in amazing detail.
The Prince That Was Promised
Unclear…
The Prince That Was Promised was going to be the great hero who saved the living from darkness, which Arya did, but she didn’t really satisfy any of the specifics surrounding the prophecy. So did she fulfill a flawed prophecy, or was it altogether wrong? It’s not clear.
The answer probably comes down to what you see when you look into the flames.
Images: HBO