Everything to remember from ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 2

Beware, for this post is dark and full of spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 1-7

Valar morghulis, friends. You’ve just entered Mashable’s Citadel, where we are Rewatching for the Throne, dissecting Game of Thrones season by season to prepare for the final six episodes beginning on April 14. 

Here are all the Season 2 theories, unanswered questions, unresolved plots, and forgotten tidbits you need to remember before winter comes for the endgame in Season 8.

1. What did the red comet mean?

The mysterious red comet visible across all of Planetos in the Season 2 premiere remains a total mystery. 

You might be tempted to believe both Osha and Daenerys, who claim it means one thing: dragons. But actually, there’s a lot of evidence to the contrary. 

For one, in the books the comet is actually first noticed by Maester Luwin after he receives news of Ned’s death. After, Daenerys sees the red comet in Essos and only then decides it’s a sign that she should hatch her dragons over Drogo’s funeral pyre.

If anything, the dragons didn’t cause the comet, but rather the dragons hatched because the comet brought magic back to Planetos. Other magical people like Melisandre and the warlocks of Qarth noticed a spike in their powers, also attributing it to the dragons when it’s probably that comet.

Melisandre interpreted the red comet as fulfilling the Prince(ess) Who Was Promised prophecy, which says that, “At the end of a long summer when the stars bleed and darkness covers the land Azor Ahai shall be reborn and draw Lightbringer, a flaming sword, from the fire and destroy the darkness.”

Also consider this: The red comet would have also been visible to the White Walkers north of the Wall, and it could very well have been the catalyst for them marching South. If the comet signaled the birth of dragons or Azhor Ahai prophecy, that’s a direct threat to their species. Or, if it brought back magic, it could’ve woken them up after thousands of years. 

Other theories see the comet as just a natural cosmic event that the characters projected their own meaning onto — which is actually very in line with what George R. R. Martin thinks about fantasy.

But even if the red comet was just a scientific happening, it could relate to why the seasons of Planetos are so irregular. Some even believe the comet was a harbinger of a meteor that is coming to destroy the whole world.

That’s unlikely, but George R. R. Martin has joked that if he can’t figure out a way to finish the books, “I’ve already established that red comet. I can just have it hit Westeros and wipe out all life.”

2. Craster’s babies and the White Walkers’ endgame

Craster (the wildling with daughter-wives who sacrificed his sons) is low-key one of the most important pieces of the puzzle to figuring out what the White Walkers want. And that’s the single most important task for Season 8.

Let’s go over basic questions raised by Craster’s deal with the Others: Why do the White Walkers only seem to take and convert Craster’s babies when there are plenty of other (less inbred) wildling babies around? Are his sons the only source of new White Walkers?

It’s safe to assume the Others can’t just transform any old baby, which means Craster’s are special in some way. And that’s almost certainly to do with their bloodline, since bloodlines are tied to magical abilities (i.e. Targaryens’ dragon magic, Starks and their warging, Gendry’s King’s Blood).

There’s a lot of speculation about the identity of Craster’s parents for this reason, but we won’t get into that. It’s mentioned his father was a brother of the Night’s Watch who took a wildling (btw Maester Aermon is a Targaryen, almost a king, and told Sam of a woman he broke his vows for).

The most important takeaway here, though, is that the Others seem desperate to procreate. There’s no evidence in either the books or show of female White Walker, aside from the legend of the Night’s King and his Corpse Queen (but we’ll get back to that in a later season).

Many fans assume that Craster is evidence that what the White Walkers want is to save their species from extinction, since there’s endless reanimated corpses but very few White Walkers. That’s probably why they’re marching south: Either they need more magical human babies, a new Night Queen, or perceive the return of dragons and/or Azor Ahai as the ultimate threat.

Finally, we can’t forget that the Others actually came after Gilly and Sam for Craster’s last son — and failed. It seems pretty significant that Sam Jr.’s half brothers are all a bunch of White Walkers. (And isn’t it weird that baby Sam is growing a head of very conspicuous Targaryen-blonde hair?)

3. Will Arya marry Gendry?

SHIP TIME! But since this is Game of Thrones, it’s a popular coupling based on real evidence rather than just wish fulfillment.

There are a few moments throughout Gendry and Arya’s time together that looks a whole lot like foreshadowing. When Arya reveals her true identity to him in Season 2, Gendry jokes, “I should be calling you, ‘My Lady.'” 

Then, when they have to split up because of the Brotherhood Without Banners in Season 3, Arya is devastated and tells Gendry with longing, “I can be your family.”

Arya actress Maisie Williams even told Rolling Stone that, “[director] Alex Graves said, ‘When you say that last line, ‘I can be your family,’ say it like ‘I love you.'”

Then there’s a whole bunch of lore-based evidence for why their marriage would parallel some important historical events. 

But ultimately it also comes down to how Gendry is the last surviving Baratheon by blood, if not by name as a bastard. That could easily change, though, especially if a former bastard named Jon Snow takes the throne and legitimizes him. 

The Starks and Baratheons have a long history together. And there has to be a reason why the Baratheon’s stag remains in the opening credits, even though there hasn’t been a true-born Baratheon on the show since Robert died. 

According to Gendry actor Joe Dempsie, he’ll have a role to play in final climax. And in all likelihood, so will Arya. What could bring people together more than surviving a war of global annihilation?

4. What Quaithe’s prophecies mean

Alright, remember this bizarre lady who showed up in Qarth for two scenes to warn Jorah about Daenerys being in danger, never to return again? Yeah. Weird.

Quaithe is a mysterious shadowbinder from Asshai, like Melisandre. She’s a looming figure in the books, but clearly the majority of her role was cut from the show. She still matters to Game of Thrones’ endgame, though, because of the prophecies she tells Dany about that will undoubtedly play out in some way through other characters.

Image: paul schiraldi/hbo

In particular, she gives Dany a riddle that basically states she’ll have to go to the Shadow Lands. When she asks what is in Asshai, Quaithe answers, “Truth.”

We’ve never seen Asshai, but the ancient, dark, ominous place is key to unlocking the secrets of how magic works in the world. 

In George R. R. Martin’s World of Ice and Fire companion book, it’s said that long before the Valyrians, a different species of dragons originated in Asshai — and possibly still remain hidden there. Which, you know, might prove helpful in the war to come.

But aside from that, Asshai undoubtedly has knowledge of dragonlore, dragon glass, and Azor Ahai that will be vital to defeating the White Walkers.

It’s very unlikely Dany will go all the way back to Essos at this point. But after connecting Jon and Dany on Dragonstone in Season 7, Melisandre tells Varys she’ll have to go Volantis. Presumably, this is so she can debrief on what she’s seen at the red temple of R’hollor.

But since Volantis isn’t too far at all from Asshai, it’s very possible she’ll stop by her hometown too. And when she comes back (as she promises she’ll have to do), she could bring back that vital.

Quaithe’s most important prophecy, though, is about the trials she will face:

Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun’s son and the mummer’s dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal.

Now, many of these are book-only characters. But the Kraken is likely Euron, the perfumed seneschal might be Varys, and the lion is almost certainly Tyrion. That last one’s pretty devastating, but there’s lots of hints in Season 7 that his betrayal is already taking shape.

Another piece of evidence for Tyrion’s betrayal comes from Quiathe’s other advice: “Remember the Undying.”

5. What the House of the Undying visions mean

In the Season 2 finale, Dany enters the House of the Undying and sees two major, revealing visions. There are a ton more prophecies and visions in the book version we’ll get into interpreting. But first let’s dive into what the show told us.

The iron throne room will be destroyed, and winter will come for it. That’s a lot more believable now than it was back in Season 2. But some questions remain about exactly how that will happen.

The natural assumption is that the Night King will come for King’s Landing and destroy it with the undead Viserion. This ties back to another prophecy Bran often flashes to of dragon wings beating over the capital. We thought they were Dany’s dragons, but Season 7 cast doubt on that.

Another theory, however, is that while the White Walkers will come for King’s Landing (explaining the snow) the city will already have been destroyed by Cersei. We know she loves that wildfire, and she could very well go all Mad Queen before being overthrown. 

Or, Cersei may even betray all of humanity (urgh she would) and become the Night Queen.

Aside from that, the vision shows Dany come very close to claiming the iron throne, before choosing to turn away to something Beyond the Wall (which has kinda already happened). In the vision, she’s called away from the throne by the sounds of her dragons, then finds herself at the Wall, before finally seeing Khal Drogo and baby Rheago in the tent where he died.

This is solid evidence to foreshadow that Dany will die fighting the White Walkers. She even speculates she’s already died, before repeating the witch’s curse from Season 1, which we interpret as her reuniting with Drogo in the afterlife.

6. Even more House of the Undying prophecies

The House of the Undying prophecies not included from the books are very telling, too. Most notably, this prediction for Dany: “Three treasons will you know … once for blood and once for gold and once for love.”

These are vague enough to be interpreted in so many different ways. But she was already betrayed by the witch in Season 1 for blood magic. And Dany believes Jorah was the treason for gold, though that’s not quite right since he wanted a pardon.

So these two treasons still hang over Dany’s head going into Season 8. The treason for gold could be Illyrio or Varys — or even Tyrion, who might betray her for his family (the golden lions). Or, Tyrion could be the betrayal for love, either growing jealous of Jon or choosing the love for his family over his loyalty to Dany (remember that secret meeting he had with Cersei in the Season 8 finale?)

One of the most interesting interpretations, though, is that the betrayal for love will come from none other than Jon, who will need to sacrifice Daenerys in order to fulfill the Azhor Ahai prophecy.

Lastly, there is a vision that, “From a great smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire.” Remember in the last section when we said that there could be a dragon on the way from the Shadow Lands of Asshai?

Even if it’s not from Asshai, there’s lots to suggest that Dany and Jon will raise another dragon from Dragonstone. Aside from various visions, another recurring prophecy insists “the dragon has three heads” (which is also in the Targaryen sigil). So we’ll need another to replace Viserion.