15 BEST Game Of Thrones Season 8 Theories

9. Tormund Survives (And So Do The Free Folk)

Game Of Thrones Tormund
HBO

Now, this might sound like the wishful thinking of a blinkered fanboy (shoot me, I guess), but there is a reason why Tormund can't be killed in season 8. He is a proxy for an entire type of people and it's pretty crucial that they survive beyond the White Walker saga.

There's a compelling idea that the show will end with someone breaking the wheel, rather than one of the key players simply sitting on the Iron Throne. That would, presumably, reinforce the idea that the Free Folk were right all along but the future will also see the Free Folk living within Kingdom south of the Wall (provided anyone survives and the Night King doesn't just win).

Crucially, they need a leader and someone to help them integrate because that's one of the show's underlying positive messages (that they are not somehow subhuman simply because they rail against the Great Game). Without Tormund, that story cannot end satisfyingly. So he has a lot more than his fighting prowess keeping him alive.

[Simon]

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.