Game Of Thrones: 15 Early Predictions For Season 8

8. Sam Uses Heartsbane

As you watched Sam's arc in season 7, you could be forgiven for wondering why exactly he seemed to have completely forgotten the fact that he stole his family's Valyrian steel sword - Heartsbane - from his family home as if it wasn't entirely key information.

We should have at least expected the Tarlys to be annoyed by the theft, but they seemed entirely unphased by Heartsbane's loss - just as nobody realises it is a massive advantage to the fight against the White Walkers. There's no way that can just be accepted as a careless dropped thread that won't come back, because it's still a Valyrian steel sword and they have to come back into play when the Great War kicks off.

There is some suggestion that Sam could simply pass on his family's sword to someone who could use it - a Jorah or The Hound or someone of that ilk - but it would fit Sam's arc as the most unexpected hero in the Seven Kingdoms if he were allowed to live up to his vow to be like one of the better men he writes about. And that would mean him using the sword himself in a key moment - just as Sam's literary twin Neville Longbottom does in The Deathly Hallows - to achieve the ultimate underdog victory.

Just imagine if it's him who takes down Viserion with the blade...