1. The Theme Of Ice Vs. Fire
When you stop and reassess how far the series is, you start to notice that the duality of ice and fire has been apparent all along. The White Walkers rule the blustery wilderness beyond the Wall, raising an army of wights to lay siege to Westeros and bring about an everlasting winter. In the southern parts of the world, on the other hand, there's the enigmatic Valyrian Freehold, home of dragons and deep, destructive magic that brought about the region's Doom, the nature of which is still fuzzy. We know the Wall is imbibed with powerful magic to keep the immortals at bay, and a White Walker can be killed with dragonglass -- or obsidian, the stuff that comes out of volcanoes. What else came out of volcanoes? Well, dragons did. Starting to see a pattern? This stuff isn't forced upon you as a reader or viewer. It's built from the ground up, intentionally woven into the narrative from its inception. And it's bloody brilliant. The geography itself is a character, a chessboard upon which the craziest game of chess is in full swing. Fans of the books have painstaking analyzed this symbolism for years, and have come up with some insanely elaborate stuff. One such mind-blowing proposal involves the Faceless Men, founded by Valyrian slaves who overthrew their masters, and the invisible choke-hold they may or may not have over the world. They believe death is a blessing, and the fan theory regarding their true power puts your tired old conspiracies -- your Roswells, your faked Moon landings -- to shame. What has become clear is that ice and fire may figuratively and literally factor into the epic climax of the series, through gods, creatures, and mortals alike. So strap in, folks. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.