When the Lost finale failed to live up to expectations, its airwave domination faded into a punchline, as some fans felt like the show’s entire run was a waste of time. After its final episode airs, its current popularity will inevitably transform into legacy, which is entirely determined by its fans. Viewership and numbers don’t lie, but a cacophonous minority of mad folks is not ideal for studios and showrunners alike.Įven shows as massive as Game of Thrones have something to fear from disappointing fan theorists. Fan theorists are loud and extremely online, and their discourse can often color what the “public” reaction to any given twist looks like.
In these cases, disappointment with the show’s choices becomes entwined with the humiliation of being proved wrong - a perfect recipe for fan fury. On the other side of that coin is what happens when Thrones debunks or veers away from fan predictions, as has happened more often in its closing seasons. With these, the basic rush of enjoying a television show joined forces with the more personal rush of being proven right - which further fueled fan desire to watch closer, read harder, and predict the show’s events ever more accurately. Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, Cersei did blow up the Sept of Baelor, Daenerys did become the Mad Queen, and Cleganebowl did actually happen. Here's where everyone stands going into the 'Game of Thrones' finaleįueling Thrones’ fan theory culture is the fact that many of its most popular theories turned out to be right. During and after each episode, Twitter and Reddit light up with posts from superfans who claim to hold the key to the endgame based on line readings and newly revealed information, and online outlets (including Mashable) publish exhaustive analyses that not only sum up what just happened on Game of Thrones, but what might happen next. While some people watch Game of Thrones and take the plot at face value, the effort to predict the show’s next big twist have become a cottage industry unto itself. Thrones does, however, have the distinction of legitimizing fan theories as a crucial and expected part of each episode’s aftermath. Thrones is far from the first piece of media to generate a massive fan theory culture - Lost thrived on torturing its audience with cryptic clues and red herrings, and people wrote actual books on what would happen next in the Harry Potter series.
Theories have made Tyrion Lannister a secret Targaryen, Talisa Stark a Lannister plant, and Syrio Forel the most indestructible fencing coach in the universe.Įveryone has a Game of Thrones fan theory, but what's going to happen when Thrones is over and all of that analytical energy has nowhere else to go? Another says Drogon flew off to Valyria and laid enough eggs to burn all of Westeros.
One Game of Thrones fan theory says Bran Stark is the Night King.