Take heart, Game of Thrones fans: we're now in the home stretch for the final episode, which means that soon, all of those zany theories out there will be conclusively laid to rest, and we'll never have to wonder about this show again!!!
OK, so last Sunday in Season 8, Episode 5, we watched the Kingslayer, AKA Jaime Lannister, AKA the guy who could have prevented almost all of the events in this TV show from happening had he just checked into a secure motel room, get buried under falling rubble at King's Landing:
His death is pretty much implied, considering how Daenerys torched the entire city, and also considering that Euron had lodged at least two solid stab wounds on him earlier in the episode:
So on one hand, we can either accept the fact that Jaime Lannister got to die in the arms of his twin sister, Cersei. **OR** we can hold out hope, like Tumblr user weedsareflowerstoo, who put together a compelling theory about Jaime's "death:"
For starters, this theory notes that the cast hasn't acknowledged the death or thanked the actor, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, in the same way that other characters' deaths have been commemorated:
Weedsareflowerstoo also points out how Nikolaj himself has been a little vague about his exit from Game of Thrones, too: "Why did he make a post saying goodbye to Lena, and not to the character he played for eight years?"
And honestly, guys, this is where I started putting my tin foil hat on, because like, compare ^^that post with this good-bye from Alfie Allen, after Theon was conclusively killed:
Anyway, before you tell me that's just quibbling over hashtags, the second and most compelling piece of evidence is this interaction between another fan, @350_min, and the Entertainment Weekly writer James Hibberd, who's been consistently publishing interviews with all the big Game of Thrones actors after their characters' deaths.
@350_min Thanks! Holding that one for a bit...
Holding onto timely Game of Thrones content? In this economy?? THERE MUST BE A REASON.
Anyway, at the very least, this theory makes a pretty convincing case that we haven't seen the last of Jaime Lannister — like, maybe the dude is definitely dead, but there could be a flashback or two in store for us.
But TBQH, because this show has taught us all to trust absolutely no one, I'm defaulting to the ol' "never found the body" TV trope, because listen, it ain't over until I see a character's corpse/exploding skull in high-def on that HBO Go screen.
