Some questions the ‘Game of Thrones’ finale left unanswered

[Warning: Spoilers for the “Game of Thrones” series finale below.]

A fantasy epic spanning eight seasons and 73 episodes, it was hard to imagine “Game of Thrones” wrapping up every single storyline. And it didn’t.

The Iron Throne was destroyed, and the “Game” came to an end with Bran Stark becoming the King of the Six Kingdoms of Westeros. But there were plenty of questions left unanswered by the “Game of Thrones” series finale.

Bran is now the King of Westeros, but he never would have survived his journey beyond the Wall or become the Three-Eyed Raven if it weren’t for Jojen and Meera Reed.

Like Bran, Jojen had the power to see the past, present and future in visions. Jojen knew he would not survive the journey, but helped Bran anyway because he believed the future Three-Eyed Raven would be important in the fight against the Night King (Bran gave Arya the knife she used to slay him, so he wasn’t wrong).

A skilled fighter, Meera stuck with Bran even after her brother’s death, helping to keep him safe until they made it back to Winterfell. She had a tense goodbye with a detached Bran, who no longer conveyed much human emotion after becoming the Three-Eyed Raven. So the last we see of her is before the Night King and his army make their way down to Winterfell.

Jojen and Meera were also the children of Howland Reed. Howland saved Ned Stark’s life during Robert’s rebellion, and was a part of the mission to try to rescue Lyanna (the mission on which Ned learned the truth of his sister’s kidnapping).

That’s two generations of Starks that owe their lives to two generations of Reeds. But we never learn whether Meera and her family survived the war between humanity and the army of the dead.

Ellaria Sand and Septa Unella (a.k.a. the “Shame” nun) were among those last seen as Cersei’s prisoners, locked up for revenge.

For killing Myrcella, Ellaria was chained in a cell across from her daughter Tyene. Cersei sentenced Ellaria to watch her daughter die, decompose and turn to dust.

And after torturing Septa Unella herself with wine, Cersei left her with the Mountain. It’s unknown whether Unella survived that encounter.

And despite all the subterranean activity in the last two episodes, it’s not clear whether these women might still have been in the dungeons when Daenerys attacked the Red Keep.

Drogon destroyed the Iron Throne and flew off with Daenerys’ body. Where did Drogon take her? Bran seems to have ideas about warging into Drogon to see where the dragon is spending its time, but until then, dragon unaccounted for.

After Bran was declared King of Westeros, Grey Worm and the Unsullied were headed to the Island of Naath (Missandei’s homeland). A number of Dothraki are seen milling about by the boats. Did the Dothraki join them?

Although they were allies in Daenerys’ campaign, it seems unlikely that the nomadic Dothraki warriors would continue to travel with the Unsullied soldiers after the death of their Khaleesi. Which means their destination is unknown.

Dany left Daario Naharis and the Second Sons in charge of keeping the peace in Meereen as it transitioned into a new government system without slavery. Nothing so reliable as a company of mercenaries when the person they’re working for has been stabbed in the chest.

Once “Game of Thrones” moved all of its main players to Westeros, a lot of the characters from Essos were seldom mentioned again. So although Arya spent a couple seasons training with the guild of assassins known as the Faceless Men, after she left, she didn’t make a big deal about her face-stealing tricks or use them (even when it might have come in handy).

Also unknown: whether the Faceless Men just accepted the fact that Arya disregarded their teachings and left their order to pursue a personal vendetta.

Arya spends much of “Game of Thrones” scheming to kill a list of people who’ve wronged her and her family. Just about everyone on her kill list was dead by the end of the series, although not all by Arya’s hand.

Everyone except Ser Ilyn Payne, the mute executioner who beheaded Ned Stark back in Season 1. His last appearance was in Season 2. The last time he is even mentioned is in Season 4.

We will never know.

(Part of the reason Payne’s fate has remained unresolved is likely because the actor who originally played him, Wilko Johnson, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2012. In 2014, Johnson announced he was cancer-free.)

Jon Snow was sentenced back into the service of the Night’s Watch for killing Daenerys. But the Night’s Watch was an order established to protect the realms of men from the White Walkers, wildlings and other threats from beyond the Wall.

With the Night King defeated and Tormund and the wildlings, aka the Free Folk, on friendlier terms with the northerners they fought alongside at the Battle of Winterfell, it would seem their watch is ended.

Remember Craster? He was the wildling patriarch that lived north of the Wall, fathering children with his daughter-wives. And if the babies were boys, they were sacrificed to the Night King.

Craster’s baby sons were left in the woods for White Walkers to collect and deliver to the Night King, who appeared to turn them into baby White Walkers. Contact with the Night King turned the babies’ eyes that distinctive blue at least.

How this arrangement came to be was never revealed, as was the exact fate of these babies.

Gilly’s son, little Sam, was fathered by Craster so it’s possible he could have some ties to ice zombie magic. (The whereabouts of Gilly and little Sam during the episode were also not revealed).

The revelation that Jon was actually Aegon Targaryen was the secret that rocked many people this season, including Daenerys, who did not want others to learn that Jon had a stronger blood claim to the Iron Throne.

But Jon told Sansa (and Arya), Sansa told Tyrion, Tyrion told Varys, and Jon’s true parentage was no longer a secret.

Except it didn’t seem that anybody outside the Starks, Sam and Tyrion were aware of Jon’s identity at the end. None of the heads of the remaining noble houses of Westeros mentioned anything while debating Jon’s fate for killing Daenerys and the future of the Seven Kingdoms.

For seasons, fans have theorized about the many prophecies introduced in “Game of Thrones.” The most devout sleuths even dug for clues in George R.R. Martin’s books that are the basis for the show.

Melisandre’s entire storyline was about “the prince(ss) that was promised,” a.k.a. Azor Ahai, who would save the world from darkness. She seemed to consider her mission complete when the Night King was defeated. Except Arya didn’t seem to fit the description of said promised prince (or princess, since the prophecy in High Valyrian used a gender-neutral word).

Perhaps Jon was Azor Ahai all along, fulfilling the prophecy when he killed Daenerys. Her quest to be a just ruler took a dark turn when she destroyed King’s Landing. But even that act didn’t quite fit the bill.

Melisandre also mentioned Arya would kill someone with green eyes, which many assumed would be Cersei. There’s no proof that Arya has or hasn’t killed anybody with green eyes, but she definitely did not kill Cersei.

There was also Maggy the Frog’s prophecy that doomed Cersei, which in the books mentioned that “the valonqar” (“little brother” in Valyrian) would ultimately be the one to choke her to death. Cersei, however, died with Jaime — her sometimes lover and slightly younger brother — when a passage under the Red Keep collapses. Granted, prophecies are far from literal.