This is it! Winter is here and so are the White Walkers.
It’s taken seven seasons to get to this point and over the next six episodes we will get to see who will sit on the Iron Throne and rule Westeros… if anyone survives.
There’s a chance to make some coin over the final season as well and we have some markets to run you through in our Game Of Thrones Season 8 betting preview.
Who Will Die in Season 8?
Let’s start off with one of the big ones and before you ask, “everyone” isn’t an option in case you were expecting some sort of apocalyptic event.
The beauty of Game of Thrones is that every character that is still alive is a legitimate chance to die during season 8, in a way we haven’t seen since the 24 writers decided to put a different actor out of work each week.
Because of the high likelihood of deaths, there’s an awful lot of characters at below even money.
Cersei at $1.05 makes Winx look like a good value bet because, let’s be honest, we all want her to go at some point this series.
From a punting viewpoint, there’s next to no value in that bet so you can just enjoy it when someone does lop her head off (Jamie?).
Speaking of her brother/lover, Jamie’s another character that we all accept is likely to die here but doesn’t give us much of a chance to make some money.
In fact, because Game of Thrones has a higher death rate, you have to do some massive speculating on any character that is longer than even money.
The Stark family might just be where to look there with Jon Snow certainly an option to die doing something crazy or heroic trying to stop the Night King.
His sister Arya is another character that is certainly up for a fight and she is every chance to get herself into trouble at some point this season.
TIP: Arya Stark @ $3
To Become a White Walker
Pretty much anyone who has died in or north of Winterfell is in play for this one and it would (metaphorically) kill us to see Hodor ($1.40) fighting for the bad guys, but that seems almost inevitable.
Keep in mind as well, we have seen the Night King raise plenty of people and a dragon from the dead on the battle field so that seems like an obvious plot point.
You know they are going to want to start the season off with a bang so don’t be at all surprised if someone like Grey Worm ($2.50) is sacrificed in an early battle.
Anyone in the unified armies could become a White Walker and someone might just have to make a big sacrifice to allow some of the major players to escape. Or Jorah Mormont might just give up when he finally realises he’s never escaping the friend zone.
TIP: Grey Worm to Become a White Walker @ $2.50
Who Will Sit on the Iron Throne at the End of Season 8?
Assuming someone actually winds up on the Iron Throne and all the major characters aren’t wiped out by the war with the White Walkers, this is a market with plenty of value .
Speaking of the White Walkers, if you are expecting the army to make its way through Westeros like a sword through Ned Stark’s neck, the Night King is at $10 to sit on the Iron Throne at the end of the season.
Every Thrones fan has their own theories about who will take over and Bran just seems way too heavily backed to make it worth investing in him.
Cersei currently holds the seat and is doing everything she can to keep it but there is little to no chance she is there after six episodes.
Also, even though the writers love to get sadistic with this stuff, there is no way they’ll deny viewers the joy of seeing her wiped out this season.
Daenerys has been angling for the Throne since Day 1 and assuming her (and her dragons) survive the White Walkers, she’s got to be a fantastic chance and at $4.75 is perhaps the value play of all the favourites.
Although as we found out in the season 7 finale, her new interest/nephew Jon Snow ($3.25) has a claim at the throne as well, could that lead to a lovers’ spat?
Realistically there’s a reason most of the characters listed in this market are out in double digits and chances are it’s going to wind up with one of the favourites.
Jamie Lannister at $29 is very tempting… if we gave him any chance of living past episode 4.
After spending the first five and a bit seasons as the most useless Stark family member, Sansa ($7.50) has made a strong case for Most Improved Character and could also wind up rising above the pile of bodies to take the throne.
TIP: Daenerys to Sit on the Iron Throne @ $4.75
Next Lannister to Die
This is a two-horse race, Tyrion has annoyed a lot of people in the capital but won’t be in any major danger before his siblings… one of whom REALLY wants to kill him.
If you think Cersei will die during this season, perhaps as payback for planning to screw over Daenerys, Jon Snow and just about everyone else then this is probably the market for you.
She just has to go before Jamie who will be fighting the White Walkers and has shown a remarkable ability to survive when everyone else around him is dying.
TIP: Cersei to be the next Lannister to Die @ $1.67
Death Matchup! Daenerys v Cersei
There’s a fantastic opportunity for HBO to spin this off into a Tekken/Mortal Kombat style video game in the battle arena.
But let’s take a look at Daenerys vs Cersei…
Given their respective statuses as lynchpins for the story, we won’t see either of them go in the first couple of episodes so you’ll need a bit of patience with this one.
Daenerys will have plenty of opportunities to die early on in the battles which are sure to come, while Cersei will just be watching her back in Westeros ready to pounce on the leftovers.
TIP: Cersei to Die First @ $1.52
Who Will Kill the Night King?
Assuming anyone actually does manage to kill the Night King, it’s got to be Jon Snow ($2.00) or Bran Stark ($2.50), because that’s what they’ve been setting up all this time.
It just depends if you’re expecting a one on one sword fight between Jon and the Night King or a battle of the minds with Bran subbing in for Jon.
Chances are Bran might have to rely on more than his ravens though.
TIP: Jon Snow to Kill the Night King @ $2.00
Who Will Kill the Ice Dragon?
On first glance this market looked like a real open contest but after re-watching season seven, there is only one answer for this: Bronn.
We all remember how close he came to killing one of the dragons midway through last season and it’s all set up for him to have a shot at redemption here, killing the ice dragon with massive crossbow.
It would be fantastic to have a dragon deathmatch in the sky or see Tyrion step up and play the hero, but it’s just so obvious it’s going to be Bronn.
TIP: Bronn to Kill the Ice Dragon @ $2.50
