The Game of Thrones Finale Featured a Major Reveal and a Long-Awaited Death

The Game of Thrones finale kicked off with the most tense meeting in Westeros, and try as she might, not even Cersei's (Lena Headey) ominous entrance could compete with Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) riding a dragon into the Dragonpit. Everyone else was kind of just there.

We all thought we were going to get Cleganebowl, but the closest we got was a terse bit of threatening smack talk before The Hound (Rory McCann) let a wight loose in the arena and proved to everyone who had doubts that fighting over the Iron Throne is a waste of time while the army of the dead marches on Westeros. After some gentle nudging from Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) in the best scene of the season, Cersei agreed to a truce with Dany to help fight in the Great War. And like everyone in the world -- except Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), apparently -- could have predicted, she was lying.

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Jaime wanted to battle with honor and fight for the living as he had pledged, but even he couldn't talk reason into his sister. In the end, he did what no one ever expected he'd actually do; he walked away from Cersei and their unborn child so that he could honor his oath and the whole world cheered.

Meanwhile in the North, Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) was doing everything he could to convince Sansa (Sophie Turner) that Arya (Maisie Williams) came home to kill her to become Lady of Winterfell instead of all the logical reasons like she missed home, she wanted her family back, or maybe she just wanted to stop murdering and be a Stark again. All that animosity Littlefinger had been creating between the Stark sisters seemed to finally reach its breaking point when Sansa called her sister before all the northern lords. Luckily, just when you assumed Sansa was ready to kill Arya to protect herself and her title, Sansa flipped on Littlefinger. FINALLY.

She accused him killing her Aunt Lysa (Kate Dickie). She accused him of conspiring with Cersei and Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) to capture Ned (Sean Bean). She accused him of sending an assassin to kill Bran. She accused him of trying to turn her against her sister. She accused him of everything he'd ever done wrong, and then she had Arya slice him in his scheming little throat. Thus ends Littlefinger. Good riddance.

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As exciting as that was, Sansa's realization that Littlefinger needed to die wasn't even the best one of the night. That would be Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) and Sam's (John Bradley) realization that Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is actually Rhaegar Targaryen's legitimate son and true heir to the Iron Throne, Aegon Targaryen. (Cut to Jon getting it on with his aunt on a boat. Figures we'd get rid of one incestuous couple only to get saddled with another.)

Their weird incest baby -- the one that will be absolutely, without a doubt created during their boat sex if all the "Daenerys can totally have children" hints that were dropped this year are to be believed -- might never see the light of day, however. Not if the White Walkers and their army make it to Winterfell before Jon's boat does.

In the final scene of the finale, Tormund (Kristofer Hivju) nearly met his death (yet again) when the army of the dead marched on The Wall and took it down with their new ice dragon. There's not many things more terrifying than the Night King riding an ice breathing dragon into battle. That thing moved wicked fast, and we're not sure even Dany's dragons can best it.

Basically, Season 8 is going to be nuts.

Game of Thrones will return in 2018.