6 Questions Game of Thrones Needs to Answer in Season 8

Whether you liked Game of Thrones' penultimate season or hated it, chances are you're still going to tune in for the eighth and final season, which kicks off Sunday, April 14 at 9/8c. That's because no matter what you think of the questionable pacing and writing of the later seasons, this show has fans hopelessly invested in finding out the answers to the Big Questions.

We're not talking about if Tormund (Kristofer Hivju) is alive (yes) or whether Cersei's (Lena Headey) recruitment of the Golden Company will actually make a difference in the war (not the war we're worried about, tbh). We're talking about the questions that have been plaguing fans since 2011, if you're a show-only fan, or since 1996, if you're a book reader. That's a long freaking time to be wondering about which fictional character is going to sit on a chair made of swords, which only raises the stakes for the final six episodes!

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These are the six questions Game of Thrones Season 8 absolutely needs to answer to avoid a potential fan riot

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1. Who is the Prince or Princess That Was Promised? Currently, there are two frontrunners for the person who is destined to be Azor Ahai, aka Prince That Was Promised. In one corner, you have Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), the so-called rightful heir to the Iron Throne. In the other, you have Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Daenerys' brooding nephew who is so important to this war that the Lord of Light literally brought him back from the dead.

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Both Dany and Jon's life stories can be seen to work in tandem with the Azor Ahai prophecy, but the reveal of Jon Snow's true name -- Aegon Targaryen -- put the King in the North far in the lead. That's because in the books, Daenerys has a vision of her brother Rhaegar and his first wife Elia Martell discussing what to name their son, settling on Aegon. "He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire," Rhaegar explained.

As we know, that Aegon was brutally murdered by the Mountain. However, it's possible that Rhaegar simply was discussing the wrong son of his named Aegon, and it's actually Jon Snow who is the prophesied hero -- that is, unless Game of Thrones pulls a Hunger Games and Jon and Dany both turn out to be the Prince.

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2. Who will sit on the Iron Throne? On the one hand, this question almost seems inconsequential in the wake of the Night King and his army entering Westeros. Will there even be an Iron Throne after this war ends? And if so, who cares about who sits on it as long as our heroes survive?

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But seeing as we doubt the Night King will wipe out all of humanity, we bet somebody will step up to rule after the great war is over, but who?

With Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) as her Hand, Daenerys is the best bet for Westeros. She has a knack for inspiring the commonfolk and can be an extremely progressive ruler when she has somebody around to curb her worst tendencies. However, Jon Snow is the rightful heir and he has a habit of falling upward into positions of power (despite never actually wanting to rule). Or who knows, maybe it will wind up being a total wildcard and we'll get Queen Lyanna Mormont or King Dolores Edd. That would be one way to keep fans on their toes!

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3. What does the Night King want? The Night King isn't some mindless evil, just following his instinct to kill, kill, kill. This is a man who knows what he wants -- we just aren't quite sure what it is.

Clearly, the Night King has a plan, one that he's been enacting strategically and patiently for years now. What is so important to him that he has decided to take his massive army and invade Westeros? Is it to finish the mission he was created by the Children of the Forest for -- to fight humanity and restore some balance? Is it because he's actually power hungry and just wants Westeros for himself? Is it because he's simply retaliating against humanity after they continued to fight and kill his people North of the Wall? We need to know!

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4. Will Arya ever finish checking names off her list? Although Arya (Maisie Williams) is a seasoned assassin, she actually hasn't made much progress on her fabled kill list. Of the 13 people on her list, only seven are dead, and of those seven, only four were by her hand. That's only a 31 percent success rate! With only six more episodes to go, can Arya really kill the surviving six targets? The chances of that look doubtful unless she receives some more help in snuffing out a few faces, which leads us to...

5. Will Jaime actually kill Cersei? This is a question book readers have been wondering for twelve years, ever since Maggy the Frog revealed Cersei would be strangled by "the valonqar" in A Feast for Crows. But will Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who is technically Cersei's younger sibling given that she was born first, really be the fated valonqar? We sure hope so! Jaime has always been a better person than his relationship with Cersei allows, and now that he's cut ties with his twin sister to work towards the greater good, he's one step closer to ridding the world of another pyromaniac sitting on the Iron Throne. Cersei's death just wouldn't be as sweet (nor as poetic) if anyone other than Jaime caused it.

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6. What will happen after Jon learns the truth? Finding out you're the rightful heir to the Iron Throne is a big deal. Finding out you just banged your aunt is arguably just as shocking. So how will Jon react when he finally learns who his real parents are upon returning to Winterfell? Will he step up and try to honor his birthright, thus turning against Daenerys in the process? Will he still be accepted as the King in the North by the lords who elected him? Will he continue to sleep with his aunt? Or will he simply go on with his normal life, fighting against the Night King and wanting no part in complicated politics or the fight for the Iron Throne? We're betting on the latter, but when it comes to what Dany will do when she finds out Jon is a threat to her rule as opposed to an ally? Well, that's a whole separate matter...