Game of Thrones season 8 theories: Theon Greyjoy to die protecting Bran Stark in episode 3?

Get your tissues at the ready

If one thing’s for certain, it’s that we’re going to say goodbye to several Game of Thrones characters this weekend.

As the Night King’s army approaches Winterfell, so too does inevitable death for many of the heroes to have graced our screens since the show began in 2011.

While fans of the HBO drama will have to wait until Sunday for the third episode of its eighth and final season, they can look to the latest instalment – titled “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” – for hints as to which characters could perish during what has been touted as the biggest battle in television history.

Sadly, it seems there’s one extremely viable candidate – and it’s someone who has been on the show since its very first episode.

During the scene where the majority of the characters are discussing tactics for the forthcoming fight, Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) drops the huge revelation that he is the Night King’s target.

“[He wants] an endless night. He wants to erase this world and I am its memory,” Bran tells them.

While Jon (Kit Harington) and Arya (Maisie Williams) tell Bran he’ll be be locked “safely” away in the Winterfell crypts (we put “safely” in quotation marks because there’s a pretty believable theory suggesting that those in the crypts will be in even more danger than the ones doing battle...), Bran refuses and says he’s happy to sit in the Godswood as bait for the Night King.

It’s here where Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen), fresh from his reunion with Sansa, steps forward and says he’ll serve as Bran’s protector.

Now, while this is a true act of bravery, it serves as a death knell for his character – Theon dying to protect Bran will be his ultimate redemption for taking Winterfell all those seasons ago. Those hoping for a romance with Sansa best make their peace with the fact that Theon is the most likely candidate to die in episode three.

We could be wrong, but it seems like the perfect way for his character to go out.

Having spent the series desperate for acceptance, his death would ensure he was remembered as the hero of Winterfell.

The latest episode of the series featured a controversial Arya scene that actor Maisie Williams thought was a prank when she first read the script.

You can find our extensive ranking of every character – from worst to best – here and our definitive episode ranking below.

Game of Thrones is available on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK.