Can you believe it? After over a year of anticipation, Game of Thrones is finally set to return! The 8th and final season gets underway on the 14th of April and the hype to finally find out how the story ends is at breaking point.
The Austrlaian bookmakers are cashing in on the excitment too, with most ofering a range of different betting markets surrounding the outcome of different plot lines. We'll break down some of the major betting markets for Season 8 and give our tips below!
Game of Thrones Season 8 Betting Tips
Iron Throne
The Iron Throne market is arguably the most popular market surrounding season eight. Who will rule Westeros at the end of the season? Currently, one of the series' key antagonist in Cersei Lannister sits on the Iron Throne after burning all of her enemies plus a small portion of Kings Landing to the ground. It's widely thought, however, that Cersei's death will be one of the major plot points of the season, so it's unlikely that she remains on the throne throughout the season.
A big chance is of course Jon Snow, who is set to find out his true parentage and his claim to the throne in the opening episodes of Season 8. Along with Jon is Daenerys Targaryen, whose quest for the throne has been arguably the major plotpoint of the show since Season 1. However, the name that sits atop the rest in the betting markets is Bran Stark.
One of the more speculated fan theories in the Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice & Fire series is that Bran Stark and the Night King are somehow intertwined due to Bran's forays into the past and mind controlling abilities. It's a complex idea, and one that I think is probably more suited to the book series rather than the show. I think that show runners D.B Weiss and David Benioff keep it a little more simple, they only have six episodes to wrap up this story after all.
We think the ruler of Westeros at the end of Season 8 comes from the trio of Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen and the Night King. Season 7 ended with Jon Snow and Daenerys getting together so if they were to marry it would be interesting to see who would claim the throne. Jon has been the key protaganist throughout the series but seems more likely to be the one to give up the throne for some noble cause.
Daenerys to rule Westeros
$5.00
Cersei's Death
Death markets are another popular one among punters. Will a character die? How will they die? Which character will die first? All of the questions must be answered. As we mentioned above, it's widely thought that Cersei will meet her demise in Season 8, but how will it happen? One of the more interesting plot lines of the series was the prophecy that Cersei was told when she was a child, most of which has come to pass already in the series.
- "You'll never wed the prince, you'll wed the king." Cersei was originally promised to Prince Rhaegar Targaryen but ended up marrying King Robert Baratheon.
- "You'll be queen, for a time. Then comes another, younger, more beautiful, to cast you down and take all you hold dear." At the time, Cersei believes this to be referring to Margery Tyrell, however, many think that this means Daenerys
- "The king will have 20 children and you will have three. Gold will be their crowns . . . gold their shrouds." King Robert had multiple bastards from different women while Cersei mothered just three children with her brother Jamie. 'Gold their shrouds' refers to all three dying, which has come to pass.
However, a crucial prophecy detail in the books that the show left came at the very end and read “And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you. The 'valonqar' is a High Valyrian term meaning little brother. As she has done with every other part of the prophecy, Cersei missenterprets this, thinking that it means Tyrion, but after a defining breaking up of Cersei and Jamie at the end of Season 7, we think it's more likely referring to Jamie.
Cersei Killed by Jamie Lanniester
$2.88
Clegane Bowl
Something that show lovers have been dying for since the two went toe to toe in S1E5 is finally seeing brothers Sandor and Gregor Clegane face off for the final time. Two of the best fighters in the series, they have only shared two on screen moments together, but their paths have been destined since they were children. Both originally antagonists, The Hound was in a sense, reborn, and is now a real fan favourite.
The Hound could be referring to Arya Stark in this video, who has The Mountain on her list of names. Regardless, There's no doubt that these two will come face to face at some point throughout Season 8, and we find it hard to believe that The Mountain comes out victoroius over his brother or Arya. My best bet of Game of Thrones Season 8 is that The Mountain will die before The Hound.
Mountain to die before Hound
$1.67
