The Game of Thrones final season premiere is just days away, and many fans are still speculating how the series will end. Instead of giving straight-out theories, I’ve listed here the scenarios I would like to see happen—my ideas for an ideal close to the Song of Ice and Fire.

Hope #1: Bran and Sam will discover who the Night King is and how to defeat him. Is this likely to happen? We may or may not learn who the Night King is (the writers may save that for the prequel series), but I think they will figure out how to defeat him.

Hope #2: The living will win the war against the White Walkers and the dead once and for all so that “the Others” can never return. Will the living prevail? I think so. Will it be once and for all? That I’m not as confident about.

Hope #3: The “bad guys” we love to hate will be defeated and killed, especially the sociopath Cersei and the psychopath Euron. I think this is likely for Cersei, but Euron’s story arc is complicated. From the books, including a pre-released chapter from the unpublished Winds of Winter, it’s clear that he is as evil as a person can get, and there have been strong hints that he may have a greater part to play in Season Eight even than anticipated. We certainly don’t want him taking over the world, as he so obviously plans to do. I’d also like to see the Mountain get what’s coming to him at the hands of his brother, the Hound. And Qyburn needs to pay for his misdeeds too.

Hope #4: All our favorite “good” guys will live and take part in rebuilding Westeros. For me, that includes Jaime and the Hound as well as Jon, Dany, Tyrion, Bran, Sam, Gilly & Little Sam, Sansa, Arya, Ser Jorah, Brienne, Beric, Edd, Ser Davos, Varys, Bronn, Theon, Yara/Asha, Tormund, Grey Worm, Missandei, Podrick, Gendry, and Ghost … whom have I forgotten? What are the chances that they’ll all survive? Quite small. We will lose some of them, and my guess is that we’ll lose a majority of them, with only a small remnant left to continue on.

Hope #5: Jon and Dany will marry, have children, and rule Westeros together. Unfortunately, I think this is the hope that has the least chance of coming true, as George R. R. Martin has indicated that the ending will be “bittersweet.” Is Dany already pregnant? Will she have their child and then die? And Jon too, so that someone else will rule until that child comes of age and takes the throne?

Hope #6: What Dany meant by wanting to “break the wheel” is instituting some kind of democratic or representative government. It’s a nice dream. There are examples (in the GOT world) of leaders being chosen by majority, such as the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, who is chosen by vote, or even the King of the Iron Islands, who was chosen by the consensus of its Lords. The history of Valyria indicates that the Valyrians did not have kings but were ruled by all landholders who elected their leaders for short periods of time. Remember that the Targaryens are from old Valyria. Is democracy too drastic a change for the people of Westeros? What other way could the wheel be broken? Certainly by instituting laws that protect the rights of the people, especially children, who have experienced exceptional brutality in this series.

Hope #7: All of the story lines will be wrapped up and we’ll have answers to all the questions that have been burning inside us. I think there’s some hope that this will happen, as Martin has said it would.

The next post will feature quotes about the history and legends of Westeros that may help when trying to figure out what we’ll see in the upcoming final season of Game of Thrones.