After Episode 1 Season 1, the characters of Game of Thrones were literally thrown across the world. They traveled leagues, learned how to survive, and learned a bit of magic too. With only six episodes left, everything and everyone will be converging on two places: Winterfell and King’s Landing. As a result, we will be getting characters reuniting for the first time in, in some cases, 57 episodes.

Here are a some of the character reunions we’re expecting to see in Game of Thrones season 8!

Jon Snow and Arya Stark

The friendship between Arya and Jon in Season 1 shed light on how both children were the outcasts in their family. Arya, the tomboy who bests Bran at archery; and Jon, the bastard of Ned, raised as the all but a legitimate son. Their goodbye when Arya is leaving for King’s Landing and Jon is leaving for the Night’s Watch was bittersweet.

Jon gifts Arya with her very own sword in order to continue practicing, which she names Needle – an irony because she is quite terrible at the needlework that girls and women are encouraged to do and societally pressured to be good at. And throughout the following seven seasons, Needle has been Arya’s off and on companion. In Season 6, she ceremoniously picks up Needle from its “grave” in Braavos and in doing so, she reclaims her name and place in the world: Arya Stark of Winterfell.

Throughout the seasons, Jon has not had a token of his sister with him, unlike Arya. Only memories. Even then, there is not much exposition (at least, in the show – there is more in the books) of Jon thinking about his sister until he reunites with Sansa at Castle Black. And as far as anyone other than the Hound and Brienne and Podrick are concerned, Arya is probably long dead. After all, she has been officially missing since the end of Season 1.

Sansa and Jon’s reunion was emotional and beautiful – and those two didn’t even get along when they lived at Winterfell together! Theon and Jon would have had a brawl over the ‘killing’ of Bran and Rickon but because of Theon saving Sansa from Ramsey, instead we are given a heartwarming, “I don’t like you but I won’t kill you” moment. Which means that the reunion of Arya and Jon will likely be as sweet and as heart-wrenchingly beautiful as we have all imagined it.

The new Game of Thrones promo videos this week have given us a sneak peek at just what this will look like. We are taking a guess on the location, but it looks like they’ll meet in the Godswood at Winterfell. Arya will see Jon first. She’ll approach slowly. There will be a pause where we the viewers hold our breath in anticipation. Then”¦

I predict that we will see a recreation of their goodbye hug from Season 1. The hardened badass that Arya has become will melt away as they embrace. Jon will pick her up and hold her tight, just like their goodbye. For a moment, Arya will be just a girl again, just a daughter, just a teenager. And we’ll all be sobbing happily.

[nextpage title=”Lady Mormont and the North and Jorah”]

Lyanna Mormont is too young to have been alive before Jorah was exiled by Ned Stark. However, she figuratively as well as literally represents Jorah reuniting with his family. His father Jeor – the former commander of the Night’s Watch – is dead as are other members of his immediate family. Lyanna is THE Mormont now. She runs Bear Island. She is a tiny powerful force to be reckoned with. It will be very interesting to see how she responds to Jorah.

Jorah, on the other hand, I don’t think will be as taken aback by her as he could be, based on the fact that Lyanna is a strong-willed young woman in a position of power who speaks her mind. Who has Jorah been serving for the last seven seasons? A young woman in a position of power who speaks her mind. I’m sure an iconic line or two will be dropped here.

[nextpage title=”Jon Snow and Bran Stark”]

I do not think that Bran and Jon’s reunion will be in any way as emotional or as sweet as Arya and Jon’s for a couple of reasons. First, Jon and Bran never had the connection that Arya and he did. Jon was the older brother who taught, guided, and picked on Bran. Second, Bran is no longer well, Bran. He’s the Three-Eyed Raven; a seemingly emotionless shell of who he once was. Even if Jon does get emotional, Bran won’t. Just like he didn’t with Sansa and Arya.

However, I do think Jon’s heart will stop for a second because even though Sam told Jon that Bran is alive, he hasn’t seen him in so long that their goodbye was Jon talking to Bran’s comatose body (which isn’t too much further of a stretch from the state Bran is currently in). I think that their reunion will be one sided like it was between Bran and his sisters. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Bran addresses him as Aegon, not Jon. The truth about Jon’s parentage will happen very early on in the season, probably even in episode 1.

[nextpage title=”Sansa Stark and Tyrion Lannister”]

Ah, what a sensitive pairing for fans. I am purely speaking in show terms here and not at all referencing actions and scenes in the books, to be sure, but that said, I have many mixed feelings about Lord Tyrion and his former wife.

To start, let’s recap just a little bit: The last time Tyrion and Sansa saw each other was at Joffrey and Margery’s wedding feast extravaganza. Sansa had asked Tyrion if they could go yet. He told her in just a minute they could. Had they left when Sansa wanted to, Tyrion likely would not have been as convincingly framed for Joffrey’s murder. At the same time, Sir Dontos/Littlefinger might not have been able to get Sansa out of King’s Landing as cleanly. But as it stands, as Joffrey was dying, pointing to his uncle to implicate him in the murder, Sansa was being rushed out of the city safely away from the Lannisters.

In the sight of the Gods and Men, they were legally married. However, the marriage was never consummated so it was easier to wash the marriage off as never having happened. When Sansa wed Ramsey Bolton, that marriage was consummated – even if it was against Sansa’s will. In my view – and Westerosi Lawyers please correct me if I am wrong – the consummation of the marriage of Sansa and Ramsey nullifies and overrides the unconsummated marriage with Tyrion.

I believe that seeing and meeting Tyrion again will bring up mixed feelings from Sansa. After all, her time in King’s Landing was very traumatic. But Tyrion really had no part in that trauma. He didn’t plan to cut off her father’s head. He didn’t tell the Kingsguard to rip off her clothes and beat her in front of the court – in this instance it was Tyrion who made the Kingsguard stop before the beating got worse! As for their marriage, Tyrion was not Sansa’s dream husband. Compared to her most recent one though, he was the best. And it is in this light, this realization that Tyrion could have forced her to consummate the marriage on their wedding night or any other time and that he could have been physically cruel like Ramsey was, that Sansa will view Tyrion.

There will be hesitation, reservation, and caution – after all he is a Lannister and he is also Hand to Daenerys, who is not an invading force but not necessarily a welcome presence either – in how Sansa reacts to encountering Tyrion again. But I also think there will be a small sense of gratitude for treating her as well as he did. Tyrion on the other hand will make very accurate yet grand statements about Lady Sansa. How well she looks; how nice it must be to be back at home – since it’s all she’d wanted since her father was beheaded. He may even make a gesture or statement of agreeing to put their marriage behind them. Ever the eloquent politician he will be, for sure.

If we had more than six episodes left in the series – even if we had a full ten – I would predict and set my heart behind in full confidence that Tyrion would switch sides to advise Sansa, abandoning Daenerys. But, as it stands with six episodes remaining, I do not think that will happen. I do think that Tyrion and Sansa might treat with one another. They will discuss and doing sideroom deals as Hand of the Queen and”¦ Righthand Woman to the King in the North? (What would her official title be? Lady of Winterfell and Advisor to the King?)

After all, we know Tyrion has some reservations about Jon and Dany hooking up on the boat and Sansa had reservations about Jon going to treat with Dany in the first place (I doubt she will be happy about him ‘bending’ the knee let alone sleeping with her). They will have much to talk about to keep their respective rulers going on the right path.

[nextpage title=”Arya Stark and Gendry”]

We have already received the Arya/Hot Pie reunion last season – it was beautiful and awkward and oh so cute. The reunion with Gendry won’t be so cute or beautiful, but will almost certainly be awkward. The last time they saw each other, Gendry was being kidnapped by Melisandre and Stannis’ men while Arya was being held for ransom by the Brotherhood Without Banners.

I don’t think there will be any hugs or tears. Just some sort of head nod, a “hey” and a “wassup”. OR Gendry will see Arya training with Brienne and he’ll be floored, eyes popping out of his head in amazement. I think they will pick up their friendship and playful banter at one another as Gendry goes to work as the new head of Smith of Winterfell. In this capacity he’ll be serving his Lady Sansa and because Arya is not a Lady.

[nextpage title=”Sansa Stark and Sandor “]

Just as I did with Sansa and Tyrion’s reunion, let me preface this with stating that I am pulling my speculations and hopes purely from the HBO show and not from A Song of Ice and Fire. Great, now that we have that out of the way let’s discuss Sansa Stark, Lady of Winterfell and Sandor Clegane, the Hound.

I think Sansa’s reaction to seeing the Hound will be very neutral. I don’t think he will scare her like he did when she was young and naive in King’s Landing. But she will remember the kindness he gave to her, specifically thinking about protecting her from Joffrey and saving her from the mob just in the nick of time. I also think that she will see the change in him that we saw when he buried the farmer and his daughter.

I am getting the feeling (I don’t know where from) that Sandor will see Sansa as the one to ultimately give him forgiveness. We know that he’s not religious but we also know that they had a connection. She was the good, innocent thing in his life and I think that he will seek that out again by trying to protect her. Perhaps he will die for her?

[nextpage title=”Arya Stark, Melisandre, and Gendry”]

Well, this will be one very awkward gathering, won’t it? Who’s going to try and attack Melisandre first: Arya or Gendry? My money is on Arya going in for the kill but Gendry jumping in and holding her back – he is still taller, larger, and stronger than her. However, she’s quicker. Although, the more I think about it the more comical it is and the less likely it will actually be in the show.

[nextpage title=”Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister”]

After the bathhouse scene, who wouldn’t want a reunion between these two strong characters?! Rumour has it that Brienne has more screen time than ever this season. This is great news. If I had to guess she’ll for sure do more training/sparring with Arya and she’ll be by Sansa’s side at almost every other moment. Now that she has entered into Sansa’s service, she die trying to protect her. Since we know that Jamie is heading north now, and because of the promo photos and videos we know he does reach the North (unconfirmed that it is, in fact, in Winterfell, though I suspect it is), he and Brienne will reunite again.

I’m not a Braime shipper in the sense of hooking up. I do however love their friendship and dynamic and cannot wait for them to get back to their witty banter again. Besides, Jaime backslid character-wise a ton without having Brienne as his moral compass. I also have zero predictions on how or what their initial reunion will be like other than Jaime congratulating Brienne on finding Sansa and Brienne trying unsuccessfully to give Oathkeeper back to Jaime.

[nextpage title=”Bran and Theon”]

Bran and Theon’s reunion is going to cause setbacks for Theon. He’s come a long way in his story. From Theon Greyjoy, ward of Winterfell and advisor to King in the North, Robb Stark, to the awkward Prince Theon of the Iron Islands and Conquerer of Winterfell. Then he was captured and tortured and became Reek, the plaything of Ramsey Snolton. Slowly, he regained his Theon-ness as he watched Ramsey turn his wrath on Sansa and in turn helped her escape. He made his way back to the Iron Islands and then across the world with his sister Yara. After being unable to save Yara, Theon comes face to face with Jon on Dragonstone.

After arriving back at Winterfell, I think Theon is going to feel extremely guilty when he sees Bran. Bran will say something like, ‘what’s done is done’ and pretty much forget the whole thing – because I think forgiveness is a lot to ask, even if you are the Three-Eyed Raven. From here, Theon is going to become the attendant to Bran, like Osha and Meera were. It will be his way of repenting for betraying Robb, sacking Winterfell, killing the two farm boys, and ultimately getting Winterfell burned to the ground.

[nextpage title=”Grey Worm and Missandei”]

The last night these two lovebirds saw each other they were”¦ well, loving on each other. Who doesn’t love a cute story like theirs? Here’s to hoping they actually do see each other again. The last time we saw Grey Worm he was at Casterly Rock and the last time we saw Missandei she is with Daenerys at Winterfell. I don’t have much to say prediction wise other than hoping to the Old Gods and the New that they get to see each other again – and not when one or the other is dying or dead. They are my feel-good story so I will continue to root for them and hope that they break the wheel of good relationships ending with the death of one of the partners. They’ve come too far and deserve better.

[nextpage title=”Sansa and Cersei”]

I do not know how, I do not know when, and I do not know under what circumstances it will happen, but I figure that Sansa and Cersei will have to at some point reunite. And when it does happen, I can’t help but imagine Sansa feeling hatred for all that Cersei did to her, and for what Joffrey did too. At the same time feeling a little twinge of gratitude, because Cersei taught Sansa a lot that has kept her alive and thriving after all these years and seasons. On the other hand, Cersei, I presume will still hate Sansa with a deep, burning passion and want her dead. My only prediction is that Cersei dies and Sansa does in fact become the younger, more beautiful Queen to overthrow Cersei like Maggy the Frog prophesied.

Other Reunions

These are the major players and the ones that I think will have the most impact on the show or they’ll have the most impact on the fandom. I’m sure there will be others that I have forgotten about. The beautiful thing about Game of Thrones is all of the characters and how they fit together. The result is a spiders web – or a giant pile of knotted yarn – that can quickly spiral out of control. And I can’t get enough. Really, I could keep going with the speculation and the predictions but I had to cut myself off at some point. Besides, I was quickly reaching the point of just talking in circles of reunions.

What are your thoughts? Did I get all the major reunions? Is there a reunion that you think should be on the list?