Questions unanswered and mysteries unsolved after end of Game of Thrones

The conclusion of Game of Thrones has been action-packed, heartbreaking and … baffling. Here are some of the biggest plot holes and questions left unanswered after eight seasons. SPOILERS WARNING

Game of Thrones ended with many unanswered questions.

If you haven’t watched the final episode of Game of Thrones, stop reading.

Big-time spoilers follow.

How do you tie off every loose end in a long-running series built on intrigue and unexpected plot twists? And how do you do it in a satisfying way?

The answer is: you can’t.

Yes, we know who won the Iron Throne.

But here are the questions not answered, issues unresolved and confusing plot holes left wide open after eight seasons of Game of Thrones.

— Do you have the answers, or even more questions, let us know in the comment section below

WHY DIDN’T DANY ATTACK KINGS LANDING IN THE DARK?

You’ve got a war scholar in Tyrion advising on strategy. You’ve got armies skilled in fighting zombies in the dark. And one enormous ship-burning dragon. But nobody thought ‘hey let’s hit the enemy under cover of darkness’? Such a strategy would surely have been much safer for the sole surviving dragon. Who’s hitting a dragon in the pitch black? You’d take out the Iron Fleet before they even knew what hit them. Maybe even take down the Red Keep with a sleeping Cersei in it while you’re at it.

And after taking on the Army of the Dead at Winterfell, those remaining Unsullied, Northerners and Dothraki know a thing or two about conducting a battle where nobody can see what the hell is going on (including viewers).

Why not torch Euron’s fleet by night? Picture: HBO

ON POOR DRAGON BATTLE STRATEGY …

If you’ve got a couple of dragons, would you not use them to torch an army of corpses before sending your living soldiers to their deaths (and to be reborn as part of Team Dead)?

HOW IS IT THAT A SPEAR THE SIZE OF A DRAGON TOOTHPICK CAN KILL VISERION?

On the whole dragons Vs scorpions issue, how is it that Euron was able to take one down pretty easily with just a couple of pointy sticks that frankly were not that big? Surely dragons are armoured with thick and virtually impenetrable scales? They can withstand fire, can’t they?

WHY WERE WE ROBBED OF A JAIME REDEMPTION ARC?

A seven-season investment in plot and character developments seemingly setting twin-loving Jaime on the path to the light, and some sort of epic ending is heaved aside for him to go running like a sap to die with the evil queen — who was happy to just let him head north to die fighting the undead.

KNOWING THE NIGHT KING COULD RAISE THE DEAD, WHY PICK THE WINTERFELL CRYPT?

Talk about obviously bad moves. Tyrion is meant to be this big brain but he was down there with the rest, waiting to be attacked in a dungeon with no chance of escape.

HOW DID DANY GET SO CRAZY SO FAST?

One minute, she’s locking up her babies under Mereen because they toasted a shepherd child. Next, she’s levelling buildings and massacring thousands of kids (including that random mum and kid that just sprung from nowhere but were suddenly super important for about 15 minutes) in Kings Landing.

Daenerys went from zero to crazy in very short time. Picture: Supplied

WOULD ELEPHANTS HAVE SAVED KINGS LANDING?

No. And why was Cersei so obsessed with getting some?

HOW DID THE DOTHRAKI HEAR DANY’S SPEECH?

The diminutive queen is standing on the steps of Kings Landing making her ‘we will slaughter the universe — I mean, set everyone free’ speech to thousands of soldiers standing miles away … without a megaphone in sight.

WHY DID THE DRAGON PIT PARLIAMENT LISTEN TO GREY WORM?

Grey Worm is a lackey to a dead queen. And he was cutting the throats of bound men in the streets just a few weeks earlier.

Why did they let him take the moral high ground on Jon Snow?

This might be the karma bus hitting Snow — the rulers of Westeros showed him the same loyalty he showed Ghost.

WAS THAT ROBIN ARRYN IN THE DRAGON PIT PARLIAMENT?

Boy, has that kid come a long way.

AND WHO WERE THOSE OTHER DUDES?

Beats us. Assume the one in the bright yellow/orange gear was from Dorne. They only get to decide who rules after eight seasons but why spend any time introducing them … And why exactly did Sir Davos get a spot on the voting panel?

HOW DID VARYS CHANGE FROM MASTERMIND TO DUNCE?

Varys survived evil crazy kings, lazy kings, Cersei and the rest of the King’s Landing chaos by plotting and scheming, only to blunder into a fiery death.

Why would a master tactician make such a clumsy approach to Jon Snow on the beach at Dragonstone then just sit around assuming all was well?

This version of Varys bears no similarity to the one of earlier seasons. How could the Master of Whisperers not foresee the obvious way it was going to end for him?

Varys lost all his skills right when he needed them most. Picture: HBO via AP

WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED BETWEEN JON KILLING DANY, AND THE BIT WHERE THEY ELECT BRAN?

Was it just us or was there a big chunk of something missing there? What happens after Drogon takes off with his mum’s body?

And how come none of her loyal crew decided to summarily execute him like they did with the captured Lannister soldiers — surely killing the Queen is the worst crime there is?

HOW COME ARYA REVERTED TO BEING A SCARED LITTLE GIRL?

Arya is the boss. She can kill anyone, even a zombie tsar with a single blow. She can become anyone and slip into or out of any place and steal people’s faces.

But she reaches the end goal of being close enough to kill Cersei, who’s been on her kill list since she was spirited out of King’s Landing by Yoren of the Night’s Watch, and what does she do?

Backs off and goes wandering like a lost puppy through the hysterical crowds, getting crushed and falling over with no sign of that assassin training that got her to the finale in one piece.

Accomplished killer Arya reverted back to being a little girl as King’s Landing burned. Picture: Supplied/ HBO

SPEAKING OF ARYA AND THE NIGHT KING …

Seriously. How is anyone to believe she evaded thousands of the dead to climb into a spot where she could attack totally unnoticed? The weirwood under which the Night King confronted Bran appears to be in a clearing, surrounded by walkers.

Was she up the tree? If so how did she get there (presumably past Theon’s crew standing guard as well) after escaping the dead inside Winterfell? Or did she just sneak in between the masses of zombie soldiers with nobody noticing once they’d already surrounded the weirwood?

WHY DID THE LANNISTERS STOP BEING BLOND?

Every one of them sporting golden locks in Season 1. Despite existing in a world seemingly bereft of salons, Jaime turned dark haired and Tyrion a ruddy chestnut brown.

And when Cersei suffered her humiliating chop before her Walk of Atonement, it apparently turned her remaining hair sort of orange.

Jaime Lannister got noticeably less blond as GoT progressed. Picture: HBO via AP

WHY DID NOBODY RAISE THE ALARM WHEN TYRION SET JAIME FREE?

Tyrion had to pull rank on a group of guards when he arrived to set Jaime free. They trundled off grudgingly, allowing Tyrion to bid a tearful farewell to his brother then cut him loose on the proviso he flee King’s Landing with Cersei.

So once Tyrion dried his eyes and returned to his jugs of wine, did the guards just knock off for the day? No one came back to check if one of the most famous men in Westeros was still tied up?

DID GoT LIVE UP TO EXPECTATION?

KING’S LANDING BURNING: EPISODE 5 REVIEW

WHY DIDN’T JON SNOW PAT GHOST?

As far as pets go, owning a direwolf seems a pretty good deal. They will save your life if given half a chance, sleep lovingly at the foot of your bed and seem to need little upkeep.

So it was a shock when Jon Snow decided he couldn’t be stuffed to look after his loyal, battle-hardened companion Ghost. But Snow plumbed depths even a Lannister wouldn’t sink to, when he palmed Ghost off on a mate then rode off without so much as a farewell pat.

To make matters worse, Ghost was sporting a newly missing ear, having being sent into battle with the first doomed wave of Dothraki at the Battle of Winterfell.

He’s damn lucky direwolves are so forgiving. With pet owners like Jon Snow, who needs White Walkers.

AND WHAT ABOUT NYMERIA?

Remember Arya’s direwolf? The one she threw rocks at to make her run away after Cersei had Sansa’s wolf Lady killed?

She popped up briefly as Arya was heading back north, then disappeared with her wolf posse. Did she make it?

DID THE SIGNS THAT DANY WAS GOING TO GO FULL AERYS STACK UP?

Yeah she crucified a bunch of people, burned a room full of Khals alive and let her brother have his head fatally encased in gold.

But she also locked up her babies in a dungeon after they roasted a single child. Maybe the inconsistency in her character was meant to be a sign of that madness. Or just sloppy writing.

WHAT ABOUT DARIO AND MEEREEN?

Dany just up and left along with all the armies. The Golden Company got fried so they’re not there either.

Surely whatever was left of the Masters and the old regime in slaver territory would have taken this chance to reclaim their city? Surely Dario isn’t just going to hang around ruling the masses, that’s not his style.