Did Game of Thrones secretly hint who wins the Iron Throne way back in season one?

The Night King, who was originally one of the First Men, was created by the Children of the Forest to protect them against mankind – but it all went horribly wrong. Thankfully, Arya Stark saved the day and got him in the heart with her Valyrian steel dagger, Catspaw. Many viewers were convinced he'd make a return somehow, but after the finale we know he's gone for good… Or is he?

After the events of the last eight seasons, it's something of a miracle that Tyrion Lannister has managed to stay alive. He always had the gift of the gab, and he's been able to talk himself out of being killed a surprising amount of times. He survived playing the Game of Thrones, and ended up as Hand to the King – Bran Stark.

Ahh, Jaime Lannister. He thought he could quit his sister/lover Cersei, but after spending the night with Brienne of Tarth – who had been struggling with her feelings for him since she met him back in season one. Although it looked like he might stay and choose to be with Brienne, Jaime couldn't ignore his loyalty to his sister/lover, and made his way back down to King's Landing, surviving a duel with Euron Greyjoy and reuniting with Cersei at the last moment, only for the pair to die in each others' arms after Daenerys burned down the city.

She was probably the most hated character on the show, but no-one can deny that they respected Cersei Lannister. She spent most of the eighth season standing at the window of the Red Keep and drinking wine (despite being supposedly pregnant), but when Daenerys ignored the bells of surrender and burned down King's Landing, Cersei and Jaime couldn't find a way out of the dungeons underneath the castle and died together.

Daenerys Targaryen made it all the way to the final ever episode of Game of Thrones before she was murdered. It was inevitable, wasn't it? After burning King's Landing and all its inhabitants, Dany seemingly went full Mad Queen and had to be stopped, especially after declaring war on pretty much the entire world. After Jon Snow – her nephew/lover – begged her to show mercy, she wasn't having it, and he stabbed her in the heart.

Even though Jon Snow AKA Aegon Targaryen did actually die from stab wounds in the season five finale, he was brought back to life by the witch Melisandre, and did indeed survive the Game of Thrones – despite being Dany's biggest threat to the throne. Jon was thrown in jail by the Unsullied Army after killing Dany, but when his brother/cousin Bran was made King of Westeros, he was sent to Castle Black to be on the Night's Watch again.

Sansa Stark also made it through all eight seasons with her head in tact. She always dreamed of being Queen as a young girl, and she got her wish – after Bran was made King, she announced that the North would once again become its own state, and she was crowned Queen of the North on her return to Winterfell.

Arya Stark survived a whole lot, not only in the last season, but in the whole show. Although we sadly didn't see any more of her Faceless Man magic, she did make it through to the end, and set sail on an adventure to discover whatever is "west of Westeros".

Davos Seaworth, the Onion Knight, repeatedly told us he wasn't a great swordsman, but he made it through plenty of battles with his life and has been a good and loyal servant to the realm.

Poor Missandei was captured just at the moment where it looked like she and her love, Grey Worm, might just survive and sail off into the sunset together. After being taken hostage by Euron Greyjoy and brought to Cersei Lannister, Dany sent Tyrion to try and plead for Missandei's life – but it was to no avail, and Cersei ordered The Mountain to chop her head off. Which he did. Sob.

Theon Greyjoy had one of the best redemption character arcs in the history of television. After betraying the Starks and doing some other dodgy things, he was tortured by Ramsey Bolton and lost his mind. He then helped Sansa Stark to escape him at great risk to himself amongst other heroic acts, and finally lost his life to the Night King whilst trying to defend Bran Stark.

Many of us started out hating the strange witch Melisandre, but she began to turn it around for herself when she brought Jon Snow back to life with the help of The Lord of Light in season six. After helping defeat the White Walkers and their army of wights, Melisandre took her magic necklace off and walked into the snow to die.

Samwell Tarly may have had a pretty traumatic time over the last eight seasons, but in the end he survived, got the girl (Gilly) who was also pregnant with his baby, and was also appointed Grand Maester in Bran's Small Council. Not bad, eh?

Oh, Bran Stark AKA the Three Eyed Raven is very much alive. Not only that, but he was also declared King of Westeros by the remaining Lords and Ladies of the kingdom. Yes, he's been given a not-very-nice name – Bran the Broken – but still, he made it. Turns out he wasn't secretly the Night King after all, despite a lot of fan theories, but just the King.

Thank GOODNESS that Brienne of Tarth made it through the Game of Thrones. After surviving all the battles she took part in, and also surviving having her heart broken by Jaime Lannister, Brienne made it onto Bran's small council, and also honoured Jaime by writing up all of his achievements in the big book of records.

It was surely inevitable that the Master of Whisperers, Lord Varys, wouldn't survive the eighth season. Daenerys discovered that Varys wasn't exactly loyal to her anymore – he was possibly poisoning her and also plotting to get Jon on the throne instead, so she had her dragon burn him where he stood.

The Hound may have been a particularly grumpy character, but his heart was in the right place and the love he had for Arya redeemed him for sure. But he couldn't resist trying to kill his brother, The Mountain, when King's Landing was burning and the Red Keep was crumbling down. Thankfully, he was able to finish him off – but only by also sacrificing himself. They both ended up in the fire.

The Mountain had pretty much been dead from season four. After his duel with Oberyn Martell, Cersei's Hand Qyburn brought him back to life… Kind of. He was a kind of zombie who was seemingly unable to speak or make any decisions for himself, but he was finished off once and for all by his younger brother.

Probably the least surprising survival – Bronn of the Blackwater not only survived plenty of battles, but he was also made Master of Coins on Bran's small council.

Tormund Giantsbane may not have been able to share the love he had for Brienne of Tarth, but he did survive the show. After taking his fellow Wildlings – and Ghost the direwolf – back up to Castle Black, he was reunited with his pal Jon after he was banished there.

Despite being the bastard son of Robert Baratheon, Gendry actually survived the whole show. He was even legitimised by Daenerys and given a posh title!

Grey Worm may have survived the show, but without the love of his life Missandei, it really feels like a hollow victory. However, he did set sail for Naath to fulfill her wish of once again seeing the beaches in her home country.

Ser Jorah Mormont laid down his life for Daenerys Targaryen, and saved her from wights during the Battle of Winterfell. Although he was attacked by the creatures, he managed to stay conscious long enough to protect Dany, before finally dying once he knew she was safe.

One of the most annoying GOT characters, Euron Greyjoy FINALLY died after duelling with Jaime Lannister. Even though he got a few stabs in, meaning that Jaime was never going to live very long after their confrontation, Jaime did get the last swing in and finished Euron off for good before going to find Cersei.

Qyburn was the eerily softly-spoken Hand of Cersei who was also responsible for creating the monster that was The Mountain. That monster finally killed him in episode five after refusing to follow his orders.

Beric Dondarrion had been brought back to life multiple times by the Lord of Light for some unknown purpose – which turned out to be protecting Arya Stark long enough for her to go kill the Night King. He eventually succumbed to the wights after ensuring she was on the way to the forest.

Yara Greyjoy may have been taken prisoner by her own uncle Euron, but she survived the rest of the season and was involved in the decision to make Bran the King.

Samwell and Jon's pal from the Night's Watch Eddison Tollett made it all the way through the show until he got to the Battle of Winterfell. After trying to get Sam to get back up and fight, he ended up sacrificing himself so that Sam might live.

The lovely and wonderful Podrick Payne survived it all after being taken under Brienne of Tarth's wing. She taught him everything he knows, and he was present in the final scene to help take Bran away from the room.

One of the bravest characters despite being about 12-years-old, little Lyanna Mormont was killed by a wight troll in the Battle of Winterfell – but she got her own back on him before he could completely squeeze the life out of her, stabbing him in the eye with a shard of Dragonglass.

The Night King, who was originally one of the First Men, was created by the Children of the Forest to protect them against mankind – but it all went horribly wrong. Thankfully, Arya Stark saved the day and got him in the heart with her Valyrian steel dagger, Catspaw. Many viewers were convinced he'd make a return somehow, but after the finale we know he's gone for good… Or is he?