5 Couples to Ship on Game of Thrones

The sixth season of Game of Thrones may be over, but here are the five romances I’m still hoping will pay off come season seven. Note: some show and book spoilers below, so if you’re not caught up…go get caught up and then come back and read this.
1. Brienne, Jamie…and Tormund
Brienne and Jamie’s reunion was so emotional that I found myself missing the Brienne and Jamie of seasons two through four. Brienne is possibly the most honorable person in the series and the show, with a sense of loyalty, right and wrong which surpasses that of all of the morally complicated characters we’ve come to know and love (and hate).

But then she met Jamie, and he complicated that morality; while she encouraged him to find the honor in himself. Honor he has since abandoned, since the deaths of his son, daughter, and Cersei’s arrest. Now, he cares only about their survival, and everyone else be damned.

Enter Tormund, and the most unexpected ship of the TV series (and one that isn’t in the books!) The moment Tormund saw Brienne ride into Castle Black, his eyes claimed her for his own.

It looks like Jamie and Brienne might not see one another for a long time—or ever again, after he let her leave Riverrun…but will Tormund get her to come over to his side of the wall? I kind of ship Brienne with both of them for different reasons—and isn’t it great that she, of all the women on the show, has two love interests?
2. Sansa and Littlefinger
This one might be unpopular, so let’s start with the elephant in the room. Okay, two elephants. One: he was in love with her mother. Two: he’s the one who fed her to the wolves— aka, got her to marry Ramsay Snow.

But Sansa’s connection with Littlefinger has always excited me, probably because there’s a big part of it that feels a little wrong. (Everyone loves an illicit romance.) She began her journey with him as an innocent, naïve girl, but as we have seen this season, he’s had more of an impact on her than maybe she would like to admit: he’s taught her to keep information close to the vest, and when all looked lost, he was the one she contacted (or so we think) about sending his reinforcements to help Jon take back Winterfell.

My hope for these two is that they end up on more equal footing: perhaps Littlefinger will continue to train Sansa to be like him, a spymaster, able to exploit advantageous information for her own gain. Eventually, Littlefinger will see that he has created a monster that even he can’t defeat: a copy of himself. (If she doesn’t kill him for revenge by the series’ end. I never said this romance had a happy ending.)

3. Dany and Jon
The book series is called A Song of Ice and Fire for a reason, everyone. It is well-documented that people predict Jon represents Ice and Dany represents Fire—and what will happen when these two characters eventually meet on the battlefields of the wars to come? They fall in love, I hope!

Yes, they might be (and probably are) related, but I think we’ve seen worse couples on this show. (Note that nowhere on this ship list are Jamie and Cersei.) I don’t predict this couple, or even this meeting, will necessarily happen this coming season—but at some point, ice and fire will come together and either rule the world in harmony…or destroy one another in the process.
4. Sam and Gilly
Ah, Sam and Gilly. By far the sweetest, most innocent romance of the show. Sam was forced to join the Night’s Watch when his father disowned him, and he met Gilly on a mission North of the Wall. Her father was raping and marrying his daughters—Gilly included—and worse, sacrificing any sons born to them to the White Walkers. Once again, the loopholes of honor come into play: Sam is forbidden to marry women and father children, but in Gilly, he has found someone he truly loves, and even though her son is not his by blood, they are a family.

I know I’m not the only one who cheered out loud a few weeks ago when Sam decided to go back for Gilly—I knew he wouldn’t leave her there, among people who hated him and despised Wildlings! I’m not sure what the future holds for this couple as they head to the Citadel for Sam to become a Maester, where women aren’t allowed, but I do know that Sam will uphold the most important vow of all: the one he made to Gilly, to always stay together.
5. Lyanna and Rhaegar
I saved the best for last: unless you live under a rock (or avoid spoilers like the plague) you know that something about the names Lyanna and Rhaegar always sounds fishy.

The story goes that Robert Baratheon and Lyanna Stark were in love, until Rhaegar chose Lyanna, kidnapped her, and raped her. But is it the truth? Many believe the show is about to confirm what the books have been hinting at for twenty years: that Jon Snow is not Ned Stark’s bastard, but the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryan and Lyanna Stark, and the only other living claim to the Iron Throne.

My prediction? That by season’s end we’ll learn the truth about Jon’s parentage (and the truth of their love story), which will set him on a quest to claim his birthright after years of being called a bastard.
Which characters on A Game of Thrones are you shipping hardest?
images via GIPHY