10 Huge Game of Thrones Subplots Showrunners 'Kinda Forgot About'

10. The Valonqar Prophecy Never Went Anywhere

For Cersei Lannister, the Valonqar prophecy was a big deal. Years ago, a witch called Maggy the Frog predicted that Cersei’s three golden-haired children would die, and then she’d die from a “valonqar” who’d “choke the life from her.” That never happened, did it? Cersei died under the debris of the Red Keep, and no “little brother” choked her to death. What was the point of that?

9. The Entire Essos Storyline Went Out of the Window

Daenerys Targaryen spent the vast majority of the show establishing and ruling her domain in Essos, and before she left for Westeros, she appointed her lover and advisor Daario Naharis to rule in her stead. Since then, we’ve never heard from Daario — or from Essos as a whole, for that matter. Daenerys’s seasons-long arc just vanished without a trace, leaving nothing behind.

8. The Faceless Men in Westeros Didn’t Make Any Sense

The very name of The Faceless Men inspires fear in everyone across Essos, but they’re a lot less known in Westeros. Jaqen’s presence there itself was a mystery: The Faceless Men’s services cost a lot, and Westeros is a long way from Braavos. Someone powerful must have hired him for a very sensitive murder… But we never heard about anything like that. Why did he arrive?

7. Arya’s House of Black and White Plot Was Pointless

Speaking of The Faceless Men, we spent a lot of time in the House of Black and White with Arya Stark. Like, seriously. It was the most boring and needlessly long subplot in Game of Thrones, and how did it pay off? Well, Arya killed Walder Frey. Cool. Wasn’t she supposed to employ her face-swapping badass-assassin abilities in any truly meaningful way? Or why did D&D waste our time?

6. High Sparrow’s Faith Militant Simply Vanished

During his rule, the High Sparrow was immensely powerful. He single-handedly restored Faith Militant and installed a new order. Hundreds if not thousands of fanatics served him — and then, once Cersei blew up the Great Sept of Baelor, they simply… Disappeared without a trace? Large fanatical militant orders don’t do that! But we never learned what happened to the remains of Faith Militant.

5. Dorne Kind of Forgot It Even Existed, Somehow

We won’t address how severely Game of Thrones butchered George Martin ’s Dornish storyline; not this time. But even what we had went absolutely nowhere! The Sand Snakes betrayed Doran Martell and took power — only to then do nothing for seasons. Dorne was supposed to become Daenerys’s ally, and that also didn’t happen. Dorne kind of forgot it existed, it appears.

4. White Walkers’ Spiral Symbols Meant Nothing

For seasons, we’ve been seeing mysterious spiral symbols appear in the Far North. The White Walkers took time and effort to make them out of their victims’ bodies, and they were clearly a big deal. We’d go as far as to name those spirals among the biggest Game of Thrones mysteries — but sadly, they were never addressed. Whatever they were meant for, we didn’t learn it.

3. Bran Was the Three-Eyed Raven on Odd Days

Brandon Stark explicitly stated he wasn’t Brandon Stark anymore several times. He claimed that after becoming the Three-Eyed Raven, he couldn’t hold any titles or rule any lands; he had other, far more important responsibilities. Yet in the finale, he accepted the title of the King as Bran the Broken and acted like that had always been his plan. Dark Bran theory, anyone?

2. Jon Snow’s Heritage Wasn’t a Big Deal, Apparently

Jon Snow was, in fact, Aegon Targaryen… Never mind his dad Rhaegar naming both his kids Aegon, for some ungodly reason, though that also doesn’t make sense. The thing is, Ned Stark died to protect Jon’s secret identity, and everyone acted like it was a big deal — because it must have been. But then everyone and their family dogs learned about it… And exactly nothing happened.

1. The Prince That Was Promised Never Arrived

Out of all these abandoned plots, the Azor Ahai prophecy is perhaps the most problematic. You can’t set up such a massive overarching plot about The Prince That Was Promised, make fans guess and speculate about who that would be, and then just drop it and act like it never existed! Well, you can, apparently. It’s just a really stupid thing to “kind of forget” about, isn’t it?