Pretty much every storyline in the Game of Thrones season 5 finale ended on a cliffhanger. Here are our theories on the future of Jon Snow, Arya Stark, and the tidal wave of death coming to Westeros in season 6.

What the heck is going to happen at the Wall?

By every appearance, Jon Snow met his sudden and unceremonious end on the Game of Thrones season 5 finale – and the cast and crew are all singing the same tune: Yes, Jon is totally dead.

Given the unanimity of this chorus, a better question might be whether or not Jon will stay dead. The answer to this is rather less straightforward. While Kit Harington insists that he isn’t going to be on Game of Thrones next season, we just can’t omit the possibility entirely.

The strongest point against Jon’s staying dead is Melisandre’s very recent arrival at the Wall. Loathe the Red Priestess though we do, her religion has reliably revived the dead before – specifically, Lord Beric Dondarrion at the hands of Thoros of Myr. And with Jon dead (and unable to provide any shadow-baby action) it’s hard to imagine what other purpose Melisandre might serve at the Wall. Fighting off White Walkers all by herself seems rather unlikely – though we’d kind of like to see her try.

Of course, there is still plenty of drama at the Wall – are hostilities imminent between the Night’s Watch and the wildling refugees? Will the Watch itself be violently divided? What is poor Davos going to do? But with Sam in the south, it’s hard to imagine Game of Thrones spending as much time at the edge of civilization as viewers are used to.

(Because seriously, who wants to watch Alliser Thorne preen his stupid feathers for eight episodes?)

But if Game of Thrones season 5 taught us anything, it’s that the White Walkers are coming – and fast. And unless the entirety of Team Daenerys extricates themselves imminently from Meereen and makes straight for the Wall, we just can’t shake the feeling that the Night’s Watch will need someone a little bit closer to home.

At least, we really, really hope so.

What will Dany do amongst the Dothraki?

Seeing the Dothraki thunder back into Dany’s life (literally) was a shock for both the former Khaleesi and many Game of Thrones fans. Once so integral to her story, the Dothraki have been all but forgotten in recent seasons – but now both Dany and the viewers are left on uncertain footing with the horse lords.

Assuming that Dany isn’t just summarily slaughtered by the Dothraki, it’s hard to speculate definitively on what the khalasar might have planned for her. One possibility is that Dany will be returned to the Dosh Khaleen, where the wives of dead khals are meant to live out their days; it’s also possible that the Dothraki have more brutal plans for Dany.

Dany’s own strength is another wildcard here. Though she is obviously at a disadvantage amongst hundreds of Dothraki, Dany has led a khalasar before. With the eventual leverage of a massive, fire-breathing dragon, it’s possible that the Dany might just return to Meereen stronger than when she left it.

Which will be good, because we have a feeling that Tyrion, Missandei, and Grey Worm will need all the reinforcements they can get.

The swing and the leap

The Game of Thrones season 5 finale cut dramatically away from two potentially/probably fatal shots – Brienne’s killing blow against Stannis Baratheon, and Sansa and Reek’s leap from the super high walls of Winterfell. The fates of these three characters (four, if you count Brienne) remain completely up-in-the-air (no pun intended) but we cling to shreds of hope that their stories aren’t finished yet.

Assuming that Sansa and Reek survive their ridiculous jump into the snow-drifts around Winterfell, Ramsay’s two runaways will not have an easy road away from their tormentor. Hopefully they can run after that landing, because the Bastard of Bolton is certain to be in hot pursuit of his playthings. Ramsay will also be chasing two emotionally and physically exhausted people through a landscape of corpses, so the odds are most definitely in his favor.

Sansa and Reek’s best hope for survival is clearly with Brienne – assuming they manage to collide with her before Ramsay does.

But Brienne, as we know, might be a little bit busy. Stannis Baratheon’s life currently hangs in the balance between Brienne’s aim and her conviction. Episode director David Nutter opines that Brienne goes through with her execution of Stannis. The showrunners, Nutter says, “felt it best not to be gratuitous with that.”

(Yeah, we wouldn’t want to be “gratuitous” on Game of Thrones, would we?)

In spite of Nutter’s comments, we can really see this situation going both ways. While we wouldn’t be surprised to see Brienne wiping blood off of Oathkeeper when season 6 roles around, we also think that this would be an easy way out for Stannis – and that seeing the single-minded would-be king forced to carry on would be more dramatically interesting than his death.

Is Arya really blind?

Arya’s story has been packed with mystical twists this season, but watching her vision inexplicably fade in the Game of Thrones season 5 finale left our jaws on the floor.

All we really know so far is that Arya’s blindness was engineered – probably as a punishment – by the Faceless Men. But is this permanent? Has the death cult cast Arya out, dooming her to life as a blind woman in Braavos? Or do they have some other purpose in mind?

It’s worth noting that Jaqen H’ghar alluded to the loss of senses when he first brought Arya into the vault of faces. “Is a girl ready?” To give up her ears, her nose, her tongue?” he asked. “Her hopes and dreams, her loves and hates?”

Arya’s actions in “Mother’s Mercy” make it clear that she was not ready. But perhaps Jaqen has decided to take the choice away from Arya – perhaps removing her sight and training her through deprivation is part of the plan to turn her into the ideal “No One” of the Faceless Men.

…or it will just turn her into Daredevil, but that’s entertaining too.

Has war begun between Dorne and the Lannisters?

The answer to this question, at least, seems to be a definitive “Yes.” Regardless of whether or not Myrcella’s death is pinned on Ellaria (which we really hope it is) it won’t take a genius to figure out that the princess didn’t die of natural causes.

“It’s an act of war by the person who perpetrated it,” showrunner Dan Weiss says. “But I don’t think Cersei is going to be particularly interested in whose fault it was that this happened to her daughter.”

Now, the war might not be imminent. Jaime might be delayed by returning to Dorne, and – assuming he wasn’t involved in this plot – Doran Martell might take drastic measures to prevent hostilities. But once the news of Myrcella’s death gets back to Kings Landing… well, we’d expect Cersei to start a war even if her daughter had died in a genuine accident. Now that Oberyn’s promise that they “don’t hurt little girls in Dorne” has been proven utterly false, Cersei will be out for blood – and she’ll probably get it.

In other words, if we were Trystane Martell, we’d abandon ship and start swimming back to Dorne as soon as possible.

What are your theories in the wake of the ‘Game of Thrones’ season 5 finale?