How will Game of Thrones end? And how will fans handle it? [Ep #80]

After a long, cold winter, the Great War is here, and the maesters and three-eyed ravens of the internet are ready.

Since its launch in 2012, Game of Thrones has been not just the driver of HBO's success, but also the foundation of a not-so-small cottage industry devoted to textual analysis, speculation, and fierce debate. Recaps, podcasts, and fan theories have driven web traffic and made stars of fans and writers. In the vacuum of nearly two years since the finale of last season, their voices grew even more prominent. And now, as the final season kicks off on Sunday, all those years of close study and fevered speculation will feed an unprecedented public excitement ... and then some harsh realities.

Theories will be proven wrong. Favorite characters will die. Sunday nights will be far less exciting. And when the war for the Iron Throne is settled, people will have to find some new things over which to obsess.

To look back on the fervent Game of Thrones fandom and to preview the season ahead, The Fandom Files spoke with Susan Miller, the co-founder and editor of Watchers on the Wall, one of the biggest GoT sites on the internet. We also spoke with Ani Bundel, a SYFY WIRE contributor, who has obsessively read George R.R. Martin's books and ran down her top three fan theories.