One thing we can all agree on when it comes to the Game of Thrones finale / ending is that it was unbelievably disappointing. Fans of the series’ political intrigue were left with a show that barely resembled its earlier seasons, while Dany stans had to endure looking at their favourite character suddenly becoming a caricature of herself.

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Game of Thrones’ disappointing final season has become the stuff of TV legends since it aired a few years back — a show so mishandled that it lost a good chunk of its fan following for years. It would take until this year’s House of the Dragon for the franchise to recover some goodwill among fans — at least, enough for most of them to start talking about Game of Thrones again.

This all leads us to the matter of the exciting time before the release of the show’s eighth season. It was a Wild West of rumours and leaks, and no one could be sure of what was true and what was just another troll. However, some of the best leaks of this era came with pictures — some of them of scenes that were clearly in the post-production stages. That’s why we know that Game of Thrones’ original ending would have been much different from the one we got.

Two key characters had a significant shift in their storylines that we know: Cersei Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen. For the longest time, fans theorized that Cersei’s most recent pregnancy would end in disaster. While she did die as a pregnant woman in the show, the original idea was much darker.

Lots of leaks from the time show Cersei Lannister having a miscarriage, probably further affecting her mental state in the last couple of episodes. At the very least, this miscarriage would have had a severe impact on her and Jaime’s relationship, and it would also be a reminder of the prophecy she received as a young girl.

While Cersei’s miscarriage would have been a shocking moment for the ending of the final season of Game of Thrones, there’s another character whose pregnancy would have shifted the balance of power for Westeros completely. We are talking of none other than Daenerys Targaryen.

Surprisingly enough, there are more pictures leaked online of a “pregnant Daenerys” than there are of the Cersei miscarriage scene — a scene which, according to Lena Headey, was actually filmed.

Fans of the show would notice that Dany being pregnant is kind of a big deal for the lore of the show. Not only is Dany unable to bear children, but it would also mean that she and Jon would have produced the ultimate Targaryen heir — a son of ice and fire, if you will. Some other leaks indicate that this child would have been the main character of the show, eventually.

Some other eagle-eyed fans have also noticed that, in some season 8 scenes, actress Emilia Clarke seems to be wearing a bit of padding under her clothes — a possible indicator that the whole “pregnant Dany” storyline could have been dropped late into production.

As for why it was removed from the show, it might have been possible that the showrunners thought that having a pregnant fascist as the show’s final villain would have been a bit overboard, even by Game of Thrones standards.

However, I think we can all agree that Jon and Dany having a child together would have been the perfect ending for Game of Thrones. Let’s just ignore the whole “aunt/nephew” incest part — that is pretty much a given for Targaryens, anyway.