Game of Thrones has just two seasons left before the TV adaptation ends, and at this point, the only question more pressing than "who will ascend the Iron Throne?" and "how many Starks will die?" is which direwolves are still alive on Game of Thrones? Fans have come a long way from the six pups Ned Stark discovered way back in Season 1 and gifted to all his children. The beasts were thought to be mythical, or else largely extinct with the exception of a few stragglers north of the Wall. But with winter coming and all, Ned happened upon a dead female direwolf while hunting in the woods with his sons, and discovered that she had just given birth to six puppies.
Each of them was then adopted by one Stark child: Sansa named hers Lady, Robb had Grey Wind, Rickon had Shaggydog, Bran had Summer, Arya had Nymeria, and Jon had Ghost, the albino runt of the litter. Direwolves are fiercely loyal and protective of their masters, which is convenient since the Stark children spend most of the series under attack by various forces. Ghost even protected Jon's friends Samwell Tarly and Gilly at the Wall. Unfortunately, all of the direwolves are now dead, with the exception of Ghost and Nymeria.
Sansa's direwolf Lady was killed in Season 1 by Ned as punishment after Arya's wolf Nymeria bit Joffrey. (Lady took the blame by default after Arya told Nymeria to run away.) Robert Baratheon ordered Lady to be killed, per Cersei's suggestion that it was the proper way to handle the situation, though Ned took no pleasure in doing it. Grey Wind died at the Red Wedding with Robb — Walder Frey's men sewed his head onto Robb's body in celebration. Shaggydog and Rickon were taken in by the Umbers at the beginning of Season 6, but the Umbers eventually formed an alliance with Ramsay Bolton, which resulted in both Shaggydog and Rickon's death. Summer was killed by wights while trying to protect Bran after he was attacked beyond the Wall, buying him time to escape. (He's not the only one who died in that attack — it was also Hodor's memorable "hold the door" episode.)
That leaves Ghost and Nymeria still alive, although only Ghost and Jon remain together. Ghost followed him to the Wall and, despite some separations, they've always returned to one another. Ghost is currently with Jon in Winterfell, where the Stark bastard has been named King of the North. Nymeria and Arya were separated early on. As I mentioned earlier, she protected Arya by attacking Joffrey once when he was antagonizing her, and, fearing for Nymeria's life, Arya chased her off. She was last seen in the Riverlands, and as far as we know, she's still roaming Westeros. Nymeria's potential return is one of the things fans are looking forward to most this season.
Tune in to see if she finds her way back when Game of Thrones premieres on July 16.
