The most burning 'Game of Thrones' question: Where the eff is Gendry?

Everyone knows that Game of Thrones is the show where your faves go to die, but what do you do when they just ... leave?

Back in Season 1, Game of Thrones introduced us to a pivotal character (at the time): Robert Baratheon's bastard, Gendry. As Ned Stark followed the path laid out by his predecessor Jon Arryn, he unraveled the legitimacy of Joffrey's claim to the throne and discovered that Robert had legitimate children scattered around the kingdoms.

Gendry was shipped away from King's Landing for his own safety -- along with Arya in disguise -- and set upon a journey that would include the Brotherhood without Banners, the Faceless Men, and a charged sexual encounter involving leeches and black magic. We last saw him sailing away from his problems ... and we haven't seen him since.

So, first of all, where is Gendry?

He hasn't washed ashore yet, but in all likelihood he's coming back -- it's not a matter of if, but when. Will he have a massive beard? Will he be delirious from solitude? Has he experienced adventure of Life of Pi proportions?

One theory is that Gendry could be with the Golden Company, a powerful group of sellswords hailing from Essos. Getting to Essos is no problem since the only possession Gendry has to his name is a boat, and one Redditor thinks he might even be their leader now.

As a trained blacksmith, Gendry could play a crucial role in making Valyrian steel to destroy White Walkers -- after all, he was a blacksmith's apprentice in King's Landing, and his master happened to be one of the few blacksmiths in the seven kingdoms who knows how to manipulate this rare alloy. While Jon Snow starts digging up dragonglass in Westeros, that might be the key ingredient to an uptick in Valyrian steel production -- with the right blacksmith, of course.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

If Gendry follows the same path as Arya, he too could cross friends with their gossipy old friend Hot Pie, who would point him toward Winterfell and the girl-formerly-known-as-Ari (and it doesn't feel weird to ship them now). Maybe even a wedding? Am I writing fan fiction??

And on top of all that, Gendry's return would mean he's got a strong claim to the throne as a son of Robert Baratheon. Daenerys will hate this because she too has a legitimate claim to the throne, and Cersei will hate it because she hates everything and will probably try to have Gendry murdered ... again.

On second thought, maybe he's better off in the boat.

Game of Thrones airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO.

UPDATE: Aug. 11, 2017, 2:01 p.m. EDT This post has been updated to clarify that Gendry is the son of Robert Baratheon, but not necessarily the "legitimate" heir to the Iron Throne.