The marketing campaign for the final season of Game of Thrones is called ForTheThrone
. After seven seasons of conflict betrayal and death, who will win the Iron Throne, and
rule Westeros in the end?
Daenerys says she was born to rule Westeros . She’s a Targaryen, the family that made
the Iron Throne, and ruled for three hundred years.
Daenerys spends seasons in the Dothraki Sea and Meereen learning how to be a queen.
And in Season 7, she invades Westeros, with her dragons and her army.
Dany’s whole story has been leading up to her taking the Throne – so it almost seems
too obvious that she’ll win.
The big question in Daenerys’ story is ‘what kind of queen is she?’
Does she burn all her enemies, or make peace?
Is she a tyrant like her father , or will she make “the world a better place” ? Maybe
Daenerys will prove herself a worthy queen by not taking the Throne.
In Season 2, Dany has a vision where she reaches for the Throne, but then turns away and goes
beyond the Wall.
Just like in Season 7, when she chooses not to attack the capital , and instead goes beyond
the Wall, to fight white walkers . Daenerys realises that saving the world is more important
than her war for the Throne.
But saving the world might cost Daenerys her life . According to legend, the white walkers
were defeated before by a warrior who sacrificed his beloved wife . It might be that Jon Snow
is this warrior, and that his love Daenerys will die . Daenerys could finally prove herself
a worthy queen by giving up the Throne, and dying to save the realm.
But if Daenerys dies, who’ll take the Throne?
In her vision, Daenerys sees “snow” on the Throne . So maybe Jon Snow will sit the
Throne.
We learned in Season 7 that Jon is the rightful heir to the Throne – because he’s the
son of Rhaegar Targaryen . Jon might not want to be King of Westeros – he didn’t want
to be King in the North . But he’d likely accept the Throne if he saw it as his duty.
Jon becoming king would be kind of a fantasy cliché – a hero with a magic sword defeating
the dark lord and ruling the realm.
Will Game of Thrones follow this trope?
There are lots of hints in the books that Jon will be king , but this could mean a darker,
colder kind of king.
There are legends that humans once cooperated with white walkers, even married them . Maybe
Jon will make peace with the walkers by becoming their new Night King, maybe marrying one.
It’d be like how Jon makes peace with the wildlings after loving Ygritte.
There’s all sorts of weird stuff in the lore about pacts and Stark blood and zombie-men
– so some kind of dark self-sacrifice might be Jon’s fate.
If Jon does become a Night King or something, and Daenerys dies, maybe their child will
survive.
There are lots of hints in Season 7 about Daenerys and Jon having kids – so maybe
their child will sit the Throne – a son of ice and fire.
So those are the obvious options – either Daenerys or Jon or their child on the Throne,
with some kind of tragic magic sacrifice.
But there are other possibilities.
Gendry is the bastard son of King Robert Baratheon.
Bastards can’t inherit a throne – unless they’re legitimized , like Ramsay Bolton
was . If Gendry was legitimized, he would be Robert’s heir and, arguably, the rightful
king – this bastard boy from Flea Bottom could claim the Throne of his father . But
Gendry is a minor character.
He’s not a political player, he’s a blacksmith.
And he doesn’t seem to want the Throne.
At most, he might rule the Stormlands, the home of House Baratheon.
But he isn’t a very likely king.
In Season 1, Sansa Stark wants to be queen . She hopes to marry Prince Joffrey , and
that doesn’t work out.
But she spends the next six seasons learning politics from some of the most devious players
of the game – like Cersei, Olenna, and Littlefinger . By Season 7, Sansa is a leader herself – she
rules Winterfell with the support of the north and the Vale . After being used and abused
for so long, Sansa likes to be in charge.
And it’s hinted that Sansa wants even more power . Sansa has no lawful claim to the Iron
Throne – but maybe she could Littlefinger her way in, by murder or marriage – there
are hints in the books that Sansa might marry Jon, or Young Griff – it’s a whole thing
. But the Season 7 finale and Sophie Turner’s new tattoo make clear that Sansa is loyal
to the Starks, her home is Winterfell . So Sansa might end up Queen in the North – but
the Iron Throne, at least in the show, seems less likely for Sansa.
Cersei Lannister now has the Throne – but she probably won’t last . She can’t beat
Daenerys and her dragons and Jon and the white walkers.
And the witch Maggy the Frog prophesied that Cersei will be cast down . Cersei says that
she’d rather die than surrender , like in Blackwater, when she almost committed suicide.
Cersei’s on a path of self-destruction.
And one theory is that she’ll try to use wildfire again, and that she’ll be killed
by her brother-lover Jaime.
Watch our Jaime and Cersei videos for more, but basically Jaime may kill the Mad Queen
Cersei , just like he killed the Mad King Aerys years ago.
After Jaime killed Aerys, he briefly sat the Iron Throne.
So maybe he’ll do the same after killing Cersei.
The Kingslayer and Queenslayer could be king, if only for a moment.
Cause Jaime may not outlive Cersei – he says he wants to die in her arms .
It’d be cool if Tyrion was king – the despised exiled dwarf on the highest seat
in the land.
Varys did say that a small man can cast a large shadow . But Tyrion doesn’t want to
be king – he says he wants to start a vineyard . And the people of Westeros don’t want
Tyrion – they hate him as a kinslayer, the murderous Imp who supposedly killed Joffrey
. Tyrion’s more suited as an advisor – he could be Hand of the King or Queen, or a regent
for Dany’s child or something.
Maybe he’ll rule the Lannister castle, Casterly Rock.
But Tyrion as a king seems unlikely.
Maybe Thrones will go full grimdark, and the white walkers will win.
All the characters we love will die, and become zombies, and the Night King will sit a cold
Throne.
Game of Thrones is a brutal story, but there’s always some hope amidst the darkness – that’s
why the characters keep fighting.
In an interview, author George Martin was asked if his series will end “in some horrible
apocalypse”, and Martin said “no”.
He says the end will be bittersweet, like the end of The Lord of the Rings – where
the good guys win, but heroes like Frodo are damaged, and there a still problems, like
the scouring of the Shire.
Martin says that’s the kind of tone he wants for the end of Thrones, “a bittersweet victory”
. So the walkers won’t win the Throne.
But there could be a different kind of twist.
Part of the point of Game of Thrones is to show the problems with the power structure
that the Throne represents.
Cause the Throne puts madmen and drunkards and psychos in charge of the country.
It reduces women into pawns to be traded for titles.
It causes wars of succession, that burn the realm, and hurt the people, and distracts
from the real threat of the white walkers – in the face of apocalypse, the throne
that everyone’s fighting for “doesn’t matter” . There are hints that the Throne
will be destroyed.
In Daenerys’ vision, and this worldbook art, we see the Throne room burned, by dragonfire
or wildfire.
Maybe the Throne is broken, and the monarchy will end.
Westeros could split into seven kingdoms again, or try new forms of government, like Tyrion
suggests . Daenerys lets Meereen “choose their own leaders” – maybe breaking the
wheel could mean some kinda democracy.
The end of the Iron Throne would bring uncertainty and loss, but also hope for future – a bittersweet
victory, and a dream of spring.
Comment below who you think will win the Iron Throne.
If you wanna learn more about the history and lore and the meaning of Game of Thrones,
you gotta check out the books.
As well as the main series, there are the Dunk and Egg prequels, the worldbook, and
the new Fire and Blood history book.
You can get any of these for free today by signing up for a trial at audible.com/asx.
Members get a book each month, and if you cancel, you keep the books.
So next time you’re driving, or at the gym, you can prepare for the final season of Game
of Thrones.
Thanks for watching, and thanks to the Patrons, including Ria McDoodle, Malav Shah, Carlos
Grau, Michelle Broun, Kevin Ohlsson, Ian J Robinson, Gerhard Ackermann, Peter Alex, Trisha
Hopkins, Kristopher Mason, and Max P. Cheers.