So seeing as the Seven Kingdoms are currently without a true King, and we still have three more books before the series will allegedly be complete (sigh), what are your predictions for who ends up sitting the Iron Throne at the end of Book 7?
Right now it seems like Stannis Baratheon has the most legitimate claim to the throne, but I don’t think anyone particularly wants him to rule. Daenerys is a distinct possibility, but she will never have any heirs and has no living blood relatives that we know of, so if she rules it won’t be long. I don’t think Jon Snow will want to leave the Wall, and will be trying his damndest to unite the southern lands to fight against the Others.
Only people capable of producing heirs can end up on the throne, so that disqualifies Bran and Dany. As for Jon…
… you’re assuming that the Wall will still be standing by the end of the story. Hell, I doubt there will be a Seven Kingdoms to rule by the time the tale comes to an end. Winer, after all, is coming.
Tommen’s a nice kid, but there isn’t much that’s “legitimate” about him. OTOH, Stannis’s claim is based on his brother’s usurpation of the throne, so really, who is he to complain?
As far as I am aware we have no real reason to believe Daenerys can’t have children other than Mirri Maz Duur’s claim. She may well be wrong or lying. I’ve no clue who will sit the Iron Throne at the end of the day though. No one really has a legitimate claim, other than maybe Daenerys. And even if they did no one who has the power and ambition to take it will give a damn. So it comes down to who has the capability to take and hold the throne. My bet would be on either Dany or Petyr(or a puppet of his choosing). I don’t think Stannis will survive to take the throne. I suspect Melisandre is going to get him killed. And the Lannisters seem to be pretty much falling apart. If Cercei dies, or else wise becomes a permanent non-issue, and Jaime and Tyrion can reunite they might be able to keep Tommen or his sister on the throne but I rather doubt that will happen.
Jon is almost certainly Targaryen (and son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Tangaryen) and would be the heir apparent if Robert hadn’t taken over. It isn’t quite explicit in the books, but its pretty close. I suspect if the series ever ends, he’ll inherit the throne.
Mirri never lied, technically, and was never wrong. Besides, considering the… complications involved in Dany’s miscarriage, it wouldn’t be that surprising.
Anyway, I’m still saying that in the end, no-one will sit on the throne, because there won’t be a throne to sit on. Either the Seven Kingdoms will break into their seven components, or the whole continent will be ravaged to such a degree that the question will be moot.
Cersei’s got dead written all over her, and I think that’s outstanding. It’s my pet theory that she’s pregnant with either Lancel’s or Kettleblack’s kid, and that’s going to come out while she’s imprisoned. (I’m basing this on the number of mentions of her clothing getting tighter lately and wanting to be laced up more tightly and such in the last book or so.)
I like the idea of Bran taking the throne, but I think he’s going to become the next Bran the Builder.
I thought that just implied that she was letting herself go and losing the only thing she had going for her, they also had her eating a lot in most scenes. I would go with Jon ending up on the throne if i had to pick now, i just don’t see Dany, Stannis or any of Cerseis children living through the series.
Yeah, I really don’t see how people miss that particular anvil falling from the sky. I’d call him the “hero” of the story except that the Wall is probably going to come down and a hell of a lot of people are going to starve even if there isn’t a big war with the Others, because some geniuses decided to throw a war right in the middle of the harvest. Which, don’t ask me how agricultural seasons can possibly work in this world, but whatever.
ETA - although anything goes in a war, Jon was never recognized by his father and would have to take the throne by force. There was a bit about how some king in the past legitimized all his bastards on his deathbed and plunged the place into war before, and people are a bit touchy about it.
I’ve always felt that by the end of the books, the Wall would be gone, making Jon’s oath moot. He has a pretty good claim to the North as it is, since he’s Robb’s heir (although he doesn’t know that yet). It seems clear enough to me that he’s actually a Targaryen, which gives him a good claim to the rest of the place as well. Especially if he and Dany hook up, which I’ve been expecting for like, fifteen years now.
I think that by the end of the books, the whole place will be a big enough shithole that no one will care that he’s a bastard.
So yeah, Jon and Dany. Hopefully advised by Tyrion.
Also, Cersei needs to be dead.
ETA: If Dany is barren, I think that’s fine, GRRM will come up with a baby ex machina. I don’t know that it’s a great idea for Jon and Dany to have children anyway, since, if I have the Targaryen family tree correct in my head, she is his aunt.
Hmmm. I dunno. On the one hand, she seems terrified of that old woman’s prophesy that she’ll be replaced by someone prettier than she, and has done everything in her power to make it false (even though her efforts could be misplaced). On the other, she’s had three kids, she’d know what being pregnant felt like. And she’s probably dosing herself with moon tea anyway. But she’s been distracted, what with her son dying and the whole running the kingdom into the ground thing.
I still kind of like it as a theory, even with its flaws. Either way, it’ll be most excellent seeing her go down.
Didn’t Robb legitimize Jon before his death? Obviously Robb wasn’t Jon’s father, but Stannis claimed he could do that for Jon, too, so I think that’s just a power kings have in general.
It’s not actually that obvious - it’s just when people reread the books again and agains for 15 years, certain hints become apparent, and certain theories arise.
Let me ask you a few question:
What happened between Rhaegar and Lyanna?
What did Lyanna die of in her "bed of blood?
What did she ask Eddard to “Promise me!” with her dying breath?
Why is the sole other witness to her death - the crannogman, Howland Reed - the one major living character we’ve never met?
I think the biggest question we need to ask in determining the answer is NOT who has the most legitimate claim over the throne. It’s who has the power to unite the seven kingdoms either through force or through influence.
I think the best answer at this point is Jon. Thing is, he’s never wanted power but it’s continually been thrust upon him and he keeps rising to meet its challenge. No, he’s not planning his takeover of the 7 kingdoms in his spare time. In fact, if you asked him at this point in the story, he’d probably abhor the idea.
But I’m certain that events will transpire where it will not only be logical, but necessary for Jon to grab the reins and, well, reign.