Who should end up on the Iron Throne? We've got some ideas.
If Game of Thrones actually ends with someone on the eponymous Throne and not the mass-zombification of every character we've come to know and love, then there can only be one answer for whom should sit upon the Iron Throne: Daenerys Targaryen.
Listen up, fives: Daenerys Stormborn was commanding a whole-ass Khalasar before Jon Snow had even left Castle Black to meet his first girlfriend. She studied the culture and language of the Dothraki to earn their respect and love as Khaleesi. She inspired loyalty that lasted well beyond Khal Drogo’s death as the Khalasar accompanied her to Qarth and even across the Narrow Sea, which no Dothraki had ever crossed before.
Daenerys has ruled in multiple cities, albeit cities she took by force as a white savior Breaker of Chains. She may have incurred the wrath of Slavers’ Bay, but not without freeing thousands of slaves including the unconditionally loyal Unsullied. She’s powerful both politically and literally – burning Khal Moro and his followers alive in Vaes Dothrak was a bit of a weird flex but a flex nonetheless; if you’re literally unkillable (at least by fire), the world should know! Enemies fear it, admirers respect it. Whomst among us wouldn’t bend the knee in the face of the Unburnt herself?
Similarly, the dragons help Daenerys’ case immensely. Not only are they massively powerful, but they answer only to her. On the battlefield, Daenerys devastated her opponents at the Loot Train Attack without having to lift a sword or silver hair out of place, yet was still very much on the battlefield and witnessing events firsthand. And it’s not like she depends blindly on Drogon and Rhaegal – the thousands of soldiers who fight for Daenerys do so of their own free will because they genuinely believe in her as a leader.
As a natural-born Targaryen in Aerys’ direct bloodline, Daenerys has a direct claim to the Throne. She has traveled the world while circling the Iron Throne and seen dozens of leaders undone by hubris and cruelty (including herself, from time to time, but she learned!). She commands the fear and respect that Cersei has only imagined for 20 years while being loathed by everyone in King’s Landing and beyond.
If there is any justice left in Westeros, let Daenerys take the Throne, where she will work as an ally to the long-suffering Starks, curb her power-hungry opposition, and give every day people a chance at a better life in the seven kingdoms.
Game of Thrones returns April 14.
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