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This week’s Top list has a familiar look to it, as the winter king (no, not that one) returns to the throne despite its most divisive episode yet. After that, things are a bit of a muddle but it’s early in the season, so that’s not a huge surprise.
Given the circumstances, I thought this was a good time to take the pulse of our writers regarding a certain TV show that’s more of a cultural phenomenon than anything else these days. We’ll know soon enough who has sight like the Three-Eyed Raven here.
Weekly Staff Poll (all airing series eligible)
Dororo(2019) – 16 points, 2 first place votes
One Punch Man Season 2 – 10
Kimetsu no Yaiba – 7
Fruits Basket 2019 – 5, 1
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind – 5, 1
Sarazanmai – 5
Ask The Writers
“Who will sit on the Iron Throne, and who should sit on the iron throne?”
Editor’s Note: Some of the answers below will contain Game of Thrones spoilers so proceed at your own risk.
- Stilts: I haven’t even fuckin’ started GoT, so passing this week
- Passerby: Anybody but Sansa. Lock her up! Lock her up! (Hi, Samu)
- Choya: I haven’t watched Game of Thrones since Season 3, so this’ll be on a hunch. Who will sit on the Iron Throne is Tyrion Lannister because Peter Dinklage is just great. For the very last scene, they should slowly pan the camera towards the Iron Throne to reveal the one and only copy of The Winds of Winter resting on the throne. And then before the screen cuts to black, the book combusts.
- Stars: In truth, there’s only one contender for the Iron Throne that has any real chance of claiming it at the end of the day, and that’s Jon Stark. It’s a boring answer, I know, but how many characters can say they were brought back by the Lord of Light? Actually, there’s definitely more than one who can attest to that, but it’s still not very many. Melisandre once said that she believes Jon has great things in store for him. The problem with this is that he doesn’t actually want to rule, and yet he has always, always risen to the occasion. He didn’t want to be the Commander of the Night Watch, either, or the King of the North, but he was, and some would say he’s done a fine job. If left with no other choice, Jon will assume the position, and I believe he’ll have to before all is said and done.
Now, that leaves who should be on the Iron Throne. Someone with experience, hopefully, and cunning, and courage. Someone with the desire and a clearly demonstrated ability to wield that immense amount of power. That person, who has grown from a child to a woman to a Lady of Winterfell, is Sansa Stark. Of all the Starks, she knows how to play the game the best, yet she has never stopped being a fundamentally good person. After everything she’s suffered and everything she’s overcome, it would be satisfying to see her sitting on the Iron Throne before the credits roll on the last season of this incredible series. - Zaiden: I want Sam to sit on the Iron Throne. He might bumble around, he might be somewhat chunky. But he’s a well to do chap with insane conviction and loyalty towards his friends, when push comes to shove. And he was even able to successfully court the love of his life! Most importantly, Sam was the one who carried his master and the one ring when all hope seemed lost – making it possible to defeat the great evil once and for all. That is why I think he’s truly worthy of the Iron Throne.
- Enzo: While I too was tempted to do an “anybody but Sansa” rant just to see a certain esteemed RC alumnus blow his kilt, I think I’ll give a real answer here. And first is “Will”, to which my answer is “None of the above”. My theory is that GRRM has been sending us a consistent message on this score, and I think (for a change) Benioff and Weiss will honor it – to wit, “the wheel must be broken”. I don’t think there will be a Seven Kingdoms in the denouement of Game of Thrones (or ASoIaF), because I think Jon – as the one with the legal claim to it – will declare it abolished, and the Seven Kingdoms will be independent fiefdoms. And we can talk about democracy in 200 years (it’s not like even Aragorn called an election).
As to “Should”, well, my answer is somewhat boringly the same – no one. The Seven Kingdoms has been a disaster for humankind and it’s time to try something new. If we’re talking a legitimate claim on the throne than sure, that’s Jon – but I think he’s not remotely interested in staking that claim (which is ironically one reason why he’d be a pretty good choice). Just for fun, who would make the “best” ruler of Westeros? That’s a tougher one for me – I’d want parts of Jon, Sam, Arya and Tyrion among others – but none of them are the complete package. If I was forced to pick one imperfect person of all the imperfect people who I’d want to sit on the throne, it’d be Davos Seaworth – who I think represents the best combination, of intelligence, integrity, kindness and pragmatism of any character in A Song of Ice and Fire.
Just gonna say probably someone not even considered at the start:
-Jon (he has legit claim now)
-Tyrion (probably the only one who would think of himself as civil servant-ruler)
-Gendry (yeah he’s a bastard but who cares I want blacksmith on the Iron Throne for the memes)
note that all of them gave a Badass Queen to support them should it happen, with Daeny, Sansa and Arya respectively…)
Also shout-out to Gendrya shippers everywhere: your ship truly has sailed!
As for who would be the best rulers?
Jon has sense of duty and justice, but Daeny is a wildcard prone to both siding with common folk and slaughtering perceived enemies with Dragons of Mass Destruction…
Tyrion and Sansa are smart, have sense of duty and would unite North and South with marriage. They get my vote.
Gendry and Arya – they would probably be better off going adventuring but what do I know?
Nobody picked our mother of dragons, Daenerys? The girl has dragons, a kalazar, a pretty decent stake at claiming the throne ( targaryns have a pretty good claim i’d say ) and if she would wisen up some more then she would be a pretty decent queen i’d say. The problem with her from what i remember ( haven’t finished watching season 7 yet ) is that she is rather childish at times without thinking of how to maintain everything in the long run without brute forcing it.
Well, if you believe in the Targeryn claim, then Jon’s claim is stronger than Dany’s, so I think that argument sinks under its own weight.
For me, I think she’d make a lousy ruler. Not Cersei-level bad, maybe, but bad. Anyone as obsessed with her self-perceived God-given right to rule as Daenerys should never have the chance to rule.
Enzo, funny you dislike Dany as an option yet what you quoted about breaking the wheel of the throne was from her. That’s why I would pick her, since she’s the only one who has raised the idea of smashing the idea of the seven kingdoms AND she has the dragons which can slag that throne to a pile of mush.
To bad she’s only spoken that way once (that I recall) and none of the others have said squat about it. But otherwise, I think the same as you. This story isn’t about who will be next to sit on it; it’s about ending the sitting upon it.
Didn’t he step down as king of the north though while pledging his allegiance to Daenerys, which should have a closer claim to the throne anyways if we go with bloodlines?
Now, i am a bit rusty on the whole bloodline of the targaryns but since jon his father is dead, the first one directly in line would be daenerys. She is the last living pureblood after all i think since jon wasn’t a pureblood from what i recall.
Yes, he did pledge allegiance to Dany but before he knew the truth of his lineage. And as a male heir to the last Targeryn king (and not a bastard either, remember) his claim is stronger than hers, even if his mother was a Stark.
Fair enough, even though the targaryns placed purebloods on the throne originally. So he would be the first halfblood targaryn on the throne then.
“Purity of blood” had little to do with laws of succession. It was merely a Targaryen obsession.
For that matter, there have been Targaryen monarchs whose parents weren’t related, such as Aegon II Targaryen (whose mother was from House Hightower).
I’m just gonna leave my answer as [blank].
Jon is obviously gonna claim the Iron Throne, he’s the rightful one. But, if he somehow declines it or dies, I also think Davos is a good choice. I’ve been rooting for him since past seasons.
Westeros should be more like Essos but without all the slavery
Btw what’s up with the Fruit Basket nosedive ? first to fourth ?
The Kagura effect.
Enzo happy to second you on the Davos Seaworth front – he’s a mensch.
That he is. And incidentally, Liam Cunningham (who I “met” at the LA premiere of Season 6) is every bit as nice a guy as Davos.
Let me ask another question. If you were isekai-ed into the Game of Thrones world, what role would you play? Who would you support and what would you do?
I’ll just gonna be Hotpie and open a bakery somewhere in a rural area.
I would likely avoid all of these toxic personalities at all costs and do my own thing, which is to discover the many mysteries of the world like fast travel and treat ailments like STIs. Maybe visit Sam once in a while to update and catch up with him.