GRRM's "bombshell"

[The Imp]

There was a panel discussion, the link to which can be found below. Not much was said until about the 1 hour mark when the question was asked "who would you like to see sit the Iron Throne at the end of the show"?GRRM said this in response to Maise Williams kind of pointing to GRRM and saying "it would be cool if a Stark got to sit the throne at the end, but you know, so........"

GRRM's response was-

I know who's going to be on the throne at the end, so I better not say...............there'll be a few people sitting on it before the end

Am I makling too much of this? For me, the implications of this statement are huge. We could quite possibly see Dany take the throne and lose it to Stannis, who may lose it to Euron, who may lose it to Jon. I'm kind of floored to hear this.

http://winteriscoming.net/2013/03/emmys-game-of-thrones-panel-live-stream/#comment-262426

PS- I can see King's landing becoming GRRM's new Meereen, as in he might have a lot of trouble timing it so that everyone arrives in KL at the right time.

 

[thaddeus6th]

I see Daenerys on the throne as an endgame move (either winning it or losing it to the ultimate occupant).

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I can't see anyone other than Jon. He started the books, I have never believed anyone else could take the throne. Naive, maybe, but c'est la.

 

[The Imp]

I can't see anyone other than Jon. He started the books, I have never believed anyone else could take the throne. Naive, maybe, but c'est la.

I've always thought that the "Song of Ice and Fire" would mean a unification of the Targs and Starks. Maybe Jon is that unification in living form, but in any event, I can see him and Dany sharing the throne by the end.

 

[The Imp]

Peter Dinklage is a riot btw. That session is worth watching just to see him ad libbing.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I always presumed we'd see the "three heads of the dragon" all sharing the throne at the end - Dany, Jon, and Tyrion.

I think we've already seen a few on the throne already? Robert, Joffrey, Cersei, and whomever is in charge since she was "defrocked" (I'm afraid I forget - things are too convoluted for me to remember!).

 

[The Imp]

I always presumed we'd see the "three heads of the dragon" all sharing the throne at the end - Dany, Jon, and Tyrion.

I think we've already seen a few on the throne already? Robert, Joffrey, Cersei, and whomever is in charge since she was "defrocked" (I'm afraid I forget - things are too convoluted for me to remember!).

you should form your own opinion, mine was that GRRM strongly implied that going forward there would be multiple "sitters" on the Iron Throne.

 

[Ursa major]

If they were referring to the position as it develops from the end of season two of Game of Thrones (i.e. where Joffrey is on the throne), and 'few' can mean 'three or more', it isn't hard to believe GRRM's statement. There doesn't have to be a game of musical chairs in the last two books for it to come true: for example Aegon may get to sit on the throne, but not for long.

 

[Keebs411]

I agree that sounds huge! deffinatly gets my imagination all jazzed up!

aside from the throne being taken and sat upon by those who win it via battle force what could the other options be? Lets say, tommen gets axed (and cersi still lives @ that point) she no longer has claim ( though im sure that wont stop her from trying) because there is no male heir. Only Dorne will allow a female to claim it, so who would take it should tommen be taken out? That would put stannis on automatically just by blood line alone right ( but we are unsure as far as his vital signs go right now lol).... ooooh the multiple options to choose from!

 

[Rufio]

I'm not too surprised by this but it's definitely interesting to have it from the horses mouth.

I say I'm not surprised because currently Tommen is on the throne, a boy king supported by the deeply weakened Lannisters and the self interested Tyrells. It's not a regime that is going to survive the chaos. I think Aegon will take the throne, I used to think he could lose it to Euron or maybe even Stannis but the recent WOW chapter seems to foreshadow a war between Aegon and Dany.

I think at the end only Dany or Jon (or both) can rule a united Westeros, mainly because of dragons, but there might not be a united Westeros at the end of the story, so who knows?

 

[Tywin]

Not surprising.

Sounds like the throne will change hands a few times before the end. "Aegon" is a strong possibility, Euron is another. Littlefinger has a shot, and of course Tyrion, Jon, and Dany.

 

[Liver and Onions]

We could well have our own ASOIAF coalition government going on at the end.

 

[TK-421]

Interesting. I had not heard this until now. Well, he is on his third king to sit the Iron Throne.

I would not want to see Jon sit the throne. I do not think that is his place.

 

[ArstenWhitebeard]

I'm with TK. Jon's throne will be snow and ice, not Iron.

I think it likely that Aegon will sit it, at least for a while, and perhaps Dany. Stannis will never have the throne IMO. He is far to tragic a character to get what he wants.

It's really REALLY unlikely but I think it would be awesome if Mance somehow ended up on the throne following some great battle against the Others. that's more wishful thinking than an actual guess.

I think the only person who could sit the throne AND hold all ofg westeros together would be Dany. If anyone else ends up on the throne at the very end, I think things will go back to the way they were before, with 7 kingdoms ruled by 7 kings. It was dragons that brought the kingdoms together and it will be dragons that keeps them together.

 

[Boaz]

I agree with Ursa, the context for GRRM's comments in that forum was the second season of the HBO show. I would not put it past him to give us at least two more rulers on the Iron Throne in TWOW and ADOS, but it is much easier if we include Tommen... whom the show has not gotten to yet.

As for Dany, I had a thought when I read Arsten's last post... the Targaryen dynasty has never allowed a woman to rule. The closest a female came to claiming the Seven Kingdoms was when Rhaenyra, ******* daughter of Viserys I and his designated heir, fought a civil war against her legitimate half brother Aegon II. Aegon was supported by Criston Cole, LG of the KG (Jaime's new hero). Rhaenyra lost... Aegon II also died, I think.

During the troubles of the second century AL, Daeron I died young and Baelor I refused to produce heirs. As a result of their deaths, their uncle Viserys II took the throne. But Daeron and Baelor had a sister Daena, who by all accounts was a strong willed, intelligent, ambitious and capable woman. She ended up having an affair with her cousin Aegon IV, the Unworthy, and the result was Daemon Blackfyre, the first of the Blackfyre pretenders. Also, Aegon IV married his sister Naerys who actually may have had all of her children fathered upon her by her other brother, Aemon the Dragonknight. If Daeron died young, if Baelor was such a disaster, and if Aegon was such a weakling, why didn't either Daena or Naerys proclaim themselves Queen?

First, the Targaryen power structure was firmly in place. The family itself, the KG, and the Small Council probably liked tradition and dealing with a known quantity. In the second place, the lords of the Seven Kingdoms may not have stood for it. Every noble house is ruled by a man... unless the male heirs have died or are too young, then they're ruled by a woman only long enough to produce a male ruler. Allowing a woman to elevate herself over legitimate male heirs could have serious repurcussions all through society.

The other thought is that... the Targaryens fought tooth and nail against allowing ******* branches to assume the throne. For the same reasons that women have not been allowed to rule as Queen, I'd assume bastards have been suppressed.

So who could possibly claim the Iron Throne before the story ends? If they make their claims, then (according to my theories) Dany, Jon, Tyrion, Edric, Gendry, Cersei, Jaime, Tommen, and Myrcella all are either women, bastards, or both. Euron and Stannis are not Targaryens... but might makes right. Aegon may be an imposter, but he's male and his claim is as Crown Prince Rhaegar's one true son. The apparent legitimacy of his claim will prevent many Targ supporters from joining Dany and also gain much support from Lannister enemies.

But then again, three mature dragons would change all the rules....

In AFFC, Littlefinger predicted the War of the Three Queens to succeed the War of the Five Kings. But I don't think he had an inkling of Aegon and Connington. He may quickly offer Sansa to Aegon in return for......

 

[BetaWolf]

There's no reason that a woman can't rule. It hasn't been done before, but right of conquest is what it is.

 

[Boaz]

Yes, might makes right. A ruling Queen is unprecedented in Targaryen history... and I'd assume in all of the history of the Seven Kingdoms with the exception of Dorne.

I also think that if Dany thinks or knows that she is barren, will gladly ally herself with Aegon and a princess (Sansa, Arianne, Asha, Margaery, or Jeyne who is known to be fertile) in order to keep the Targaryen bloodline. The two times in Targ history when illegitimate Targs were included in the succession there was blood. Dany must have a legitimate heir.

It is hard to resolve any scenario without seeing Aegon upon the Iron Throne at some point.

Then again, mayhaps Dany will test Aegon with dragon taming or dragonfire to see if he truly is the blood of the Dragon.

Also if Dany is not barren, then many princes and nobles become options for her paramour(s)... Tristayne, Loras, Willas, the Redwyne twins, Harry the heir, Littlefinger, Rickon, Tyrion, Ramsey, Theon, Victarion... and her two blood relatives... her nephew, Aegon... and her brother, Jon Snow.

Couldn't you just see Horror, Slobber, or a cripple as royal consort?

 

[Yavannie]

Then again, mayhaps Dany will test Aegon with dragon taming or dragonfire to see if he truly is the blood of the Dragon.

I'm sure this has been debated on this board before, but do the "heads" of the dragon necessarily need to have Targaryen blood? (And does Targaryen blood make you immune to (dragon)fire? - not getting into that here though) I'm thinking of a passage I recently read where Dany muses about taking Daario as a husband and him being one of the three. It might be offhand fantasies, but if she believes that she is the last of her blood, she doesn't exactly spend a lot of time thinking about who could tame dragons or not. She does, however, wonder who her "two husbands" will be.

Might be that she sees herself as the only one with control over the dragons (which she doesn't even have towards the end), but... I think that the trick to owning a dragon is something other than just blood.

On topic I would like to express my concerns that Tommen might be killed off. For all his family has done, he's such a sweet little boy. When he's pushed off the throne, I hope he doesn't die in the process.

 

[Boaz]

Tommen is a sweet boy... I like him, but he's not long for the story.

 

[ArstenWhitebeard]

Agreed. The best Tommen can hope for is to be packed away by Varys. You never know when a King might come in handy and it would be Varys' style to hide tommen away just in case. This of course would not be until after Cersei is dead.