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