Thoughts & Predictions for the Final Season of Game of Thrones // Part One

I’m just going to get right to it.

Is Daenerys Targaryen Henry VII and What Does This Mean for Her?

Game of Thrones is based on the War of the Roses which effectively ended once Henry VII, the Lancastrian heir, took the throne from Richard III. Is Daenerys the Henry VII of this story? Will she actually take the throne?

The Prince of Dragonstone is adapted from England’s Prince of Wales title. Like Henry VII, Daenerys fled overseas at a young age when the throne was taken by the usurper, Robert Baratheon, who is based on King Edward IV – both Robert and Edward possessed military prowess, many bastards scattered across the nation and reigned alongside their Queens (both fair of hair). Daenerys, when she finally returns to Westeros, lands in her ancestral home, Dragonstone, kneels and touches the sand. Henry VII, likewise, chose Mill Bay as his landing site, nearby Pembroke Castle, Wales, his ancestral home, and once he landed, kneeled down and kissed the ground. They both share a red dragon as their royal standard. Will Daenerys share the same fortune as Henry VII? This is George R. R. Martin’s story, there’s no saying whether this will happen. Martin may have attached another historical figure’s story to Daenerys’s as well…

Jon and Dany = Richard III and Elizabeth of York?

…Which could be Elizabeth of York and Richard III. Richard III, brother of Edward IV, was King before he was defeated by Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth. Elizabeth of York, daughter of late King Edward IV, at that point, was betrothed to Henry VII. However, it was heavily rumoured that a love affair had sprung between Richard and his niece Elizabeth. Daenerys is Jon’s aunt. Do you see my drift? It will come as a surprise if both of them survive.

Who Are the Three Heads of the Dragon That Was Prophesied?

Interestingly, Henry VII’s coat of arms includes a red dragon (Daenerys), a white greyhound (Jon Snow and Ghost) and a little lion perched on the crown (Tyrion Lannister). However, again, this doesn’t necessarily mean that this is the endgame. Who’s to say any of the three will survive the Game of Thrones? I don’t believe that all three will make it out alive. If they do… would this make them the three heads of the dragon?

Should Daenerys Rule Westeros?

I don’t believe that Daenerys is fit to rule the Seven Kingdoms, but out of her and Jon, I do expect she’s more likely to survive and win the Iron Throne. However, I sense she’ll have to pay a heavy price for it.

1. Daenerys is an incompetent ruler. She abolished slavery. Whoop! Yay! But without a system to fall back on… which resulted in some of the newly freed returning to their former masters. Luckily, she had Tyrion around to re-establish trade in Meereen again…

2. Says she cares about the people, says she’s not here to murder, says she’s different to Cersei because of this… and then demands that everyone bend the knee or die and promptly burns the loot train containing grains and supplies that the citizens of Westeros will need given that, oh, I don’t know, winter is here, and she would have learnt that from Jon and should have an understanding of the kingdom that she wants to rule. Mad at Cersei, furious that she was losing the war, burning the loot train was a punitive measure. Some might say she didn’t know, but, in that case, it demonstrates her naivety for not comprehending what those wagons contained given that the Lannister’s are heading home after sacking Highgarden. I wonder if this was a deliberate comparison between Daenerys and Sansa on the show’s part as we see Sansa ensuring the grains are collected. Daenerys is a conqueror… Sansa is a ruler. Forget ice and fire, Jon and Dany, blah, perhaps a marriage between Daenerys and Sansa would be better for the realm.

   

   Please, sis, make it make sense.

3. It’s not all about cocks in the end… it’s really all about who your parents were and whether you will become them. The show drilled this into the audience. Tyrion and Daenerys do not wish to be like their fathers… they want to leave the world a better place than they found it. Genna Lannister tells Jaime that “Tyrion is Tywin’s son, not you.” [A Feast for Crows]

   Cersei Lannister places her trust in Jon Snow, believing that he, as Ned Stark’s son, will tell the truth which Jon does when he reveals that he has pledged his allegiance to Daenerys. Like his father, Rhaegar Targaryen, Jon does not enjoy killing. Jon is both Ned Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen.

   Will Tyrion become Tywin by the end? Will he be more concerned about preserving the Lannister legacy?

   Daenerys torches Randyll and Dickon Tarly. Previously, she had pleaded Jon to not judge her by her father’s sins. Her father Aerys Targaryen, the Mad King, burned Brandon Stark and his father, Rickard Stark. I doubt that this is merely a coincidence. Daenerys repeats the same actions as her father by doing so. Many may say she had every right to do so or that the Tarly’s were given a choice and they chose to die and that this is the way of war. The Tarly’s already had a Queen and even if the audience doesn’t like that Queen, the Tarly’s loyalty to the Queen would overrule their allegiance to their liege lords and a ‘Queen’ they didn’t recognise. As Tyrion pointed out, Daenerys could have taken Dickon as a hostage. She did not hesitate to repeat her father’s actions. We’ve all been primed to view Daenerys as a hero and Aerys as a villain, even though Daenerys does exactly what her father does, and unlike Aerys who was the king at the time, she wasn’t the Queen. I doubt that, even if Daenerys ends up becoming a villain or committing villainous actions in the final season, that the majority of the audience will turn against her. They’ve supported her for too long… which is understandable. After all, people cling to their heroes/heroines and they’ve invested into her character and nobody wants an investment to go to waste.

4. In an interview for Vanity Fair, Emilia Clarke revealed: “Knowing that is going to be a lasting flavour in someone’s mouth of what Daenerys is…” This doesn’t bode well. However, should we take this with a pinch of salt as the cast could be toying with us? Or are we receiving ominous warnings by the cast to manage the expectations of the audience? Personally, I’d rather see a dark Daenerys. She is a character who strives so hard to be good, is good, but the execution of her good intentions do not always go to plan which makes her such a fascinating and well-written character.  

What Will Be the Fate of Sansa and Arya Stark?

Maisie Williams has stated that Arya will be siding with Sansa in the hinted Sansa-Daenerys conflict which caused the local dudebro’s (particularly from Reddit) to throw their dummies out of the pram in their parent’s basement – just say you hate women and go. Oh, but we like Arya and Daenerys, so, you see, we don’t hate women! Yes, you do. Yes, you very much do. Daenerys has dragons which is a military weapon and you associate that as a masculine strength. Arya is an assassin – again, considered masculine courage. Good Queen Alysanne got very far with woman’s courage – diplomacy and tact – which is what Sansa has. You simply don’t recognise feminine courage as courage. In order for you to consider a woman as strong, she needs to do ‘man things.’ So, again, just say you hate women and go. Also, to the women who hate Sansa Stark – there are a few who are unhappy with how different her show arc is to her book arc, so I don’t mean you – last time I checked, you aren’t a grade A ninja and whimper at the first sign of conflict. This Twitter user put it perfectly:

Many assign blame to 11-year-old Sansa as the cause of Ned’s execution, but not the man himself who revealed his plans to Cersei, omitted Joffrey’s lineage to Robert, and trusted Littlefinger – don’t get me wrong, I still love Ned Stark. To wholly lay the blame at Sansa’s feet reeks of misogyny… and, frankly, what demon possessed you to think an 11-year-old child is completely to blame? Please, your DBS should be removed from you and you shouldn’t go near children. The way you feel about Sansa Stark is the litmus test for misogyny.

Moving on, but staying on the topic of Sansa Stark, has anyone noticed how some cast members have been gushing over Sansa Stark? Sophie Turner seems happy with her ending, but that could mean any number of things. We, recently, saw John Bradley gushing over Sansa and her storyline, so it feels like the cast are warming us up to root for Sansa. Sansa has her purpose = Winterfell, her family and the Northerners. And she is a competent administrator, the only character who’s shown capability to rule. But I do not see Sansa wanting to be Queen or marrying, I can only imagine her wanting to marry if it helps Winterfell and her family. I see her being the Queen Elizabeth I of Winterfell (surviving Game of Thrones own Thomas Seymour in the form of Littlefinger and possessing red hair to boot), married to Winterfell, married to the North. If anything, Arya is more likely to marry… if Gendry is part of that equation.

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What are your thoughts and predictions for the final season of Game of Thrones? Should Daenerys rule? Was she right to burn the Tarly’s? What are your thoughts on the Stark sisters? Let me know in the comments!

Sophia Ismaa

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