The fifth episode of Game of Thrones’ eighth and final season was many things. Tense and cinematic? Yup. Full of shots that looked straight out of an action movie? Oh yeah. But the penultimate episode left us with one burning question:
Who will take the Iron Throne now? Spoilers ahead!
There’s no nice way to describe the most recent episode of Game of Thrones. Daenerys Targaryen attacked King’s Landing and set the city ablaze, and she refused to back down even after Cersei’s army surrendered.
Thousands of innocent people were burnt to a crisp by Drogon’s fire, or slaughtered by Daenerys’ Unsullied soldiers and Dothraki riders. It was, in a word, brutal.
Until she stormed King’s Landing, Daenerys looked poised to become the new ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Because she’s the daughter of Aerys Targaryen – otherwise known as The Mad King – she’s always had a claim to queenship.
Over the years, Daenerys has proven she has what it takes to rule: strength, compassion where it counts, and bias for bloodshed when necessary. But she’s also killed without mercy in the past, and she hasn’t always strategized wisely without the guidance of her counsel.
Her behavior on the latest episode threatens to undo all of her past triumphs. Many fans are convinced she took a free-fall when she destroyed King’s Landing, and there’s no way she’ll ever be able to redeem herself. Unless she can persuade the rest of Westeros to bend the knee and recognize her as Queen, there’s a good chance she won’t fulfill her deepest desire to sit on the Iron Throne as her father once did.
That brings us to Jon Snow. He’s the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne, but he’s made his feelings on the matter quite clear.
He bent the knee to Daenerys before either of them knew his true parentage, and so far he’s remained loyal to her.
But perhaps there’s more at play here, particularly since Jon had his brother-cousin Bran Stark inform his sister-cousins Arya and Sansa of his heritage. Sansa then told Tyrion Lannister, who told Varys, who was subsequently executed. Jon probably didn’t know he’d set off this chain of events, but other people might think it was all a deliberate ploy. Keep watching the video to learn more about the most important question after the latest GoT episode!
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Did Daenerys blow it? | 0:19
Jon Snow, reluctant ruler? | 1:25
And then there’s Sansa | 2:24
Aren’t you considering Arya? | 2:59
Does Bran have a plan? | 3:37
Tyrion might be the one | 4:18
A game no one wins? | 4:49