Cersei Lannister vs. Jon Snow: Who will win the 'Game of Thrones'?
At last.
The final six episodes of “Game of Thrones” begin at 8 p.m. Sunday, April 14, on HBO, and this rabid fan sees two main candidates to be atop the titular seat when the final credits roll: Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington).
The case for Cersei
She's ruled the Seven Kingdoms since the Season 6 finale in which she sprung a wildfire trap that consumed the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce), Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) and most of King's Landing, leading to her son, King Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman), taking his own life.
In Season 7, she exacted revenge on the Martells, who killed her daughter, and revealed to brother Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) that she has no intention of helping Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) battle the army of the dead that breached the wall separating Westeros from the wild lands of the North in the season's final scene.
The cruel land of Westeros perhaps deserves a leader as cunning as Cersei, but what will be left of it when the clash of dragons and zombies is over? Cersei could wind up a Mad Queen ruling over a pile of ashes — one can imagine an ending in which Cersei has lost her unborn child and both of her brothers. The bond between Cersei and Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) is already broken, and Jaime may very well meet his doom at the hands of the undead. A depressing ending, surely, but a fitting one for author George R.R. Martin's brutal saga.
The case for Jon
The most satisfying narrative arc would place the true heir to the throne atop it. He grew up as the illegitimate son of Ned Stark (Sean Bean), but the all-seeing powers granted to Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) have revealed to the audience (and a select few characters) that Jon is actually the secret love child of Ned's sister, Lyanna, and Rhaegar Targaryen — which means Jon is not only a Targaryen himself, but nephew to his current inamorata, Daenerys.
Jon is the character most like his surrogate father: almost blindly loyal, but also open-minded. That dichotomy got Ned executed and Jon assassinated. But Jon was granted a second chance by the witch Melisandre (Carice van Houten), who resurrected him early in Season 6. Jon has learned all the hard lessons Westeros has to offer and is still standing — surely he wouldn't be resurrected just to lose his life again, right?
His would be an honorable reign, likely with Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) remaining as Lady of Winterfell, and perhaps even Queen of the North.
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But if Jon is on the throne, what of Daenerys? Her character is defined by her quest to take the throne back for the family name, and to “break the wheel” of power in the Seven Kingdoms. But her ascendancy would feel a little too narratively clean — what was the point of these eight seasons if it all ended the way Dany said it would back in Season 1?
Maybe she dies giving birth to Jon's child. Maybe she's roasted alive by Viserion, the dragon commandeered by zombie leader The Night King (Vladimir Furdik). Or maybe she decides Westeros is in good hands, and returns to benevolently rule Essos with Tyrion and right-hand woman Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) by her side. I like that last one.
We'll find out on May 19.
• Follow Sean on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.