Power has a way of corrupting people. The more you get, the more you want. It’s a lesson Game of Thrones has been shoving in our face since pretty much the first day we set eyes on Westeros. Good men and women don’t go far in this world, either because they die (RIP Ned Stark) or they become the very thing they were fighting against (looking at you, Mad Queen Daenerys). But with the Game of Thrones series finale upon us, the Iron Throne is about to have a new owner.
Unfortunately, Dany doesn’t seem like a viable option anymore given that she just inflicted mass genocide on thousands of innocent men, women, and children. That leaves us with one very obvious option — a person who has both a solid claim to the crown and just enough disinterest in ruling to make him a just leader. That’s right, folks — judging from the way things are going it’s becoming more and more obvious that Jon Snow will win the Iron Throne on Game of Thrones because sure, let’s give all the power in the world to another straight white man. What could possibly go wrong, right?
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Strictly speaking, Jon does sound pretty good on paper. He’s from two very prominent households; he was the Commander of the Night’s Watch; he became King in the North; he pretty much single-handedly created an alliance with the Free Folk; and he has the love of the people. Not to mention that fact that he doesn’t want the job, which probably makes him the perfect choice. (Those who don’t want to rule tend to be the ones most fit to rule.)
He did come back to life for some reason, and he's shown that deep down he's good (see him saving King's Landing citizens from Northmen who were all too ready to pillage the second Dany put her dragon to work). There also aren't many actual contenders left. Cersei is dead, Dany has gone mad, and Tyrion is almost certainly on the chopping block going into the finale. There's the whole Gendry-is-a-Baratheon thing to contend with, but the show seems to be pretty done with his storyline. The only truly viable Iron Throne options are Starks. Bran would be terrible and Sansa seems to have been forgotten by the writers, so that leaves Jon.
Perhaps he’d name Sansa as his Hand and make Arya his Commander of the Kingsguard. The Seven Kingdoms would certainly be in good hands under their regime and it would be a nice thing to see the Starks finally win. Maybe that’s what the mysterious Winterfell crypt teaser was hinting at all along — that Jon, Sansa, and Arya would be the ones in power, standing together as a united front.
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It’s decent theory, full of hope and prosperity. And yet I can’t help but feel annoyed that this is the way things are looking to play out. Jon’s talents would be wasted on the throne and should go to someone who’s proven to have both the smarts and strategic mind to govern others. Like, say, Sansa, for example. I mean, if you’re going to turn two of the show’s most important female characters into villainous tyrants, maybe it’d also be good to show a queen in power who doesn’t help to perpetuate the dangerous stereotype that women are unfit to rule? I don’t know, just an idea. But Game of Thrones has always struggled with developing its female characters, so it seems unlikely that a Sansa coronation is in our future.
Jon has been time and again raised a good guy doing his best. He's survived impossible situations. And technically, he's the guy who's supposed to take the throne.
So, seeing how predictably these past few episodes have unfolded, the throne will probably go to Jon (which is a tired prediction from way back in the early seasons), proving that despite Daenerys’ attempt to break the wheel, history always has a nasty habit of repeating itself — even in a fantasy world like Westeros.