Who will end up on the Iron Throne? (Game of Thrones)

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Dany ending up as ruler of Westeros is the dumbest possible ending.  The Iron Throne is something that she's hoped to gain for for most of the series, so the ending is that she does indeed get it?  Boring.  What is her character arc then?  She learns how to be a better ruler?  Again, boring.  Somewhat better would be her having to make a choice between gaining the throne and something more important (e.g., the survival of the human race).

I guess Jon ending up on the throne would be a little better, but still not my preferred outcome.  If anyone's going to end up as a monarch at the end (and I still think it's possible that no one will), my preference would actually be Sansa.  Her arc would be that she got what she wanted from the beginning (to be queen), but not under the circumstances that she wanted, and only after all of her fantasies about the royal life have been shattered.

Yes, I just said that a similar arc would be dumb for Dany, but that's because Dany has already been a Queen for half the series, so I don't think it works the same for her.  It would work better for Sansa, if they're going to go that route with anyone.

Before we talk about character arcs, let me remind you that one of the show-runners (David Benioff) is a man who has been quoted as saying "Themes are for eighth grade book reports."

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Write in:

Arya

I would have still considered her a remote possibility... but she proved this season that won't happen. Not only does she absolutely abhor it... she told Sansa how she'd kill every lord who disagreed with Jon. Like... that's worse than Joffrey. She wouldn't last a day with that attitude.

Is OP talking about the books or show?  Because for all practical purposes, they might as well be treated as two completely distinct and unrelated entities who happen to have characters sharing the same names.  The complete and utter bastardization of Arya in the show is a great example of this; ShowArya and BookArya really don’t have much of anything in common anymore from both a story arc and characterization perspective.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Write in:

Arya

I would have still considered her a remote possibility... but she proved this season that won't happen. Not only does she absolutely abhor it... she told Sansa how she'd kill every lord who disagreed with Jon. Like... that's worse than Joffrey. She wouldn't last a day with that attitude.

Is OP talking about the books or show?  Because for all practical purposes, they might as well be treated as two completely distinct and unrelated entities who happen to have characters sharing the same names.  The complete and utter bastardization of Arya in the show is a great example of this; ShowArya and BookArya really don’t have much of anything in common anymore from both a story arc and characterization perspective.

I hear you, but the creators and GRRM have made sure that the major plot points are in sync. For example, once the shows passed the books, GRRM told them about "Hold the Door," burning of Shireen, R+L=J, etc., to make sure that there wouldn't be any major convergence.

What I remember reading was that GRRM told them certain key plot points, but not how the characters end up there, the situational context (which I’m pretty sure will be pretty different when Shireen is burned), etc.  Also, it remains to be seen how closely D&D follow what they were told given what we’ve seen from the show so far.  Ex: Removing the Valonquer stuff is a huge divergence.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I’m sure book-readers like me will find something to complain about no matter who it is

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

So pumped ... based on the teasers and the trailer, I think they are probably going to avoid the monumentally dumb writing mistake of killing off the White Walkers threat in Episode 3 (presumably the big battle at Winterfell) only to have the main, final conflict be just another civil war for the Throne they have been putting in seven seasons' work worth of delegitimizing ... my prediction as of now is that our heroes lose the battle in Episode 3 and have to flea south, making the final battle (presumably in Episode 5) kind of a hybrid conflict of them trying to take King's Landing in time for them to be able to defend against the White Walkers one more time only to have the White Walkers show up during a battle with Cersei.  That'd be epic.

Also, the Throne cannot survive the series, I'm sorry.  All of this foreshadowing of "breaking the wheel" and themes of nobility oppressing the common folk and this all being a broken system and "the real war" yet to come from the threat to the north and all that ... it'd be completely ruined by the Throne being heralded as the final prize still and our characters learning nothing.  Not George's style, IMO.  The world they have left will have to be fundamentally changed, and I believe that they will have to do something to defeat the Night King that will "ruin" the Westeros they knew going forward, including probably the complete destruction of King's Landing.

So excited!

Tbf, the "themes are for book reports" (actual quote) style of D&D's show couldn't be more different than GRRM's style.  At this point, GOT has basically become a beer and wings show about dragons and ice zombies

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Don't care anymore.

The fanbase has just completely ruined any enjoyment I have for this show.