Vote for the next ruler of Westeros!

[Middle-aged Europe]

http://thegotparty.com/

This is hilarious. The candidates are:


Daenerys Targaryen/Tyrion Lannister

Platform:
- Freedom for the Known World
- Rebuilding the Dragon Population
- Uniting Essos and Westeros
- Female Empowerment
- Restoring her Divine Right to the Seven Kingdoms


Jon Snow/Lyanna Mormont

Platform:
- Northern Sovereignty
- Rebuilding the Night’s Watch
- Allowing the Free Folk to Settle the Gift
- Inheritance Rights of Illegitimate Children
- Preparing for the Long Night


Cersei Lannister/Qyburn

Platform:
- Bailing Out the Iron Bank
- Pro Trial by Combat
- Separation of Church and Crown
- Family Advocacy
- Revising Line of Succession to the Iron Throne


Petyr Balish/Sansa Stark

Platform:
- Small Business Growth
- Reducing Debt to the Iron Bank
- Diplomatic Ties to the North
- Innovation in Transportation

[Antonio the Sixth]

As a Stark loyalist, I'd very much like to vote for Sansa (especially knowing that Jon has Targaryen blood... eww), but if she actually associates with the scum who betrayed Ned she'll have forfeited any dynastic right. So Jon I guess.

[dead0man]

I can't vote for Cersei/Hillary because I have a brain.  I can't vote for Littlefinger/Trump because I have a heart.  So it's down to Dragonlady/Stien or Snow/Johnson...hmmmm


I'll vote for Snow and the wall!

[RINO Tom]

Snow, though Balish does seem like the socially liberal, fiscally conservative™ option.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Snow, though Balish does seem like the socially liberal, fiscally conservative™ option.

Littlefinger is basically one of those "nice guys" who spends his days on reddit whining about how all women are superficial, heartless bitches.

[RaphaelDLG]

Jon Snow, though he's not great and the bottom of her ticket makes Daenerys a lot more palatable.

Troll answer:  Cersei, because VP Qyburn is the man!!!

[RI]

Petyr Balish/Sansa Stark

- Innovation in Transportation

lol

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Write-in: Arya Stark/The Hound

[Frodo]

Danaereys Targaryen, with Jonathan Stark (yes, even when he finds out about his Targaryen lineage, he will still identify more as a Stark) as Warden of the North.  

[Kingpoleon]

Petyr Balish/Sansa Stark(sane, doesn't know what Westeros is, votes based on the best sounding platform)

[Goldwater]

...This is  a Game or Thrones thing, isn't it?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Write-in: Lady Stoneheart/Margaery Tyrell. (Margaery alive in books. Margaery making album of books. Fast rap Margaery books.)

Of these options, Jon/Lyanna.

As a Stark loyalist, I'd very much like to vote for Sansa (especially knowing that Jon has Targaryen blood... eww), but if she actually associates with the scum who betrayed Ned she'll have forfeited any dynastic right. So Jon I guess.

To be fair to Sansa, she's a traumatized teenage girl and he's a creepy pimp who's blatantly grooming her.

[Antonio the Sixth]

To be fair to Sansa, she's a traumatized teenage girl and he's a creepy pimp who's blatantly grooming her.

Of course, and besides, she's not even supposed to know the role Littlefinger played in Ned's death. Still, I really hope she's grown smart enough to know who to trust (read: I really hope the screenwriters won't decide to derail her character yet again as they did in season 5 just for the sake of another SHOCKING twist... faint hope, I know).

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

To be fair to Sansa, she's a traumatized teenage girl and he's a creepy pimp who's blatantly grooming her.

Of course, and besides, she's not even supposed to know the role Littlefinger played in Ned's death. Still, I really hope she's grown smart enough to know who to trust (read: I really hope the screenwriters won't decide to derail her character yet again as they did in season 5 just for the sake of another SHOCKING twist... faint hope, I know).

They didn't derail her character in season five.  Season six OTOH...

[Antonio the Sixth]

To be fair to Sansa, she's a traumatized teenage girl and he's a creepy pimp who's blatantly grooming her.

Of course, and besides, she's not even supposed to know the role Littlefinger played in Ned's death. Still, I really hope she's grown smart enough to know who to trust (read: I really hope the screenwriters won't decide to derail her character yet again as they did in season 5 just for the sake of another SHOCKING twist... faint hope, I know).

They didn't derail her character in season five.  Season six OTOH...

What are you talking about? Yeah, I don't really understand why she didn't tell Jon about the Vale army, but that's excusable IMO. Certainly more so than the utter nonsense of the Winterfell plot in season 5.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

To be fair to Sansa, she's a traumatized teenage girl and he's a creepy pimp who's blatantly grooming her.

Of course, and besides, she's not even supposed to know the role Littlefinger played in Ned's death. Still, I really hope she's grown smart enough to know who to trust (read: I really hope the screenwriters won't decide to derail her character yet again as they did in season 5 just for the sake of another SHOCKING twist... faint hope, I know).

They didn't derail her character in season five.  Season six OTOH...

What are you talking about? Yeah, I don't really understand why she didn't tell Jon about the Vale army, but that's excusable IMO. Certainly more so than the utter nonsense of the Winterfell plot in season 5.

The Winterfell plot made perfect sense and was nowhere near as graphic or bad as what happens in the books.  What did you think Ramsay was going to do on his wedding night?  The same thing as Tyrion?  

Sansa's whole arc in season six made no sense because literally no groundwork was laid for such a complete 180 in her depiction/characterization.  Her season six arc was muddled, poorly written, and to be blunt, pretty stupid imo.  

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

Dany is my favorite character (going back to reading the books in the early 2000s) so that has to be my vote.  But real life, based on platform it would be Littlefinger.

[Antonio the Sixth]

To be fair to Sansa, she's a traumatized teenage girl and he's a creepy pimp who's blatantly grooming her.

Of course, and besides, she's not even supposed to know the role Littlefinger played in Ned's death. Still, I really hope she's grown smart enough to know who to trust (read: I really hope the screenwriters won't decide to derail her character yet again as they did in season 5 just for the sake of another SHOCKING twist... faint hope, I know).

They didn't derail her character in season five.  Season six OTOH...

What are you talking about? Yeah, I don't really understand why she didn't tell Jon about the Vale army, but that's excusable IMO. Certainly more so than the utter nonsense of the Winterfell plot in season 5.

The Winterfell plot made perfect sense and was nowhere near as graphic or bad as what happens in the books.  What did you think Ramsay was going to do on his wedding night?  The same thing as Tyrion? 

Sansa's whole arc in season six made no sense because literally no groundwork was laid for such a complete 180 in her depiction/characterization.  Her season six arc was muddled, poorly written, and to be blunt, pretty stupid imo. 

The point is that Sansa by the end of season 4 was smart enough to know all that and thus would never have followed along Littlefinger's stupid idea (and she also knew she couldn't quite trust Littlefinger). In season 5 her character regresses to what it was around seasons 1/2. She does an 180° in season 6 in order to rectify that.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

To be fair to Sansa, she's a traumatized teenage girl and he's a creepy pimp who's blatantly grooming her.

Of course, and besides, she's not even supposed to know the role Littlefinger played in Ned's death. Still, I really hope she's grown smart enough to know who to trust (read: I really hope the screenwriters won't decide to derail her character yet again as they did in season 5 just for the sake of another SHOCKING twist... faint hope, I know).

They didn't derail her character in season five.  Season six OTOH...

What are you talking about? Yeah, I don't really understand why she didn't tell Jon about the Vale army, but that's excusable IMO. Certainly more so than the utter nonsense of the Winterfell plot in season 5.

The Winterfell plot made perfect sense and was nowhere near as graphic or bad as what happens in the books.  What did you think Ramsay was going to do on his wedding night?  The same thing as Tyrion? 

Sansa's whole arc in season six made no sense because literally no groundwork was laid for such a complete 180 in her depiction/characterization.  Her season six arc was muddled, poorly written, and to be blunt, pretty stupid imo. 

The point is that Sansa by the end of season 4 was smart enough to know all that and thus would never have followed along Littlefinger's stupid idea (and she also knew she couldn't quite trust Littlefinger). In season 5 her character regresses to what it was around seasons 1/2. She does an 180° in season 6 in order to rectify that.

Except 1) she clearly wasn't smart enough to know better in season five and 2) didn't really have a choice.

[Antonio the Sixth]

She had plenty of choice. She could have stayed in the Vale and spill the beans on Littlefinger to have him executed if he tried anything.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

She had plenty of choice. She could have stayed in the Vale and spill the beans on Littlefinger to have him executed if he tried anything.

Both of which would've been 1) terrible decisions narratively speaking (remember, happily ever after storytelling doesn't automatically equal good storytelling), 2) made no sense in the context of the story.  Sansa isn't some sort of brilliant political mind and has always been a God-awful judge of character (kind of a defining feature tbh ).  Either of those (especially the second one) would've been Dorne-storyline level bad ideas.  It's one thing to change certain aspects of the story in an adaptation; it's another to do so in a way that flies directly in the face of the author of the source material's creative vision because it's what you personally would like to see happen.  What you proposed is not an adaptation, it's a fanfic (no offense).

Edit: Sorry if that was a bit harsher than intended, I'm coming down with something and haven't been in the best mood today

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I hardly think it's 'happily ever after storytelling' to have Sansa holed up in the Vale indefinitely, more or less safe but away from home and lonely, but maybe that's just me. Also, that's...that's literally Sansa's current position in the books, minus having Littlefinger executed (which would be so satisfying after everything he'd at that point already done to her father, and her mother, and her, but again, maybe that's just me). Littlefinger is simply not an interesting character. His continued presence is a drag in both the books and the show.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I hardly think it's 'happily ever after storytelling' to have Sansa holed up in the Vale indefinitely, more or less safe but away from home and lonely, but maybe that's just me. Also, that's...that's literally Sansa's current position in the books, minus having Littlefinger executed (which would be so satisfying after everything he'd at that point already done to her father, and her mother, and her, but again, maybe that's just me). Littlefinger is simply not an interesting character. His continued presence is a drag in both the books and the show.

Indeed, it seemed to me that there was a lot to be done in the Vale. I don't know how the book goes, but the show never actually bothered to create an actual intrigue centered there - which, in the situation following Lysa's death, could have been very interesting. You had at least three people (Royce, Littlefinger, and yes, Sansa herself) contending for influence over a fragile and unbalanced child ruler. I thought the point of late season 4 was precisely that Sansa was starting to become more politically savvy, developing some of Margaery's traits (while still remaining a Stark, of course). Season 5 undoes all this character development for the sake of having her be emotionally and physically broken by a sadistic monster yet again. What the hell did that bring to her character OR to the general narrative?

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I hardly think it's 'happily ever after storytelling' to have Sansa holed up in the Vale indefinitely, more or less safe but away from home and lonely, but maybe that's just me. Also, that's...that's literally Sansa's current position in the books, minus having Littlefinger executed (which would be so satisfying after everything he'd at that point already done to her father, and her mother, and her, but again, maybe that's just me). Littlefinger is simply not an interesting character. His continued presence is a drag in both the books and the show.

Indeed, it seemed to me that there was a lot to be done in the Vale. I don't know how the book goes, but the show never actually bothered to create an actual intrigue centered there - which, in the situation following Lysa's death, could have been very interesting. You had at least three people (Royce, Littlefinger, and yes, Sansa herself) contending for influence over a fragile and unbalanced child ruler. I thought the point of late season 4 was precisely that Sansa was starting to become more politically savvy, developing some of Margaery's traits (while still remaining a Stark, of course). Season 5 undoes all this character development for the sake of having her be emotionally and physically broken by a sadistic monster yet again. What the hell did that bring to her character OR to the general narrative?

There wasn't any real political savvy demonstrated in season 4 beyond the mos superficial level.  Also the stuff with Sansa in season 5 had to happen for Theon to break from the Reek identity.  I'd also argue Sansa being stuck in the Vale like to in books would've been really boring (just like in the books ) and she wasn't safe with LF being an even bigger creep than he is on the show (which is saying something) and folks like Ser Lyn Corbrey and Ser Shadrich floating around.  Narrative economy made depicting the post-Lysa chapter-long power struggle impractical.

Edit: Btw, I think you're someone who would definitely like the books more than the show from what you've said because there is more time for things like Arya's post-RW grieving process and generally far more complex emotional conflict with regard to killing (you get the sense that it's something deeply traumatic that has become this poor, sad child's way of dealing with her helplessness in the face of all innocent people/loved ones she wishes she could protect rather than something she enjoys and the arc seems to be partly about holding onto her identity and realizing that revenge won't bring her peace before, IMO and in the books the faceless men have a coherent ideology and never try to force her to stay, at least so far), political intrigue (Roose and Lady Barbrey's schemes in the North/the Manderly storyline, the Kevan-Cersei dynamic, LF actually making some pretty clever post-Lysa political moves in the Vale, Varys having a coherent over-arching plan, etc), far more complex and consistent characterization for certain characters (Tyrion, Sansa, Arya, the Hound, Jon Snow, Varys, and Edmure Tully all come to mind, but there are certainly others), and a non-nihilistic and anti-violence resolution to the Hound's arc. 

OTOH, I think you'd also see (especially in season five) why some of the things you didn't like were done.  The fourth book was awful and the fifth was a mixed bag at best b/c there was a ton of fat (especially the world-building kind) that simply needed to be trimmed. Additionally, some FeastDance storylines (like Brienne's and Sansa's) simply didn't work, to put it mildly.  As a result, the show either merged some storylines from the two most recent books were merged with others (Sansa was given Jeyne Poole's ADWD storyline rather than sitting around in the Vale and being forced to kiss LF shortly before/after calling him "father"), heavily trimmed (Tyrion's endless travelogue, the Kingsmoot/Ironborn subplot), or completely replaced (Brienne and Pod wandering aimlessly through Riverlands).  There are also some folks like Alliser Thorne, the High Sparrow, Tommen, Tywin, Joffrey, Margaery, Olenna, etc who are either far more complex or given far more to do than in the books.  I like the show better overall (despite my huge dislike of certain aspects of season six like Sansa suddenly becoming a politician with no previous groundwork, Tyrion's storyline, etc), but if the next two seasons are like the last one that may change, IDK.  Lastly, you'll find if you read the books that Dorne still sucks   Nothing good except Oberyn ever came out of it in the books or the show.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Also the stuff with Sansa in season 5 had to happen for Theon to break from the Reek identity.

True or not (and in my reading of the storyline it's not), that's a pretty depressing extrinsic purpose to use a female character for. (Which, granted, is a sentiment that could apply to so, so much in both the books and the show.)

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I actually agree with this, but I know plenty of people who don't and am not sure Antonio would.