The End of Game of Thrones: Who Won The Iron Throne
The time has finally come: the end of Game of Thrones. With the final episodes of season 8, the HBO fantasy epic closed the final war with the destruction of the Lannisters, the burning of King's Landing and the embrace of madness by a protagonist. But as the conflict with the White Walkers came to an end in the middle of the season, a key point remained to resolve that was central to the series: the titular game of thrones to decide who would be on the iron throne sit and rule Westeros. Below is a summary of the end of the final, and in particular that ended as the ruler of Westeros - the main motivation for many of the characters from the show that goes back to the very beginning.
Of course, one last warning: there are huge spoilers for the Game of Thrones final beyond this point. Read on at your own risk.
The final episode resolved the conflict between Daenerys Targary and the rest of Westeros after the King's Landing turn, in which she used dragon fire to kill thousands of them after the city surrendered.
Daenerys chose to rule Westeros out of fear because she thought she would never get the love of the people. That also turned out not to be a good choice, because it caused some of the most trusted allies to turn against her.
Eventually, Jon Snow took matters into his own hands and killed Dany to prevent her from becoming the Mad Queen. Drogon melted the iron throne in his complaint before saving with Dany's body - so although a monarch is still needed, there is no longer an iron throne in itself.
Jon left that as the last Targary in Westeros to rule, but killing a queen is something many people face in a ruler - not to mention that Jon has repeatedly said he does not want Westeros to govern.
The survivors of the war formed a council to democratically choose a new ruler, eventually landing on someone who is highly qualified, although a bit weird: Bran Stark.
With his powers of the Three-Eyed Raven, Bran is easily the most wise person in all seven kingdoms, and the fact that he no longer has any desires means that he is a solid choice for a leader if you're looking for someone who will make good decisions for all residents of a country. Where other rulers become small, paranoid or vengeful, Bran's general distance from other people makes him pretty objective.
As Tyrion dictated, there will no longer be a succession to the throne on the basis of heredity; instead, the gentlemen and ladies of Westeros will choose a new leader by vote. Bran also created a strong little council of people who want to make the empire a better place, led by Tyrion Lannister as his Hand of the King. But they won't lead the north. As Sansa said, the north will now be an independent kingdom (or that Sansa is now a queen). That leaves Bran to be the king of the Six Kingdoms.
So what about Jon and the other Starks? As a compromise with Gray Worm and the Starks, Jon was sent back to the Night Watch and then went over the wall with the Freefolk. Sansa Stark is queen in the north and Arya Stark departed from Westeros to explore the world.
Gray Worm and the Dothraki also left the continent and returned to Essos to free more slaves. Daenerys may have disappeared, but she has still left a powerful influence that should lead to a better world for her people on both continents. At least, that's hope.
Of course, one last warning: there are huge spoilers for the Game of Thrones final beyond this point. Read on at your own risk.
The final episode resolved the conflict between Daenerys Targary and the rest of Westeros after the King's Landing turn, in which she used dragon fire to kill thousands of them after the city surrendered.
Daenerys chose to rule Westeros out of fear because she thought she would never get the love of the people. That also turned out not to be a good choice, because it caused some of the most trusted allies to turn against her.
Eventually, Jon Snow took matters into his own hands and killed Dany to prevent her from becoming the Mad Queen. Drogon melted the iron throne in his complaint before saving with Dany's body - so although a monarch is still needed, there is no longer an iron throne in itself.
Jon left that as the last Targary in Westeros to rule, but killing a queen is something many people face in a ruler - not to mention that Jon has repeatedly said he does not want Westeros to govern.
The survivors of the war formed a council to democratically choose a new ruler, eventually landing on someone who is highly qualified, although a bit weird: Bran Stark.
With his powers of the Three-Eyed Raven, Bran is easily the most wise person in all seven kingdoms, and the fact that he no longer has any desires means that he is a solid choice for a leader if you're looking for someone who will make good decisions for all residents of a country. Where other rulers become small, paranoid or vengeful, Bran's general distance from other people makes him pretty objective.
As Tyrion dictated, there will no longer be a succession to the throne on the basis of heredity; instead, the gentlemen and ladies of Westeros will choose a new leader by vote. Bran also created a strong little council of people who want to make the empire a better place, led by Tyrion Lannister as his Hand of the King. But they won't lead the north. As Sansa said, the north will now be an independent kingdom (or that Sansa is now a queen). That leaves Bran to be the king of the Six Kingdoms.
So what about Jon and the other Starks? As a compromise with Gray Worm and the Starks, Jon was sent back to the Night Watch and then went over the wall with the Freefolk. Sansa Stark is queen in the north and Arya Stark departed from Westeros to explore the world.
Gray Worm and the Dothraki also left the continent and returned to Essos to free more slaves. Daenerys may have disappeared, but she has still left a powerful influence that should lead to a better world for her people on both continents. At least, that's hope.
