A Game of Thrones (contains spoilers)

[fairweatherfan]

Jon will not end up on the throne. He will kill Dany and refuse the "throne", unless Drogon melts it down, in which case there will not be one. He will go north and live with the "free folk" with Tormund and Ghost.
Somehow Bran will end up ruling Westeros. He did some sneaky sh!t that we'll finally get to find out in the finale.
This will be an effed up ending. I will watch it though, as I did the Sopranos. Some of you know how bizarre that ending was.

Looks like someone has seen the supposed spoilers on Reddit or around the internet.

Yeah I wasn't going to comment on that aspect of it.

Bran ruling would be as ridiculous as some of the other plot decisions that came out of nowhere, so sure, that makes sense.  A cripple with no allegiance from the populace who speaks in fragmented, cryptic sentences and doesn’t consider himself to be a human, and who has shown zero leadership, strategy, or desire to rule, would make a great king, at least until he was knifed 2 hours after being crowned.

I could see Jon leaving, but only if a firm plan that would sustain peace was in place.  King Bran wouldn’t really achieve that goal.

I think the populace would be lukewarm but mildly favorable to replacing dragonfire with defenestration.

In any event if Bran does wind up in charge somehow, you've gotta believe that's how it's supposed to go down in the books too.

[PhoSita]

Jon will not end up on the throne. He will kill Dany and refuse the "throne", unless Drogon melts it down, in which case there will not be one. He will go north and live with the "free folk" with Tormund and Ghost.
Somehow Bran will end up ruling Westeros. He did some sneaky sh!t that we'll finally get to find out in the finale.
This will be an effed up ending. I will watch it though, as I did the Sopranos. Some of you know how bizarre that ending was.

Looks like someone has seen the supposed spoilers on Reddit or around the internet.

Yeah I wasn't going to comment on that aspect of it.

Bran ruling would be as ridiculous as some of the other plot decisions that came out of nowhere, so sure, that makes sense.  A cripple with no allegiance from the populace who speaks in fragmented, cryptic sentences and doesn’t consider himself to be a human, and who has shown zero leadership, strategy, or desire to rule, would make a great king, at least until he was knifed 2 hours after being crowned.

I could see Jon leaving, but only if a firm plan that would sustain peace was in place.  King Bran wouldn’t really achieve that goal.

My issue is more that I can't imagine the various important people agreeing that Bran should be king.  That may not matter if he becomes king by virtue of being the eldest legitimate male Stark, but I find it sort of implausible that the Starks would be seen to have a legitimate claim to the throne.  Assuming he doesn't have a traditional claim to the throne, he would have to be chosen by a council, which means the various heads of houses (such that remain) would have to agree that Bran is the best choice.

That seems very improbable for all the reasons you mentioned.

[Roy H.]

Jon will not end up on the throne. He will kill Dany and refuse the "throne", unless Drogon melts it down, in which case there will not be one. He will go north and live with the "free folk" with Tormund and Ghost.
Somehow Bran will end up ruling Westeros. He did some sneaky sh!t that we'll finally get to find out in the finale.
This will be an effed up ending. I will watch it though, as I did the Sopranos. Some of you know how bizarre that ending was.

Looks like someone has seen the supposed spoilers on Reddit or around the internet.

Yeah I wasn't going to comment on that aspect of it.

Bran ruling would be as ridiculous as some of the other plot decisions that came out of nowhere, so sure, that makes sense.  A cripple with no allegiance from the populace who speaks in fragmented, cryptic sentences and doesn’t consider himself to be a human, and who has shown zero leadership, strategy, or desire to rule, would make a great king, at least until he was knifed 2 hours after being crowned.

I could see Jon leaving, but only if a firm plan that would sustain peace was in place.  King Bran wouldn’t really achieve that goal.

I think the populace would be lukewarm but mildly favorable to replacing dragonfire with defenestration.

In any event if Bran does wind up in charge somehow, you've gotta believe that's how it's supposed to go down in the books too.

Probably so, but I’ve got to think that Martin will have set it up much better.  The plot beats of this season have largely sucked because of their execution rather than because they’re inherently bad ideas.

It is like the earlier conversation about Arya killing the Night King. Prophecies aside, I can buy into that. She is an exceptionally well trained and experienced assassin. We just did not see her using any of those skills. We saw John acting like a hope with idiot, rather than the theory that he was assisting Arya by creating a distraction (and perhaps even being willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good). It could have been a satisfying ending, but it wasn’t.

I have a harder time seeing a satisfying ending with King Bran, but I’m confident in Martin’s abilities,

[fairweatherfan]

My issue is more that I can't imagine the various important people agreeing that Bran should be king.  That may not matter if he becomes king by virtue of being the eldest legitimate male Stark, but I find it sort of implausible that the Starks would be seen to have a legitimate claim to the throne.  Assuming he doesn't have a traditional claim to the throne, he would have to be chosen by a council, which means the various heads of houses (such that remain) would have to agree that Bran is the best choice.

That seems very improbable for all the reasons you mentioned.

I mean he can literally see the past, he could be Littlefinger x1000 and just blackmail his way in if he felt like it. But if it happens bringing the North into the fold plus having supernatural vision and knowledge and being too Dr Manhattan apathetic to do anything horrible with it would make his case.

I have a harder time seeing a satisfying ending with King Bran, but I’m confident in Martin’s abilities,

I'm already picturing an epilogue chapter where in sinister prose we learn that Robin Arryn has invented a portable Moon Door.

[nickagneta]

I want to read the books still to come because they will go into detail about how the characters act and their motivations for acting that way. We will be able to see Jamie's redemption arc was always doomed. We will be able to see Dany going slowly mad than instantly. We will see that Varys didn't just become the stupidest spy in the world rather than the smartest. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I think the story arc in the books will be extremely similar to the television show. I just think through writing from the perspective of each individual character, we will learn those character's thinkings, motivations and desires in detail which will explain the overall story better.

At the very least, the timeline will be better and we might get some explanations as to why the prophecies were off and why.

[keevsnick]

I want to read the books still to come because they will go into detail about how the characters act and their motivations for acting that way. We will be able to see Jamie's redemption arc was always doomed. We will be able to see Dany going slowly mad than instantly. We will see that Varys didn't just become the stupidest spy in the world rather than the smartest. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I think the story arc in the books will be extremely similar to the television show. I just think through writing from the perspective of each individual character, we will learn those character's thinkings, motivations and desires in detail which will explain the overall story better.

At the very least, the timeline will be better and we might get some explanations as to why the prophecies were off and why.

I get that the television guys have some insight from GRRM on how the books are gonna end, but I have no confidence that they actually followed it based on their general incompetence. Books and television are very different, and so many plot lines have been cut or altered that's it's possible they couldn't finish the stories in the same way. I do think Danaerys will go mad in the books, hopefully that it better done. I suspect the WW storyline plays out a lot differently, if only because there is no actual Night King in the books at least right now.

[PhoSita]

My issue is more that I can't imagine the various important people agreeing that Bran should be king.  That may not matter if he becomes king by virtue of being the eldest legitimate male Stark, but I find it sort of implausible that the Starks would be seen to have a legitimate claim to the throne.  Assuming he doesn't have a traditional claim to the throne, he would have to be chosen by a council, which means the various heads of houses (such that remain) would have to agree that Bran is the best choice.

That seems very improbable for all the reasons you mentioned.

I mean he can literally see the past, he could be Littlefinger x1000 and just blackmail his way in if he felt like it. But if it happens bringing the North into the fold plus having supernatural vision and knowledge and being too Dr Manhattan apathetic to do anything horrible with it would make his case.

Sure that stuff makes sense to us as people who are able to see all aspects of the plot.

Does it make sense that the remaining leaders of the great houses would choose him?  I can't imagine that Tyrion, Samwell Tarly, and Jon the Night's Watch Deserter and Illegitimate Stark arguing on his behalf would mean all that much.

I think the idea of choosing Mr. Omniscient to be king makes a ton of sense but it doesn't seem to be the criteria that Westerosi lords are likely to use.

[Moranis]

Jon will not end up on the throne. He will kill Dany and refuse the "throne", unless Drogon melts it down, in which case there will not be one. He will go north and live with the "free folk" with Tormund and Ghost.
Somehow Bran will end up ruling Westeros. He did some sneaky sh!t that we'll finally get to find out in the finale.
This will be an effed up ending. I will watch it though, as I did the Sopranos. Some of you know how bizarre that ending was.

Looks like someone has seen the supposed spoilers on Reddit or around the internet.

Yeah I wasn't going to comment on that aspect of it.

Bran ruling would be as ridiculous as some of the other plot decisions that came out of nowhere, so sure, that makes sense.  A cripple with no allegiance from the populace who speaks in fragmented, cryptic sentences and doesn’t consider himself to be a human, and who has shown zero leadership, strategy, or desire to rule, would make a great king, at least until he was knifed 2 hours after being crowned.

I could see Jon leaving, but only if a firm plan that would sustain peace was in place.  King Bran wouldn’t really achieve that goal.

My issue is more that I can't imagine the various important people agreeing that Bran should be king.  That may not matter if he becomes king by virtue of being the eldest legitimate male Stark, but I find it sort of implausible that the Starks would be seen to have a legitimate claim to the throne.  Assuming he doesn't have a traditional claim to the throne, he would have to be chosen by a council, which means the various heads of houses (such that remain) would have to agree that Bran is the best choice.

That seems very improbable for all the reasons you mentioned.

if the 2 Targs are off the table Bran probably is next in line as Ned and Robert had almost identical claims, but Ned didn't want it and Robert did

[nickagneta]

Jon will not end up on the throne. He will kill Dany and refuse the "throne", unless Drogon melts it down, in which case there will not be one. He will go north and live with the "free folk" with Tormund and Ghost.
Somehow Bran will end up ruling Westeros. He did some sneaky sh!t that we'll finally get to find out in the finale.
This will be an effed up ending. I will watch it though, as I did the Sopranos. Some of you know how bizarre that ending was.

Looks like someone has seen the supposed spoilers on Reddit or around the internet.

Yeah I wasn't going to comment on that aspect of it.

Bran ruling would be as ridiculous as some of the other plot decisions that came out of nowhere, so sure, that makes sense.  A cripple with no allegiance from the populace who speaks in fragmented, cryptic sentences and doesn’t consider himself to be a human, and who has shown zero leadership, strategy, or desire to rule, would make a great king, at least until he was knifed 2 hours after being crowned.

I could see Jon leaving, but only if a firm plan that would sustain peace was in place.  King Bran wouldn’t really achieve that goal.

My issue is more that I can't imagine the various important people agreeing that Bran should be king.  That may not matter if he becomes king by virtue of being the eldest legitimate male Stark, but I find it sort of implausible that the Starks would be seen to have a legitimate claim to the throne.  Assuming he doesn't have a traditional claim to the throne, he would have to be chosen by a council, which means the various heads of houses (such that remain) would have to agree that Bran is the best choice.

That seems very improbable for all the reasons you mentioned.

if the 2 Targs are off the table Bran probably is next in line as Ned and Robert had almost identical claims, but Ned didn't want it and Robert did

If it becomes known that Jon has the best claim, and Dany becomes dead, if Jon turns it down, because he is half Stark, does that give the Stark line the best claim to the thrown being that he is Stark on his mother's side?

Westeros seemed to be okay with the Cersei Lannister's claim being she was the wife and mother of Baratheons, so with no more Baratheons, the claim of the mother/wife side of the last couple kings was allowed. Precedent would then say, since the Baratheons really never had a claim and the Targaryens did, turning to the "married into the Targaryen family"Starks seems like something that could be explained to and accepted by all.

Which Stark? I guess after Jon, Bran has the best Stark claim though I would prefer a Tyrion and Sansa royal couple on the thrown.

[PhoSita]

I think it makes sense that there would be a council to decide who has the best claim.  In the books it's made clear that such councils will tend to pick a man and will usually choose whoever they like best, regardless of which person technically has the best claim.

In that regard, it seems to me that if Jon is not an option, they would select somebody who at this point is relatively obscure or hasn't been seen on screen in a while, e.g. Edmure Tully, or Robin Arryn (w/ Yohn Royce as regent) or something like that.

Historically the southern lords were loathe to consider anybody from the north, anybody from the iron islands, or anybody from dorn.

[Celtics4ever]

I am giving it one more episode to improve and then I am quitting watching it if it does not.   JK

If it becomes known that Jon has the best claim, and Dany becomes dead, if Jon turns it down, because he is half Stark, does that give the Stark line the best claim to the thrown being that he is Stark on his mother's side?

Nope, Gendry would have the best claim, after Jon,  being the **** ( but now legitmized) son of Robert Barratheon.

want to read the books still to come because they will go into detail about how the characters act and their motivations for acting that way. We will be able to see Jamie's redemption arc was always doomed. We will be able to see Dany going slowly mad than instantly. We will see that Varys didn't just become the stupidest spy in the world rather than the smartest. Etc. Etc. Etc.

The audible books were great if you want to give those a try.

[nickagneta]

I am giving it one more episode to improve and then I am quitting watching it if it does not.   JK

If it becomes known that Jon has the best claim, and Dany becomes dead, if Jon turns it down, because he is half Stark, does that give the Stark line the best claim to the thrown being that he is Stark on his mother's side?

Nope, Gendry would have the best claim, after Jon,  being the **** ( but now legitmized) son of Robert Barratheon.

want to read the books still to come because they will go into detail about how the characters act and their motivations for acting that way. We will be able to see Jamie's redemption arc was always doomed. We will be able to see Dany going slowly mad than instantly. We will see that Varys didn't just become the stupidest spy in the world rather than the smartest. Etc. Etc. Etc.

The audible books were great if you want to give those a try.

Oh I started reading the books back in the late 90's. I have read every book 5 times. I am just waiting for the next ones that haven't been released. I think the manner in which Martin tells his story will provide the depth and explain some stuff better than the television show. I think the detail and explanations some desire will be better found in the books yet to come.

[Celtics4ever]

I too look forward to the books, I think Martin will be different as well but I still think that Dany will take a dark turn in the end.

[Silas]

Must be nice to be a speed reader!

[LarBrd33]

I want to read the books still to come because they will go into detail about how the characters act and their motivations for acting that way. We will be able to see Jamie's redemption arc was always doomed. We will be able to see Dany going slowly mad than instantly. We will see that Varys didn't just become the stupidest spy in the world rather than the smartest. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I think the story arc in the books will be extremely similar to the television show. I just think through writing from the perspective of each individual character, we will learn those character's thinkings, motivations and desires in detail which will explain the overall story better.

At the very least, the timeline will be better and we might get some explanations as to why the prophecies were off and why.

On "The Watch" podcast Chris Ryan made a comment about how watching this season is like reading a wikipedia entry for the story.  Pretty accurate.  It just feels like a list of plot points lots of context missing.