Now that the final season of Game of Thrones is about to begin, I’ve had some fun imagining how Westeros might look like after it finishes (I have yet to watch the first episode, so the thoughts below are completely independent of the show). Assuming that the White Walkers are ultimately defeated, of course…
Exhausted from the gruesome battles with the Walkers, Dany and Jon dispatch their closest advisers (Varys, Tyrion, Ser Davos, the Unsullied) back to Essos to rule over the kingdoms left behind. Then they mount the remaining two dragons and fly away westward to find a remote island where they settle to breed dragons, hoping to restore their magnificent race to the world, and to leave behind a fitting legacy for the Targaryen clan, which will end with them. On their journey, they stumble upon Euron’s pirate ship, which they promptly burn and sink to the bottom of the ocean.
With Dany and Jon out of the way, Cersei remains on the Iron Throne, but only for a short while. Her pregnancy was not a ruse to keep Jamie by her side, but she dies at childbirth, thus fulfilling the prophecy that she will be killed by the ‘little brother’ – and that she is only to have three children, since she doesn’t get to see the last one. The child immediately becomes King, raised by his ‘uncle’ Regent Jamie and auntie Brienne, with Bronn as Hand of the King. His conception is never openly discussed, leaving room for countless rumors, from the prevailing theory that his father in The Regent himself, to more obscure possibilities, like Euron Greyjoy, a captain of the Golden Company, even Jon Snow or The Mountain. Among the few remaining faithful, some regard her heir as a blessing by the Mother to show She has not abandoned The Seven Kingdoms; while others scoff that such a preposterous myth was covertly spread by Cersei herself to regain the support of the faith, a plan she ultimately abandoned for fear of losing control (for a second time).
The Red God’s religion doesn’t fare too well either. None of their prophecies about the return of Azor Ahai have been confirmed during the coming of the Winter, and so people across the world have turned against them, hunting down priests and burning them to the stake, to see which one comes back to life, as their God promised. None of the burned ever do.
Bran becomes increasingly lost in his visions, spending his life in a chair under the old weirwood tree, relieving memories of the Building of the Wall (cue the new HBO series, set in those ancient times). Few people are aware that he is the real hero of the war, who wrestled the Night King in his mind throughout the final battle, and managed to distract him long enough for his cousin to land a mortal blow. Arya reconciles with Jaqen, continues her training, and soon becomes a master, opening her own temple/school of the Many-Faced God in Westeros. Nevertheless, she frequently disappears in secret missions, from which she sometimes returns pregnant, always giving birth in the ancestral home. Sansa never remarries and devotes her life to being the Lady of Winterfell, and to raising Arya’s children. But, while they will continue the Stark bloodline, as bastards they still cannot claim the Stark name. And so, after Sansa’s death, House Stark becomes House Snow, a name that has long lost any negative meaning, for it’s now linked for eternity with the Great Hero who Fought Back the Winter, the Slayer of the Night King, The Dragon Rider Jon Snow.
The end! 🙃
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