We hate to alarm you, but there are approximately eight episodes left for Game of Thrones…ever. In just eight episodes, we'll know who wins the Game of Thrones and who dies, since those are officially the only two options. (Or at least we assume someone's going to win the throne, and everyone's not going to die, though that is always a possibility.)
With the sudden return of Robert Baratheon's bastard Gendry and the new revelation that Rhaegar Targaryen was, in fact, married to Lyanna Stark when Jon Snow was born (meaning he's a legitimate Targaryen heir), it feels like the right time to discuss exactly who on this show has legitimate claims to the Iron Throne, why none of that may even matter anymore, and who should be on at that throne when this all comes to a glorious end.
First, a background refresher.
The Targaryen family ruled the seven kingdoms through 17 different kings, all of them marrying into their own family in order to keep the bloodline pure. Aerys was the last Targaryen king, and after he went mad, he was taken down by rebels in the houses of Stark, Baratheon, Tully, and Arryn.
After Jaime "King Slayer" Lannister—a member of his own kingsguard and the son of his Hand of the King—murdered Aerys, Robert Baratheon took the throne.
So technically, a Baratheon or a Targaryen could legally claim the throne, but based on the way the Baratheons ended up there in the first place, anyone could really be the next King or Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. The question we're now asking is who deserves to be on that throne…as well as how likely they are to be able to get there.
Who do you think deserves to sit on the Iron Throne at the bitter end? Sound off in the comments below!
Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.