Odds on who will hold Iron Throne at end

[Lady Blizzardborn]

Timmet, first of his name (through the Arryn claim).

[Led]

I'm with the "no Iron Throne" camp... Think that King's Landing (or at least Red Keep) will be destroyed and that Westeros will be ruled by a council with representatives from each region, slowly moving into a more democratic and peasant-friendly world (the "bitter" of the "bittersweet ending" promised by GRRM being the huge death toll to get there).

Would also find it hilarious if, at some later point, everything Littlefinger did to start the war and create chaos was unearthed and he was remembered as a hero by the smallfolk for starting the revolution, gaining a large statue and lasting fame for something completely different than he anticipated :lol:

[Faydra]

I think Dany has great odds of becoming a queen in Westeros. If not her, then I'm almost certain that it will be someone with Targaryen blood.

Somehow I can't make predictions about Jon. I feel like everything about him can go in all sorts of directions. What I can, is list the characters who, in my opinion, have little chance of succeeding in taking and/or keeping it: Tommen, Margaery, Arianne, fAegon, Stannis, Shireen, Myrcella, Victarion and Euron.

[BalerionTheCat]

KL is starving in summer. All food needs to be brought in. With the long winter, the place will become deserted.

Only places with caverns (like where the Children lived) or protection against the ice will survive.
Winterfell:

The castle had been built over natural hot springs, and the scalding waters rushed through its walls and chambers like blood through a man’s body, driving the chill from the stone halls, filling the glass gardens with a moist warmth, keeping the earth from freezing.

We will return to an "Age of Heroes", with wise leaders ruling both Westeros and Essos. The IT symbol will disappear.
The king: Jon 100% (or his heir, GRRM could kill anyone)
His Hand; Davos 75%, Tyrion 25%
The Queen: Val 50% (but I don't see how she could become a dragon's head)

Dany: Not a chance. She made numerous errors, killing an insane number of innocent people by bringing chaos and plague to the Slaver Bay. In opposition to Jon, she lacks good counselors and will go to her ruin (and maybe madness). She wants to be loved, but sometime, right decisions are unpopular.

[sj4iy]

KL is starving in summer. All food needs to be brought in. With the long winter, the place will become deserted.

Only places with caverns (like where the Children lived) or protection against the ice will survive.

Winterfell:

We will return to an "Age of Heroes", with wise leaders ruling both Westeros and Essos. The IT symbol will disappear.

The king: Jon 100% (or his heir, GRRM could kill anyone)

His Hand; Davos 75%, Tyrion 25%

The Queen: Val 50% (but I don't see how she could become a dragon's head)

Dany: Not a chance. She made numerous errors, killing an insane number of innocent people by bringing chaos and plague to the Slaver Bay. In opposition to Jon, she lacks good counselors and will go to her ruin (and maybe madness). She wants to be loved, but sometime, right decisions are unpopular.

I think Sam has a pretty good chance of being Jon's Hand if Jon becomes King...moreso than Davos or Tyrion, imo.

[Liaraeyne]

Dany has a good chance because she has dragons.

Or maybe Margaery or Littlefinger, since they are highly intelligent.

[BalerionTheCat]

I think Sam has a pretty good chance of being Jon's Hand if Jon becomes King...moreso than Davos or Tyrion, imo.

I see Sam as the "Grand Maester", the maester counseling the ruler.

[HosteenOsteen]

Yes I see Sam as Maester more than Hand.

[sj4iy]

I see Sam as the "Grand Maester", the maester counseling the ruler.

Yes I see Sam as Maester more than Hand.

...there's nothing saying that a Grand Maester can't be the king's hand, if I recall correctly.

[Bastard of Godsgrace]

Child of Jon and Dany 3/10

Jon 2/10

No Iron Throne (Regionalism) 2/10

Iron Throne still exists, but controls only part of Westeros (without The North, Dorne and Iron Islands, perhaps some other lands as well) 2/10

Someone unexpected 1/10

[HosteenOsteen]

I assume the child of Jon and Dany would be named Aegon, no? For some reason this does not seem an appetizing prospect.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

Hosteen Osteen, if Jon and Dany had a child he or she could have any number of names. Rhaegar comes to mind, or Jaehaerys. And why do you assume it would have to be a boy?

[HosteenOsteen]

True, maybe another Rhaenyra. But in a way Shireen would do just as well in that role which is prob why I mentioned a boy.

[chrisdaw]

Robert Arryn should be in the list.

Sansa will have Tyrion name him heir, that way if Tyrion dies she can rule through Robert as Cersei with her children, Sansa might even plan to bump Tyrion off once SR is named heir. Tyrion will consent because Jaime won't want the throne nor want his children to have it, and SR then becomes as good a choice as any, he'll hope to father a heir anyway.

Oh yeah and Tyrion dies at the end fighting the Others.

[Darksnider05]

Don't think there will be an Iron Throne but Dany saw who would sit upon it. She didn't understand what it meant but she saw the Snow.

The Red Keep was in ruins after all looked like it had burned.

[ummester]

Drogon will destroy the Iron Throne and Stannis will be King at the time.

As the dragons destroy the south with fire, Winter will reclaim the north.

[Kyll.Ing.]

I'm firmly within the "No Iron Throne" camp. Considering the Wildfire Plot, and the increasing volatility of the substance over time, King's Landing is a doomed city. The only two living people to know about the Plot are Jaime and Brienne, and I bet neither of them know much about Wildfire. They would both assume it loses its potence over time, and that it's currently approximately as dangerous as bottled wine. Besides, even if they knew, neither of them are around to warn about the threat, and they have a few other difficulties to deal with at the moment.

We should also remember Martin's infatuation with ruins of former grandeur (apparently reflected in his family background). He's been pretty heavy on ruined cities and castles, such as Harrenhal, Summerhall, Castamere, Chroyane, Valyria, most of the castles along the Wall... that stuff is everywhere. Places of former greatness, where people fought and died, where dreams were realised or crushed, places where great power was held, but now are forgotten and ruined. There is strong presedence for sending King's Landing the same way.

There's also the strong regionalism present in Westeros, even after 300 years of united rule. People identify themselves by their region of birth first and foremost, and traditions, feuds and power structures remain roughly the same as they did before the Targaryens arrived. The Targaryens and their dragons were the only things to keep the realm united, and now the Targaryens are gone. While the central institution they built is still intact, it's a weak construction, surviving only because people seem to believe what worked under the Targaryens still works today. Okay, the rulers have changed, but everything else still is the same, right?

Not quite. After the War of the Five Kings, the reach of King's Landing seems not to stretch very far. The North has effectively declared independence, most of the lords follow Robb's idea of a separate Northern kingdom instead of Bolton's attempt at unity. The Riverlands are in a similar position, with only a couple of Houses supporting unity, against the notions of all the rest. The Iron Islands have also declared independence, the Vale has turned isolationist, and Dorne doesn't seem particularly loyal to the Throne at the moment either. They might accept unity on their own premises, but if any Dornish-backed claimant fails to get the throne, they're likely to pull out of the union. That leaves the Westerlands, the Reach, the Crownlands and the Stormlands under the throne... or, well, the Stormlands seem to constantly be under rebel control, whether that is Renly, Stannis or Aegon, so their support of a unified Westeros remains flimsy too. Either way, effectively, the Iron Throne doesn't rule over a third of the Seven Kingdoms any more. Westeros is going back the way it was for thousands of years, no matter who holds the throne or not.

I think the destruction of King's Landing will just be a formality in the end. After the wars, the winter and separatism has taken its toll on the capital, trade will suffer deeply, and the Throne has a difficult time to survive as the ruling seat any more. The city won't have any food, the Throne won't have any money, and the court won't have any influence. The basic necessities of a ruling institution will vanish. When the place finally burns down, all hopes of reconstructing the Seven Kingdoms the way they were under the Targaryens will be stomped out for good, and the Seven Kingdoms will go back to be separate kingdoms again. Apart from the big ruined city on Blackwater Bay, it'll be like the Targaryens were never there.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

Robert Arryn should be in the list.

Sansa will have Tyrion name him heir, that way if Tyrion dies she can rule through Robert as Cersei with her children, Sansa might even plan to bump Tyrion off once SR is named heir. Tyrion will consent because Jaime won't want the throne nor want his children to have it, and SR then becomes as good a choice as any, he'll hope to father a heir anyway.

Oh yeah and Tyrion dies at the end fighting the Others.

Robert Arryn may already have a claim. The Arryns and Targs intermarried. Tyrion however has no power to name anyone heir to anything.

Jaime has no claim to the throne, so why would he be offered it?

Tyrion may well die fighting the Others. It would be his one truly noble, heroic, and unselfish act. He just might volunteer to the be the one flying a dragon into the Heart of Winter. Might need to get good and drunk first, and get a bit of help from Bloodraven or Bran in the steering department though.