Who Will Be the Final Royal Couple(s) and What Will Their Situation Be Like?

[Dornishwoman's Husband]

Jon/Daenerys or Aegon/Sansa

I have my ideas for Jon/Dany Small Council members:

- Tyrion Lannister as the Hand of the King

- Arya Stark as the Master of Wisperers

- Marwyn as the Grand Maester

- Samwell Tarly as the Master of Coins

- Davos Seaworth as the Master of Ships

- Edric Dayne as the Master of Laws

- Brienne as the Lady Commander of the Kingsguard

[Fat Mac]

Queen Shireen Baratheon with her King Consort Devan Seaworth.

Davos as Regent and Hand until Shireen comes of age.

[The Meeraculous Third Reed]

Rickon and his Skagosi betrothed ruling (relatively) happily under the guidance of Wyman Manderly, Benjen and Sansa Stark and Howland Reed.

Doran may still be in power in Dorne, Arianne poised to take over when he dies.

No Iron Throne.

[Darryk]

Who I want it to be:

Jon Targaryen and Shireen Baratheon

Who I think it will be:

Sansa and Harry the heir

[The Holy Goat]

I hope for several kingdoms in the end, perhaps each region as it's own soverreign nation. And if that is the case, assuming R+ L = J, I wan't Jon Snow on the throne in the North. With Val perhaps, or one of the spunky northern lasses we've come to know, like Alys Karstark, Wylla Manderly or Lyanna Mormont. Or Shireen Baratheon. I wouldn't mind if Sansa and Jon got together either, because that would be a blissfully normal and happy marriage compared to him marrying someone like Daenerys. Not only do I think their goals and personalities would clash, a nephew/aunt relationship is also less genetically viable than a cousin relationship (which makes the amateur genetecist in me cringe), especially since Daenerys' ancestry (and Jon's, on his father's side) has an above normal rate of brother-sister marriages, and the like.

Afterall, an aunt and nephew shares 25% of their DNA, cousins share "just" 12,5%, and since Sansa's ancestry seem to be free from previous cousin marriages, it's unlikely to have any impact on their descendants - the same might not be the case for a Jon/Dany pairing, especially with Targaryen Madness hovering over them.

As for the rest of Westeros... dunno. I'd like to see Jamie and Brienne and Gendry and Arya and that kind of fluff, but I don't care squat about wether they site on a throne or not. And I'm fine with Aegon and Daenerys in the Crownlands, even if they are closely related. I'm rather ambivalent towards them you see.

[Lady Isobel]

Sam and Gilly :lol:

[EstEst]

Can we get democratically elected Triarchs? Say, Shireen-Rickon, Myrcella-Aegon, and Sansa-Edric.

Jon cannot be a king, because of His Vows.

[Born Sinner]

Jon will never be king, get over it :devil:

[Nausicaä]

Jon and Sansa, yo. Marriage of both love and convenience.

[Golden&Crimson]

What if Jon reinstates polygamy and marries a women from each of te Great houses!

Lets see...

Sansa

Asha

Cersei

Arianne

Margaery

Daenerys

Gods! What a nightmare...

The wives would try to kill each other pretty soon, and two of them would betray Jon and try to kill him!

[Arthur Dayne's Honor]

Lets see...

Sansa

Asha

Cersei

Arianne

Margaery

Daenerys

Gods! What a nightmare...

The wives would try to kill each other pretty soon, and two of them would betray Jon and try to kill him!

Im a huge Jon supporter and all but having that many wives (shivers) plus his jaw would get all cramped up! :P if you get my meaning :leer:

[Golden&Crimson]

Im a huge Jon supporter and all but having that many wives (shivers) plus his jaw would get all cramped up! :P if you get my meaning :leer:

Indeed!

He should have settled with Ygritte.

She was a good lass... despite being a bit wild in bed.

[SkaggCannibal]

It will never be Jon, that's for sure. My preference goes to Shireen+Rickon. Would be a nice way to solve the Northern Independence Problem. Other possibilities I could be happy with: Sansa+Aegon or Sansa+Harry. Last couple doesn't have an actual claim, so don't think it will happen. If Sansa can't be Queen, I hope she gets a place on the Small Council. It's about time a woman gets in.

[TheSilverMint]

I just keep thinking that Sansa is going to end up similar to Queen Elizabeth the first - strong and loved/feared and ruling on her own.

[devilrob6]

SInce the ending will be bittersweet: Stannis (sweet) and Selyse (bitter). :D

[Handle]

I don't think Dany/Jon or Dany/Aegon as Queen/King predictions are likely for reasons of practicality.

It's been established (at least to Dany's satisfaction) that she's barren, so what's the point of retaking the IT when your line will be extinct upon your death? She could adopt some unrelated, talented heir, but that claim would be pretty shaky even by Westerosi standards. From that, it seems that Dany would need to acknowledge either Jon or Aegon as Targaryen at some point. Still, Dany can't produce an heir from marriage, so it would make more sense for Dany to marry for political alliance (assuming Hizdhar conveniently dies) and adopt Jon or Aegon as her son since one or both of her nephews can continue the Targaryen line.

I guess there are workarounds like a polygamous marriage with Jon or Aegon that includes a queen or queens who can produce heirs or some sort of magical OB/GYN for Dany. Barring those solutions, Dany taking the Iron Throne would likely throw Westeros into yet another bloody civil war once she dies. Seeing as Dany doesn't know about Jon or Aegon at this point, I have to wonder if she:

1. hasn't considered the consequences of taking the IT without the possibility of heirs or;

2. has, but isn't concerned

Also, what would be the plan while still married to Hizdahr? Showing up to Westeros and installing a Ghiscari king? That'd just be a political shitstorm (if you'll pardon my High Valyrian). That probably won't be an issue since I don't think I'm alone in assuming that he's as good as dead. At the rate that Dany and Margery are tearing through the husbands, they'll beat Walder Frey's record for surviving dead spouses in no time.

[falcotron]

Barring those solutions, Dany taking the Iron Throne would likely throw Westeros into yet another bloody civil war once she dies. Seeing as Dany doesn't know about Jon or Aegon at this point, I have to wonder if she:

1. hasn't considered the consequences of taking the IT without the possibility of heirs or;

2. has, but isn't concerned

3. expects her eldest child Drogon to take the throne after her

[Newstar]

Hmm...

If you assume that...

1) there is going to be an Iron Throne of some description and a unified Westeros that needs ruling

2) there's going to be an endgame royal couple in charge (as opposed to a queen or king regnant with no spouse in sight, a king with two queens, a queen with two consorts, a kid with a regent, etc. etc.) at the end of ADOS

3) the endgame royal couple is going to be two major characters in play in ASOIAF (as opposed to someone random, the kids of the current generation, or what have you), and

4) the endgame royal couple is going to be a true power couple, meaning they're competent, their rule is of some reasonable duration, and they can function as a team rather than working at cross-purposes or trying to hurt or undermine each other

...then I think it's worth looking at Jaehaerys and Alysanne Targaryen, pretty much the most effective king/queen combo in Westeros history in the governance department. They ruled for an incredibly long time and presided over a period of great peace and prosperity in Westeros. They were aided by probably the most competent Hand of the King ever, Barth, a Septon and a smith's son Jaehaerys hand-picked who excelled in the role and served as Hand for 40 years. They both had accomplishments to their name (brokering peace between the Brackens and the Blackwoods, pacifying the Faith Militant, and abolishing the lord's right to the First Night). Alysanne was truly beloved by the people (thus being called "Good Queen Alysanne"), and had many charities.

More than this, though, Jaehaerys and Alysanne were a true power couple. Alysanne was her husband's most trusted counselor and was very close to him. She also had great influence over him.

Not to say that their relationship was all rainbows and puppies--there's a lot we don't know about them, and GRRM describes her as the Eleanor of Aquitaine of Westeros (which should give you pause when considering Alysanne's relationship with her husband, assuming GRRM isn't just referring to her looks)--but they seem like a good model for figuring out what the endgame royal couple might look like, since Jaehaerys and Alysanne would be the historical forerunners for any endgame ruling royal couple, and GRRM likes to mine the Targ ancestors for parallels with ASOIAF characters (the Young Dragon/Robb, for one).

So, given all that, what was Jaehaerys like?

-"the Old King"

-lived a long life

-NOT a warrior

-known for his diplomatic skill and brokering peace deals

-loved to travel

-GRRM instructed Amoka to picture him holding a quill pen for writing, instead of a sword or a wine cup

...It's probably no coincidence that the best king in Westeros history was not a warrior, and that the best Hand was a bookworm. The nerds shall inherit the Earth Westeros. :D

And what was Alysanne like?

-"Good Queen Alysanne"

-also lived a long life

-GRRM describes her as the "Eleanor of Aquitaine of Westeros" and describes her much as Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor in The Lion in Winter (in looks)

-tall, straight, high cheekbones, clear blue eyes

-a fine archer and hunter in her youth ("hunter/archer" seems to be GRRM's code for "badass lady" :D)

-loved to travel all around the kingdom atop her dragon

-loved the people and was beloved by them

-renowned for her charities

(I wouldn't get too hung up on Alysanne's appearance, since Cersei's historical Targ forerunner is probably Naerys, who also married a womanizing jerk and who also probably had an illegitimate son by her brother/lover, but Naerys was delicate, sickly and devout while Cersei is none of those things. :D)

So of the current cast, who fits these? The interesting thing is that all of the current male contenders for the Iron Throne are warriors. The closest to Jaehaerys would probably be Jon, what with Jon already getting into brokering elaborate deals to keep things running smoothly in ADWD, but Jon is also a warrior and seems poised to play a big role as a warrior in TWOW and beyond.

As for Alysanne, her tendency towards social reform (convincing Jaehaerys to abolish the First Night tradition) screams "Dany," and her love of charitable works and being loved by the people has a Dany/Margaery flavour to it. Alysanne did seem to love the people in truth, however, and with Margaery it all seems like an elaborate publicity stunt, so this aligns her a bit with Dany as well. Alysanne seems to have a bit more of an adventurous, cosmopolitan side, what with traveling all over, and that seems like more of an Arya trait to me. Ditto for the hunting/archery bit. In looks alone, she sounds like Sansa (tall, blue-eyed, high cheekbones, etc. etc.), but that seems to be where the similarities end, although I suppose Sansa could develop a taste for charitable works were she ever in a position to do so.

[falcotron]

Alysanne seems to have a bit more of an adventurous, cosmopolitan side, what with traveling all over, and that seems like more of an Arya trait to me.

More than Dany? In her life time, she's been from Westeros to Qarth and a third of the way back, and she's obviously got a lot more traveling to do. Some of it by dragon. And to a lot more cosmopolitan and diverse places than three western cities and a collection of dirt farms and rural castles in the Riverlands.

Of course for sheer distance Melisandre's gone farther, and Euron is probably the most well-traveled person alive… but other than them, have any named characters seen anywhere near as much of the world as Dany?

As for the king under your theory… poor Maester Aemon, his time had finally come, but he went the wrong way.

[Newstar]

More than Dany? In her life time, she's been from Westeros to Qarth and a third of the way back, and she's obviously got a lot more traveling to do. Some of it by dragon. And to a lot more cosmopolitan and diverse places than three western cities and a collection of dirt farms and rural castles in the Riverlands.

Of course for sheer distance Melisandre's gone farther, and Euron is probably the most well-traveled person alive… but other than them, have any named characters seen anywhere near as much of the world as Dany?

Sure, Dany's traveled more, but of necessity, not by inclination. With Arya, that drive for adventure, novelty, etc. seems to be something that she would seek out, rather than an unpleasant circumstance thrust on her.

As for the king under your theory… poor Maester Aemon, his time had finally come, but he went the wrong way.

:D Aemon did refuse the crown, as I recall...and while Jaehaerys was remembered as the Old King, he wasn't old when he took the Iron Throne.

An interesting corollary question: if there is going to be a Jaehaerys/Alysanne power couple in charge at the end of the series (Jon/Dany or Jon/Sansa, from the looks of the parallels), who's going to be their Barth?