Will the series end with 1 king for the 7 kingdoms or 7 kings/queens?

[Chilli]

I was wondering how GRRM would end the series. In normal stories you have one (hidden) prince who defeats the enemy and becomes king in the end (and finds himself a beautiful queen). But I don't think GRRM would choose a classical end or would he? He said the ending would be bittersweet. Would he end with Jon making a pact with/defeating the others and then becomes king and marry Dany/Val/...?

Or would he end the stories with 7 kingdoms like Westeros was before Aegon's landing? And then we would need to have 7 kings/queens:

Sansa/Sweetrobin could be queen/king in the Vale, Bran/Rickon king in the north, Tyrion king of the Rock, Shireen/Edric/Gendry queen/king of the Stormlands, Theon/Asha king/queen of the Iron Islands, Edmure king of the Riverlands, Arianne queen of Dorne, Margaery/Willas/Loras/Garlan queen/king of the Reach. Or there could be some surprise kings/queens depending on who survives the long night.

And Dany could be queen of Essos like Aegon was of a united Westeros.

[Free Northman Reborn]

Tough one.

Personally, I think he is quite invested in the idea of the Iron Throne. And the immense amount of effort he has since gone into to flesh out all the Targaryen kings and their relatively short, insignificant 300 year rule, leads me to believe that he will retain the Iron Throne.

I of course hope for the opposite, namely for a breakup of Westeros back into its constituent kingdoms. That might happen. In which case the Targaryen rule will eventually be seen as just a brief, anomalous blip in the ten thousand year history of the Seven Kingdoms.

At the moment, Jon's birth secrets and Dany's extensive plotline makes me lean towards a united outcome for Westeros, at the end. But there's always hope for an alternative ending. And I will cling to that hope until it is dashed once and for all.

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

Probably even smaller kingdoms. The Starks, Lannisters, Baratheons, Greyjoys, they've all lost a lot of their authority over their more obstinate vassals; I expect the Boltons, Ryswells, Dustins, and others to make a go at independence in the political vacuum after the dust settles.

[Free Northman Reborn]

Sacredorderofgreenmen

That is an utterly improbable outcome. Basically, it won't happen.

If anything, the Boltons will go extinct. Or else be brought to heel more firmly than ever before. Same with the likes of the Freys, and other upstarts that overreached themselves.

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

Sacredorderofgreenmen

That is an utterly improbable outcome. Basically, it won't happen.

If anything, the Boltons will go extinct. Or else be brought to heel more firmly than ever before. Same with the likes of the Freys, and other upstarts that overreached themselves.

Explain what you mean?

[Free Northman Reborn]

Well, it is rather obvious that the smaller Houses that made a play for higher honors, backed the wrong horse. Tywin is dead, and thus the Bolton/Frey alliance have lost their sponsor.

And back home, everyone hates the Bolton's guts. Once the Starks return - and we all know they will - the Boltons will have nowhere to run, and no one to protect them. So the idea that they will gain some type of advancement from their betrayal, in the long term, is improbable. In fact, it is a non-starter.

Their best hope is for the Starks to be merciful once again, like they have been with every Bolton rebellion in the past. But in my view that is a vain hope this time around.

As for the Freys: They don't even have that hope. They are done for.

So once the Starks return, they will be stronger than ever. Maybe even Kings in the North again, as opposed to mere Lords.

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

Well, it is rather obvious that the smaller Houses that made a play for higher honors, backed the wrong horse. Tywin is dead, and thus the Bolton/Frey alliance have lost their sponsor.

And back home, everyone hates the Bolton's guts. Once the Starks return - and we all know they will - the Boltons will have nowhere to run, and no one to protect them. So the idea that they will gain some type of advancement from their betrayal, in the long term, is improbable. In fact, it is a non-starter.

Their best hope is for the Starks to be merciful once again, like they have been with every Bolton rebellion in the past. But in my view that is a vain hope this time around.

As for the Freys: They don't even have that hope. They are done for.

So once the Starks return, they will be stronger than ever. Maybe even Kings in the North again, as opposed to mere Lords.

Well, everyone of course hates him except his own vassals.

Lol, yeah, the Freys are going the way of the Rat Cook.

I don't see anyone taking the IT.

But I am thinking about a Westeros utterly depopulated. Like, who will have a big enough army to conquer much outside their immediate domain? The Starks are gonna have tree-god king in the form of Bran the Rebuilder, and Arya too, but like, almost no living vassals to recruit much of an army from.

That's my speculative vision anyway; the Age of Heroes reborn, the one hundred little kingdoms of the First Men being slowly reconsolidated.

[Chilli]

That's my speculative vision anyway; the Age of Heroes reborn, the one hundred little kingdoms of the First Men being slowly reconsolidated.

I hadn't thought of that, but that's also a possibility.

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

I hadn't thought of that, but that's also a possibility.

"History is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging. What has happened before will perforce happen."-Rodrik the Reader, AFFC.

"Old powers waken, shadows stir. An age of wonder and terror will soon be upon us. An age for gods and heroes."-Leo Tyrell, AFFC

[King Viserys Targaryen IV]

1 King and Queen for 8 Kingdoms

[Mal Malenkirk]

I'd prefer several smaller kingdoms, I'd be more hopeful for the future with some competition rather than a stagnant empire.

If you looked at the Earth in the 15th century, you'd see several large empire; China, the Ottomans, the Moguls, even the Aztecs, And which of these large empires went on to dominate the world in the following centuries? None of these, it's the various small european kingdoms that developped the most, probably in part because they were pushed by their competition against each other.

So yeah, break it down. It's not like the Seven Kingdoms were such a rousing success in their 300 years of history.

[The Black Adder of Dorne]

If you looked at the Earth in the 15th century, you'd see several large empire; China, the Ottomans, the Moguls, even the Aztecs, And which of these large empires went on to dominate the world in the following centuries?

In all of these cases, the rulers were of a different ethnic group to most of their population and saw them as a subhuman 'other' to be subjugated and milked for wealth rather than enriched. As a result they were internally divided. I think this was the bigger reason for the fall of those empires, among some other causes. That same competition you cite led to half of Europe wiping each other out in wars. Avoiding such a loss of lives is the main benefit of having the Iron Throne (until the war of Five Kings).