Jon Snow can become King of Westeros without it being cheesy or cliche

[LordPathera]

Any idea can be interesting and no-cliche.

It just depends on how the idea is conveyed and told.

If Jon did end up as King of Winter/King on the Iron Throne, I'm confident that Martin knows how to make it work.

PS: I believe that the Iron Throne will remain empty at the end of the series or that the 7 Kingdoms will become independent kingdoms once more. There appears to be an underlying theme that no king can hold true power over so many self-powerful realms with relatively little power by themselves by comparison. (IT Ruler is blatantly reliant on the strength of the Lord Paramounts in times of war after all.)

[JonisHenryTudor]

To be honest, cliche is fine as long as it is fresh, interesting, and well written.

[Laughing Storm Reborn]

Put Robert's corpse in the damn throne... a good Hand of the King, and the folk and noble elite would rejoice... The End

[Daendrew]

By becoming unKing of Westeros.

[TheKingoftheSevenKingdoms]

I've noticed in a lot of threads that the idea of Jon Snow sitting the Iron Throne (assuming R+L=J) is met with ridicule, as people consider that it fits too much with the trope of the "hero of humble and not ordinary origins that rises up to be the ultimate hero", and there's no way it's going to happen. I assume this is the majority's opinion, as almost all people (but not all) seem to dislike the idea of Jon being king because it's too cheesy.

However, Jon Snow can become King, and it can fit GRRM's gritty style perfectly.

For that, look at another fantasy book series: Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy. In that harsh, bitter, cynical, ultra-realistic and gritty book series a character (who is a bastard) becomes king at the end of the series. However, it is really horrible for him, because he is trapped in an unhappy political marriage, manipulated by his corrupt and ambitious councilors, etc. He finds that becoming king has actually made his life worse.

The same could happen with Jon. Have him become king, but then be really unhappy and depressed with his life, hating the politics and lack of a clear purpose, wanting to return to the simplicity and "honor" of the Night's Watch, but not being able to, because he knows he must do his duty being king, even if he hates it.

So, there's a bittersweet, "non-fairytale" ending, with Jon being King. And with R+L=J and him probably being Azor Ahai, it could easily happen. What do you think?

Mate, on this forum, it will a hard sell seeing Jon as King seeing how most people are jaded to idea. Everyone wants him to either:

1. Become King in the North

2. Become Night's King

3. Stay as Lord Commander (70% of this forum from my observations)

4. Die during the War so Daenerys can stay as Queen

5. Disappear like Azor

Almost no one wants him to rule Westeros because they think its "predictable" and "bad writing" or "anti-feminist" or "cheesy" or "unrealistic". They can go to hell. If it doesn't happen ok good then, but I think Jon with the right people helping him could make an excellent King. In the words of Jim Gordon, "he's the king that Westeros needs, but doesn't deserve. Daenerys is the queen Westeros deserves, but doesn't need

[The Missing Crannogman]

So you want to make him Robert Baratheon

[Julia H.]

So you want to make him Robert Baratheon

My thoughts exactly. The series starts with a king whose life became worse after he had won his crown (unhappy political marriage, corrupt and ambitious councillors, overall disappointment etc.), and that point is brought home to the reader in the very first book. Why would Martin spend another six volumes on trying to make essentially the same statement?