Who’s up, who’s down?
Everyone freeze as we wait for Season 8
The characters of Game of Thrones laid it all on the table in Season 7. When Season 8 comes around, we’ll see if it was worth it.
The season finale of the series didn’t do much to change the power dynamics in Westeros. (Although it did take a master manipulator off the board.) Going into Season 8, it still seems like anyone can win and anyone can lose.
We ranked the top 10 characters from Sunday’s episode based on how well they’re winning the battle for Westeros, and their own survival.
1. THE NIGHT KING
The leader of the White Walkers remains on top after he and his cool new pet zombie dragon took down the Wall at the very end of the season finale. The Wall was pretty much the only reason our friends in Westeros were able to play their game of thrones for the first seven seasons. Now that the Army of the Dead is marching south, we can only imagine what havoc will follow.
2. JON SNOW,
AKA AEGON TARGARYEN
He may be making some questionable romantic decisions and accidentally punting the chance for peace with his honesty, but you can’t deny biology. With the confirmation that Jon is the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen, he’s the true heir to the Iron Throne, and all but confirmed to be the prophesied “Prince Who Was Promised.”
3. DAENERYS TARGARYEN
Although Jon has pledged fealty to her, Dany is still in a weakened position thanks to his true parentage and her loss of a dragon. Once the truth about Jon comes out, it will be interesting to see which of them retains the most power.
4. ARYA AND SANSA STARK
The Stark sisters share a spot on our rankings after their coordinated takedown of Littlefinger in the finale. Although the ruse felt a bit like it was more for the audience’s sake than Lord Baelish’s,
the Stark women get enormous credit for taking him off the board for good, and thus securing Stark control over Winterfell at long last.
6. CERSEI LANNISTER
Cersei added her own ruse to the mix in the finale, first pledging to help with the war against the White Walkers and then informing Jaime that she has no intention of following through and instead plans to hire the Golden Company to keep her on the Iron Throne. She may be making a bad call for the overall survival of the human race, but she’s still alive and she’s still on the throne. She’s not going out without a fight.
7. TYRION LANNISTER
Poor Tyrion. It hasn’t been a great season for the youngest Lannister sibling. He’s losing ground with Dany on a political level, because his schemes just aren’t working. Adding to this is the possibility that he is harboring unrequited feelings for his queen. He needs to turn his luck around in Season 8 to stay influential and alive.
8. BRAN STARK
Bran, we’re so very glad you finally used your super-cool powers to help! Now, perhaps, instead of checking on everyone’s parental statuses, you can figure out how to defeat the Night King? Cool? Cool.
9. JAIME LANNISTER
We weren’t sure Jaime was going to survive the season, but he managed to escape the treachery of his sister/ lover Cersei and make an honorable decision. His standing in the seven kingdoms will change depending on where he goes next, but we hope he heads north and reunites with Brienne.
10. EURON GREYJOY
So, we guess this guy’s still around, huh? In addition to taunting Theon, Euron apparently is on a mission to get the Golden Company and a wedding night with Cersei, which continues his pattern of getting in the way of our heroes in the most annoying way possible. Hopefully, he will be dispatched early in Season 8.