Any predictions about Game of Thrones and who will end up on the Iron Throne?
honestly? at this point, and i never thought i’d say this… Gendry.
this isn’t even the stan in me talking because i never actually thought he’d become king, or even particularly wanted him to. since season seven and up until the season premiere, i believed we were heading for a Targaryen rule, most likely Jon and Dany getting married and having the much-theorized boatsex baby, which would be cool with me bc i like them. meanwhile fandom expectations for Gendry were SUPER low, i mean all i hoped for him in the final season was that he’d… appear in the episodes? and help even a little? Gendry/Arya fans will tell you that the most we hoped for, with our fingers crossed, was literally that they’d look at each other once.
then episode one aired, and they had the reunion with all the callbacks, and Joe Dempsie showed up in the post-ep videos in Baratheon clothing, on the Spain set, so i was like okay at least he survives the BoW and will probably be legitimized. then episode two aired and the “hmm will they look at each other” thing turned into “okay so they’re lovers now cool cool cool, no doubt!!”. then episode three aired and Arya came even more to the forefront, and he’s now attached to her. and judging by the preview for episode four, they’re reinforcing the relationship.
so then i start to get suspicious and think, if he’s so prominent in the season then why tf is he not in the promo materials? Joe Dempsie is in the opening credits, which means he has an Opening Credits Contract, and yet he isn’t in the posters or photoshoots? then you think, okay, not a major character… but Euron gets a EW cover when the actor is just a guest star? and people who have zero claim on the Iron Throne get a poster of sitting on it, even if they appear in just one episode like Melisandre, but one of like three characters who ACTUALLY has a real claim doesn’t? HBO Twitter makes custom emojis for 20 characters, including for characters like Varys (love him but lbr no one is checking for him), but doesn’t include Gendry? then i’m like, okay don’t think like a stan, maybe the show doesn’t think he’s important enough.
but then you think, it’s not like the show doesn’t know he is a beloved character. narrratively, D&D had him disappear entirely, on purpose, and, i’m quoting Joe here, wanted people to almost forget him in order to maximize the impact of his return. what other character did they plan this for? they let Joe do his annual rowing joke in order to keep the hope alive and didn’t let it die like they did for other fan favorites like Lady Stoneheart. when it was time for him to return they tried to keep it totally secret, which it would have been if Joe hadn’t shown up wearing FLIP FLOPS in BELFAST lmao. in the actual scene of his return, it takes FORTY SECONDS of setting up the reveal, with showing the forge and his hands/arms/back before he even turns around, the show is literally telling you “yep that’s right he’s back, get hype”. all the reactions on youtube were people screaming from the moment we saw the Street of Steel until he turned around, and i guarantee you that HBO monitors all of these. and then the show went there with gendry/arya, which they know will cause a stir. so the show/network KNOW they could milk his presence for promo. but interestingly enough, they don’t.
and another thing… why is House Baratheon still IN the Game of Thrones? Stannis and Shireen have been dead for three seasons, all of Robert’s bastards were murdered, and Gendry is the last Baratheon alive. but the credits sequence, which is masterfully curated and analyzed, frame by frame, still includes the Baratheon sigil in the title card, despite the fact that the main contenders for the throne seem to be just three - Dany for House Targaryen, Jon still essentially representing House Stark, and Cersei for House Lannister. so wtf is the stag sigil still doing there?
now, this could be the HBO marketing/promo department just missing a good opportunity, or just lowballing a character. wouldn’t be the first time. and i have no clue how they would sidestep Jon and Dany for the throne. maybe they set up Gendry to be there to be with Arya (which is fine by me lol), and they’ve totally forgotten about House Baratheon. or… it could all be a giant smokescreen to catch people off guard when it’s time for the ending. in conclusion, i know nothing except that i want my faves to survive. thanks for reading my essay lmao
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