Game of Thrones: Which claimant do you support?

[fhdz]

All this redaction! Are we talking about Wikileaks?

[Razgovory]

No, those guys never gave a damn about spoilers.

[fhdz]

No, those guys never gave a damn about spoilers.

[Viking]

Pfft!! That [spoiler]Mummers Dragon[/spoiler] is a dyed [spoiler]Griffon[/spoiler] in disguise! Remember the [spoiler]House of the Undying[/spoiler] and the [spoiler]prophecy with the mummers dragon[/spoiler] in the [spoiler]house of the undying[/spoiler]!

Well what about the other part in the [spoiler]House of the Undying?[/spoiler]

[spoiler]"Aegon," he said to a woman nursing a newborn babe in a great wooden bed. "What better name for a king?"

"Will you make a song for him?" the woman asked.

"He has a song," the man replied. "He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire." He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door. "There must be one more," he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in bed she could not say. "The dragon has three heads."[/spoiler]

The second one being [spoiler]Dany[/spoiler] and the third being...well...

I'm pretty sure that the baby in the prophecy is the [spoiler]baby that got it's skull smashed in[/spoiler], but do remember [spoiler]Jon[/spoiler] was named by Ned for [spoiler]Jon Arryn[/spoiler] just like [spoiler]Robb[/spoiler] was named for [spoiler]Robert Baratheon[/spoiler]. The whole reference to [spoiler]the woman he loved[/spoiler] in the [spoiler]house of the undying[/spoiler] certainly didn't refer to [spoiler]Elia[/spoiler], though Dany was prone to think that it did. I'm not sure the babe in the prophecy isn't [spoiler]Jon[/spoiler]

[KRonn]

I go with Daenerys. Her family had the throne but were removed by the Baratheons (Stannis, Robert), her father or grandfather killed, she and her brother secreted away. So it seems she has the most legitimate claim. I like her style too. She plays the game of thrones/politics pretty well, tries to be fair minded in her dealings but can be tough and a bit ruthless as needed. Bodes very well for such a young person who would grow and mature even more into the role.

Stannis has a claim as the brother of the former King but Joffrey as the heir, though a false heir has the claim. Joffrey not even the former King's son but few people know that who would want to contest it.

Tywin would make a good King. I think he's one of the smartest of them all, tough, plays the game of thrones and politics well, very savvy and ruthless. But I don't like House Lannister for all their manipulations. I like Tyrion though; he's one of the smartest of them all.

My preference probably would be to see Rob Stark as King but he doesn't likely want that.

[Martinus]

I think Starks make good lords, but they would make lousy kings of the Seven Kingdoms. They can inspire loyalty of their own people, but are completely hapless to the intrigues of those who are not their own people (i.e. the remaining six kingdoms).

Danny ruling the Seven Kingdoms, with the Starks as her vassals in the North, is probably the best alignment (as I think Starks are too honorable to accept someone as ruthless as Tywin as their liege).

[Berkut]

Game of Thrones is a great example of why monarchy sucks so bad.

Dany is the one who is likely the best for the people of Westeros. At least the ones who don't get burned alive when she conquers Westeros.

But she is clearly the exception in her family. They mostly seem to be pretty nucking futs.

[The Minsky Moment]

Joffrey's losing because he's the one the audience knows for a fact has no claim.

Not so.  He is the acknowledged legal heir of the last king.  Can't get much a better claim than that.

Of the three, he clearly is the best choice as well.
Stannis is crushingly unpopular and disliked by all - and has no purpose or reason in seeking the throne other than his sense that he has some abstract right to it.
Danaerys is presented sympathetically, but the hard truth is that wherever she goes, massacre, ruin and calamity follow.  She has no knowledge of the realm she would rule or its people and her track record does not augur great success in cultural adaptation.
Joffrey is a nasty little shit, but his arc suggests a destiny of being dominated by the Tyrells, and there are a lot worse options out there than a Tyrell-dominated imperium.

[Admiral Yi]

How do you get that Stannis is crushingly unpopular? 

[Valmy]

No, the first two were [spoiler]Rhaegar's children, Rhaenys and Aegon[/spoiler]. What he wanted was a third [spoiler]child[/spoiler], and that [spoiler]child[/spoiler] was [spoiler]Jon Snow[/spoiler].

He said it when he was looking directly [spoiler]Dany[/spoiler] and, in any case [spoiler]Aegon is still alive[/spoiler]. 

[Martinus]

True enough. Lannisters and Tyrells are probably two most pragmatic Great Houses of Westeros. And they would play the bad cop/good cop game well.

[Martinus]

How do you get that Stannis is crushingly unpopular? 

The fact that noone but his most loyal bannermen really support him. This is also talked about a lot in the books and in the tv series.

[Valmy]

Game of Thrones is a great example of why monarchy sucks so bad.

Dany is the one who is likely the best for the people of Westeros. At least the ones who don't get burned alive when she conquers Westeros.

But she is clearly the exception in her family. They mostly seem to be pretty nucking futs.

They are either nuts or geniuses.  Obviously Martin is going by the thin line between genius and madness thing.  So  she is not the exception, rather she is the rule...but so is Viserys.

[Valmy]

True enough. Lannisters and Tyrells are probably two most pragmatic Great Houses of Westeros. And they would play the bad cop/good cop game well.

The problem is that would require them trusting each other.  Besides I do not think either are particularly pragmatic, the Lannister policies have been particularly disastrous.

[Maximus]

Joffrey is a nasty little shit, but his arc suggests a destiny of being dominated by the Tyrells, and there are a lot worse options out there than a Tyrell-dominated imperium.

The Lannisters have done a piss-poor job of reining Joffrey in. Hard to believe the Tyrells would be more successful.