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Just a roll call of all the random blokes at the Game of Thrones council meeting.

 

WARNING: This post contains a LOT of spoilers for the Game of Thrones finale. If you’re not caught up, come back once you’re ready to properly debrief.

After eight seasons and literally millions of deaths, the final outcome of Game of Thrones all came down to a council meeting. Not quite the adrenaline-pumping drama to which we’ve become accustomed from the HBO epic, but hey, we shouldn’t complain that a bunch of politicians finally discovered the meaning of civility.

But before we get into that, a super quick recap of how we got there.

True heir to the Iron Throne, Jon Snow, fatally stabbed his aunty/lover/Queen, Daeneyres Targaryen, because she’d massacred an entire city with her fire-breathing dragon. He then apparently turned himself in, despite the fact that her grief-stricken reptile took off with her body, meaning he definitely could have gotten away with it (‘Yo, the throne was melted when I got here. Honest.’).

With Jon in prison, someone – presumably Grey Worm – alerted the leaders of the various Westerosi kingdoms that they should probably have a long-overdue catchup about what’s unfolded in Kings Landing. (TO: Heirs of each house who haven’t been murdered yet. BCC: Bran Stark; Arya Stark. SUBJECT: Now what?)

And so they gathered, in their monochromatic tunics, to decide Jon’s fate. Weird start though. Dany’s old Hand, Tyrion Lannister who – despite being on trial for high treason against the slain Queen – took command of the meeting and convinced them to just, you know, pick a new monarch.

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The future of Westeros was therefore left in the hands of 16 members of the Great Council, some of whom were familiar and others who we’d definitely never seen before in 72 hours of Game of Thrones viewing.

Here they are, in order from most-recognisable to ‘who the bleep is that guy’:

Arya, Bran and Sansa Stark.

Image: HBO.

We're not entirely sure why Bran and Arya scored an invite. Sansa, Lady of Winterfell, must have RSVPd 'plus 2' or something, because literally none of the other leaders got to bring their siblings along. She also somehow got to decide that Winterfell would remain an independent kingdom, which the other Lords/Ladies definitely didn't realise was an option.

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Ser Brienne Tarth, Ser Davos Seaworth and Lord Gendry Baratheon.

Image: HBO.

We have newly-knighted Brienne, only heir to the House of Tarth.

Plus everyone's favourite northerner, Ser Davos, a.k.a. The Onion Knight, a.k.a. smuggler turned Hand of the King to Stannis Baratheon turned advisor to Jon Snow.

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And Gendry, the blacksmith bastard of King Robert Baratheon, who was rightfully anointed as Lord of Storm's End by Daeneyres after the Battle of Winterfell.

Samwell Tarly, some dude who might be Howland Reed and Edmure Tully.

Image: HBO.

We know Samwell, representing House Tarly, as Jon Snow's affable best mate and a wannabe maester. And in this scene, he also became the guy who was laughed at for inventing democracy.

On the right, poor old Edmure Tully, Lord of Riverrun and maternal uncle to the Stark kids. He had a crack at pitching for the King gig, but was shot down in a matter of seconds by Sansa. A little rude, sure, but probably also wise.

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In between is some middle-aged bloke who we've never seen before and isn't mentioned by name during the scene. There is speculation, though, that he is Lord Howland Reed, best friend of Ned Stark and dad to Jojen - the boy who helped drag Bran to the old Three-Eyedd Raven - and Meera - the girl who helped drag him back south.

N.F.I., Yara Greyjoy and an attractive Dornish prince.

Image: HBO.
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Another ring-in on the left. Presumably important, but not enough to be named.

Then we have Yara Greyjoy, badass Lord Reaper of Pyke and ruler of the Iron Islands.

And next to her, someone else. Again no name, but the outfit and beautiful face suggests he's the fresh Prince of Dorne.

Robin Arryn, Yohn Royce and a guy with a statement necklace.

Image: HBO.

Robin, Lord of the Eyrie! Last time we saw you, you were just a pasty primary schooler still being breastfed from your mum, Lysa. (We tried hard to forget that image. We really, really did.)

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Once we got over that glow-up, we noticed Yohn Royce, the Vale lord who’s stood by Sansa for most of season eight. And on the end... who knows. Some Northener maybe? More filler.

Oh, and this guy.

Image: HBO.
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Absolutely no idea who he is.

Together this rag-tag bunch of survivors chose Bran as King of the Seven Six Kingdoms, because he's a Three-Eyed Raven and has the entire history of Westeros behind those blank, unblinking eyes.

Bran then chose Tyrion as his Hand because apparently a cushy job is a fair punishment for treason. Also he's really, really smart so never mind the fact that the last two leaders he served under died a painful death (Joffrey, anyone?).

But they probably made the right decision... Right?

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