Throughout its first five seasons, Game of Thrones featured plenty of rapes, beatings, and general misogyny, but only rare moments of female empowerment. That all changed in Season 6. Dany continued consolidating power, claiming Meereen and amassing an army to rival any force in Westeros. Arya Stark went full assassin and exacted her revenge on House Frey for the Red Wedding. Her sister Sansa finally reunited with their brother Jon Snow and saved his sorry ass by bringing some knights to a bastard fight. (Then, in one of GoT’s all-time schadenfreude moments, fed her husband/rapist Ramsay Stark to his own dogs.) And Cersei Lannister, having lost her husband and two sons, finally donned her best medieval Rhythm Nation wear and ascended the Iron Throne.
Given her history of holding power, Cersei (Lena Heady) won’t reign long. But that won't leave Westeros wanting for female leadership. In fact, if by some slim chance Game of Thrones turns out to be the definitive statement on the failures of patriarchy, you can see the show ending with women ruling the Seven Kingdoms. All men must die, but as Dany (Emilia Clarke) will tell you, she is not a man. It's a longshot, yes, but this is how all of Westeros could end up under matriarchal rule, no War of the Five Queens required.
This basically already happened. At the end of last season, Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma) gave Cersei’s daughter Myrcella Baratheon (Aimee Richardson) the kiss of death, stabbed Doran Martell (Alexander Siddig) in the heart, and vowed that "weak men will never rule Dorne again." (She and the Sand Snakes also offed his son, Trystane.) Ellaria no doubt wants revenge on House Lannister for the death of her beau Oberyn Martell, who died defending Tyrion, but she should—and probably will—consolidate power in Dorne first. You can bet that's coming, given that she pledged allegiance to Dany, who is coming for Cersei. The only remaining question is whether Ellaria travels to King’s Landing to catch the show. (More on that in a second.)
Of all the gruesome, depressing things about the Red Wedding, the most heart-wrenching was seeing Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) just steps away from finding her brother Robb (Richard Madden) and mother Catelyn (Michelle Fairley). Last season, Sansa (Sophie Turner) finally reunited with her brother/cousin Jon Snow in Winterfell. Now Arya must find them. Having just killed Walder Frey and his sons to avenge her family—“The last thing you’re ever going to see is a Stark smiling down at you as you die” is the coldest thing a killer has said since Pulp Fiction and Ezekiel 25:17—you know she's headed to Winterfell next.
Once there, expect her to find Jon and Sansa ruling the North. That throne belongs to the Stark sisters; Petyr Baelish (Aidan Gillen) told Sansa as much at the end of Season 6. Jon (Kit Harington) can remain, of course—and with the White Walkers approaching, he’d make a great Secretary of Defense—but the throne is theirs. They can make Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) the Hand of the Queens. Even Lyanna Mormont (Bella Ramsey), who made a big show of pledging allegiance to Jon, would surely support Queens in the North—especially if she learns that Ned Stark’s blood doesn’t run through Snow's veins. (Fun fact: Lyanna is named for Jon’s mother, who was Ned’s sister. This show!) And what Lyanna says, as we have learned, goes.
Daenerys Stormborn taking the Iron Throne has been in the cards since Season 1. As the daughter of “Mad King” Aerys Targaryen, she holds a legitimate claim: The Baratheons deposed him during Robert’s Rebellion. Robert’s wife, Cersei, wears the crown now, but must fight Dany—and all those standing behind her—to keep it. Backed by the Dothraki, the Ironborn, the mercenaries of the Second Sons, the fleets of Dorne, the Unsullied, Cersei’s brother Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), and three friggin’ dragons, no woman in the Seven Kingdoms wields more power than Dany. We left her sailing for King’s Landing at the end of Season 6. Barring some crazy plot twist, you know she will take the city.
Once ensconced, Dany can count on support alliances with the Sand Snakes in Dorne, as well as Lady Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg) and House Tyrell—something Ellaria orchestrated after Cersei killed Lady Olenna’s son, Mace (Roger Ashton-Griffiths), and grandchildren Loras (Finn Jones) and Margaery (Natalie Dormer). (Olenna’s support of Daenerys’ claim also means she could rule Highgarden, creating another woman in power.)
After taking the city, Dany must deal with any remaining Lannisters. (If Jaime lives, count on him to seek revenge, but with his brother Tyrion as Hand of the Queen, maybe they work something out.) The Sand Snakes probably get Dorne, and Dany promised the Iron Islands to Yara Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan). That leaves her ruling Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms. Will she acknowledge the Queens in the North? Undoubtedly, yes—especially if Sansa tells her that Jon is actually the son of Dany’s brother Rhaegar, who raped Sansa’s aunt Lyanna. Yes, Dany could decide blood is thicker than sisterhood. But consider this: When Dany made her allegiance with Yara, she said, “Our fathers were evil men… they left the world worse than they found it. We’re not going to do that.” Seems fairly likely she’d side with the Starks on this.
Finally: Yara. When she teamed up with Dany, the Mother of Dragons promised to honor her claim to the throne in the Iron Islands, and agreed to “help [the Greyjoys] murder an uncle or two who don’t think a woman is fit to rule.” Yara will rule her homeland.
She may do more than that. In a move that launched a thousand ‘ships (and some regular ships), Dany asked Yara if her allegiance came with any marriage demands. “I never demand,” Yara replied coyly, “but I’m up for anything, really.” Dany left Second Sons lieutenant (and her lover) Daario Naharis in charge of Meereen. At the time, Dany told him she must remain available for marriage in the name of an alliance---but she didn't say what, if any, alliance she had in mind. If Dany takes Yara up on that offer, they could rule the Seven Kingdoms and the Iron Islands together. That seems more like the stuff of fanfic, but we can dream.
There you have it: Women ruling the Seven Kingdoms. Seeing a show so firmly grounded in machismo end with women in charge, creating a world that, as Dany claims, is “better than we found it," would be more than surprising. It would be revolutionary. Then again, we're talking about Game of Thrones. They’ll probably all be dead by the end of the show.
