HBO's Game of Thrones series, adapted from George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire starts its final season on April 14th. The initial antagonist family pitted against the proud but sternly moralistic Starks was the sybaritic and equally proud but more numerous and far more vindictive Lannisters. Rich as a Lannister, A Lannister always pays his debts, and Hear Me Roar were just a few of the sayings associated with the Lannisters, who maintained firm control over the Westerlands and successfully made a power move on the Iron Throne, cuckolding the Baratheon King and arranging his death.
The noble but hapless Ned Stark failed to prevent this. After all of the wars, murders, attempted murders, backstabbing, taboo breaking betrayals, intra-family squabbling and patricide, a Lannister still sits on the Iron Throne. Utterly pragmatic Lannisters will use any tool to win-force, lies, money, treachery. Just win.
As it turns out the Iron Throne may not be worth anything because Winter Is Coming And This Time We Really Mean It but Cersei Lannister has never been known for her ability to let go of old resentments. Nursing resentments is after all a Lannister family trait. Cersei may be a mean drunk, not as intelligent as she thinks, and a nasty brother-f****r but she does seem to have learned something from having been previously outsmarted by the High Sparrow and her little brother Tyrion. In the last season it was Cersei who outplayed Tyrion, despite having a objectively weaker position during Daenerys' return.
House Lannister is hanging onto power by a thread but as Cersei Lannister patiently explained to both Ned Stark and Littlefinger, maintaining power is the entire point of her existence. Either you have it or you don't. So where does House Lannister stand as the end game begins?
- Joffrey Baratheon (Lannister): Dead. Insane malevolent boy king murdered by Olenna Tyrell and Littlefinger. No one missed him except for his mother Cersei.
- Tywin Lannister: Dead. Murdered by his son Tyrion Lannister. Scarily competent ruthless Lannister Patriarch and power behind the throne. A terror to all but especially to his children. Offered sharp lessons to any and all who opposed his iron will. Gang-rape, wholesale slaughter, biting insults, physical intimidation-it was all the same to Tywin. He was feared and respected but never loved.
- Jaime Lannister: Alive. Formerly the best swordsman in all of Westeros and unabashed incest enthusiast. Having lost his right hand and seen Cersei's nasty tendencies fully unleashed, Jaime is having second thoughts about following his twin sister wherever she leads. He probably won't be trying to murder any more children to save Cersei. Probably.
- Myrcella Baratheon (Lannister): Dead. Murdered by Ellaria Sand.
- Tommen Baratheon (Lannister): Dead. Suicide. Tommen was too nice and decent for his family. He did not want to continue living when his mother murdered his wife and other Lannister opposition.
- Kevan Lannister: Dead. Murdered by Cersei Lannister.
- Lancel Lannister: Dead. Murdered by Cersei Lannister.
- Tyrion Lannister: Alive. Currently serving as Hand to would be Queen Daenerys Targaryen. His influence with her is on the decline. Tyrion likes to think of himself as the smartest man in the room at all times. Unfortunately all of his most recent moves were predicted and countered by his big sister Cersei, who once wrongly believed that Tyrion murdered her son and still rightly believes that Tyrion murdered their father. She will never forgive him for either.
- Cersei Lannister: Alive. Cersei stopped hiding her incestuous relationship with Jaime. She is PO'd that she can't manipulate Jaime with her body/emotions any more. But she's unwilling to kill Jaime. But everyone else had better get down or lay down. Cersei has claimed the Queenship of all of Westeros and would very much like to talk with anyone who disagrees. An invasion by White Walkers hasn't changed her mind. Cersei is also mindful of a prophecy that all of her children will die before her, that a younger more beautiful queen shall take all that she holds dear and that she will be killed by the little brother. Cersei intends to bring more mercenaries to Westeros and then use those to fight against any non-Lannister forces, after of course her enemies have bled themselves dry against White Walkers.
Hillbilly Greyjoy Elegy
This is of course perhaps to be expected for people whose House Words are "We do not sow" and have a religiously based disdain for obtaining goods by any means other than stealing them or killing for them. Neither farming nor patience is a virtue in Iron Islander culture. Robb Stark asked the Greyjoys for assistance in the War of The Five Kings. This alliance would have helped the Iron Islands become independent. It would have given Theon Greyjoy, who grew up in Winterfell as much more than a hostage, if not quite a guest, greater authority and a chance to reclaim his position as his father's heir.
But being both cowardly and like most Ironborn, not big on analysis, Balon Greyjoy decided that attacking the Starks/North to avenge his loss in his previous rebellion was the better and safer move. Seeking to impress his father, Theon Greyjoy attacked and briefly held Winterfell. This set off a chain of events that ended up with House Stark losing the War of the Five Kings and the Ironborn being slaughtered and evicted from the North by the far more ruthless House Bolton. This event chain also saw Theon being figuratively and literally unmanned by Ramsay Bolton. And his Uncle Euron was elected King.
- Balon Greyjoy: Dead. Murdered by his brother Euron Greyjoy.
- Euron Greyjoy: Alive. Merciless. Possibly insane. And loving every minute of it.
- Theon Greyjoy: Alive. But castrated, emotionally and physically crippled from torture and other bad experiences.
- Aeron Greyjoy: Alive
- Yara Greyjoy: Alive. And imprisoned by her uncle Euron, who may be abusing her in ways we've not yet seen. Named Asha in the books this character was renamed in the show, possibly to avoid confusion with the wildling woman named Osha. The show also altered her sexuality for no apparent reason.
Last season the show played fast and loose with timelines and logic and this was nowhere no apparent than with the Greyjoys. Fleets are stolen and remade in no time flat. Fleets find each other in the middle of the night without radar or sonar. We're running out of time. The showrunners were apparently eager to wrap up storylines. The end game here seems to be that Jon Snow, while not quite forgiving Theon Greyjoy, still inspired Theon to recover his courage and become both a Greyjoy and Stark. Theon ended the season by owning his previous cowardice, putting down a revolt by his crew, and setting out to find his uncle and rescue his sister. I like how the actors playing Theon and Euron have a notable resemblance.
The Tyrell Rose Bush is Pulled Up by the Roots and Burned.
Like their House symbol , the rose, the Tyrells were a hardy grasping clinging sort that were quick to set roots. They also had their thorns, most notably Olenna Tyrell, who was the real power in the House despite only being a Tyrell by marriage. As Margaery Tyrell told Littlefinger, she didn't want to be a queen, she wanted to be The Queen. Her grandmother did everything she could to make that happen.
When Renly looked like the surefire winner of the War of The Five Kings Margaery married Renly and even offered to arrange bisexual threesomes with Renly's true love, her brother Loras, in order that she might become pregnant with Renly's child. Awkward. When Stannis murdered Renly, the Tyrells seamlessly switched to the Lannister side, marrying Margaery to Joffrey. When they confirmed that Joffrey was thoroughly psychotic, cruel, and personally dangerous to any wife, they murdered him and married Margaery to Tommen. The Tyrells also worked assiduously to reduce Cersei's influence. This was easier to do with Tommen as he was if anything, conflict-averse.
Because they had arguably the largest army in Westeros as well as being the second wealthiest House in terms of gold and provisions, the Tyrells were always going to be power brokers. Unfortunately for them, their relative new position and open ambition, combined with misreadings of Cersei, the High Sparrow and their own bannermen proved to be fatal flaws. Last season ended with the Tyrells completely eliminated when Cersei Lannister went full Michael Corleone and settled all family business. It might have been cold comfort to the Tyrells to know that that their strongest bannermen and would be replacements, the Tarlys, didn't live long enough to enjoy the fruits of their betrayal. I guess the lesson that we learn from the Tyrells and their followers is that sometimes your reach exceeds your grasp.
- Margaery Tyrell: Dead. Murdered by Cersei Lannister.
- Olenna Tyrell: Dead. Suicide. Killed herself rather than be turned over to Cersei or be killed by Jaime.
- Mace Tyrell: Dead. Murdered by Cersei Lannister. Mace was the formal leader of his House but he usually deferred to his Mama, Olenna. He was always a day late and a dollar short when it came to brains. He had a gift for stating the obvious. Neither respected nor feared by anyone in or out of his House. Nice guy though. Only wanted the best for his children.
- Loras Tyrell: Dead. Murdered by Cersei Lannister.
