【1994 Archives】

Game of Throneshas so many subplots going on994 Archives it can be hard to track of the constant question it poses. Namely: which character is most likely to end up on the Iron Throne -- actually on it, not the power behind it -- at the end of the story?

That's the purpose of our ongoing power rankings, which we're bringing you after every Season 7 episode. And the many events and foreshadowings of Episode 2, "Stormborn," has produced quite a significant shift from the previous week's rankings.

For one thing, you'll notice Arya is no longer on the list. Her welcome decision to go to Winterfell wipes out the slim chance that she would end up on the Iron Throne by killing Cersei and wearing her skin, Walder Frey-style.

As for the others? Let's take a look.

10. Jaime Lannister (-1)

Honestly, Jaime is barely clinging on to this list. "Stormborn" reduced him to making facial expressions while Cersei rallied the lords of Westeros, then schmoozing Tarly Senior who seemed less than impressed with the offer to lead Cersei's forces. Jaime has no awareness that he should rightfully be sitting on the throne himself; the way he's going, he may not end up as king even if she dies and bequeaths him the damn crown.

9. Olenna Tyrell (New entry)

The Queen of Thorns is back, advising Dany the way she once advised Margery. Her reminder that she's outlasted all the "clever men" she's ever met makes us wonder if the show isn't setting up a curveball that would put House Tyrell on the Iron Throne, presuming the more ambitious types on this list die in the war to come.

After all, the Tyrells of Highgarden have long held all the cards in terms of food, money and armies, and are about to lay siege to King's Landing. The last person to do that successfully, Tywin Lannister, basically ended up ruling it.

8. Petyr Baelish (-3)

Ouch. That well deserved roughing-up from Jon Snow in the Winterfell crypt made it clear that Littlefinger isn't working in the shadows any more: Jon is onto his game. Maybe Lord Baelish could still manipulate Sansa into helping to catapult him to the Iron Throne in Jon's absence -- except for the fact that Arya is headed back to Winterfell. She's even less likely than Jon to take any crap from Littlefinger.

7. The Night King (-5)

The White Walkers may be headed for Eastwatch by the Sea, and the coming of winter may allow them to simply walk around the wall and into Westeros. And yet the news couldn't be any worse for the Wight army: Samwell Tarly has figured out that there's enough dragonglass under Dragonstone to destroy them all, and Jon Snow is heading to Dragonstone armed with that information. If he seals the deal with Daenerys, her dragons may make short work of the Night King's forces.

6. Sansa Stark (+1)

All hail the acting Queen in the North! Sansa has been handed the keys to Winterfell at a crucial time: Bran is about to arrive with his all-knowing superpowers. He may also reveal the fact that Jon isn't even a bastard Stark, and thus ineligible to rule the North on his return. All of which could put the flame-haired Cersei-in-training a little closer to wreaking her Westeros-wide revenge.

5. Euron Greyjoy (+1)

Finally, the Iron Islands usurper isn't all talk. With his speedily-constructed supersized ships Euron made short work of Yara's fleet, and the trailer for Episode 3 shows him returning to King's Landing in triumph. The gift of two high-ranking traitors -- Yara Greyjoy and Ellaria Sand -- will win him Cersei's gratitude, maybe even her hand in marriage. And that would put Euron inches from stealing the throne for himself.

4. Cersei Lannister (+4)

Mad scientist Qyburn is Cersei's secret weapon. Now he's unveiled a secret weapon of his own, a new kind of double-wide dragon-slaying crossbow. With Euron drawing "first blood" and effectively preventing Dorne from participating in the siege of King's Landing, and with her nobles motivated by her fake news about the Unsullied and Dothraki heathens, Cersei has proved once again you should never bet against her longevity.

3. Jon Snow (+1)

Melisandre thinks he's the other "prince who was promised," and Jon rewarded that faith by actually making a decent decision for once, to go to Dragonstone. Sending Samwell to Oldtown is finally paying dividends too. If (and it's a big if) Jon can bury his pride and bend the knee to Dany, we see a Targaryen wedding -- and possible joint custody of the Iron Throne -- in his future.

2. Daenerys Targaryen (+1)

Even before Olenna advised her to "be a dragon" and Melisandre revealed that she could be "the princess who was promised," Dany was breathing royal fire in this episode. She chastised and then forgave the slipperiest member of her retinue, Varys, winning his loyalty and his honesty in the process. That'show you rule.

The loss of Yara's fleet is a setback, to be sure, but the invasion of Casterly Rock appears to commence on schedule in the next episode regardless. It's starting to feel like the story itself could want Dany on the Iron Throne in the end, "breaking the wheel" and ruling wisely, with just enough reversals of fortune along the way to keep it interesting.

1. No One (unchanged)

Despite Dany's surge in the rankings, this is still George R.R. Martin's story -- and it still has what Martin calls a "bittersweet" ending. A seriously long winter is coming. So are wights. So are barely-controllable dragons. The song of ice and fire is a song of destruction. Dany's vision from the House of the Undying back in season 2 still looks like the most appropriate, bittersweet way to end this cautionary tale of climate change.