King Tommen’s days are numbered in Game of Thrones season 6. It’s no spoiler to say the king might die, a prophecy from Cersei’s youth, has put a mark on his head for years. And if her days are numbered, his are probably numbered even shorter. And that does not bode well for House Baratheon, House Lannister, or Westeros in general. Because Tommen has no direct heir. Indeed, the person with the next best claim to the Iron Throne after Tommen is none other than Daenerys Targaryen, the absolute last person the Lannisters want to have it. And that’s going to be trouble.

Daenerys Is The Heir To The Iron Throne

Game of Thrones season 5 painted a nice, clean picture for us by killing off three characters who are all still alive in the books, three characters with strong claims to the Iron Throne. After King Tommen, Princess Myrcella was next in line; she could have been queen, but she’s dead. After her, the deceased Robert Baratheon has no other legitimate (well, perceived legitimate) issue, so the strongest claim passes to his younger brother Stannis. Of course, the show killed Stannis too. After him, Stannis’s daughter Shireen Baratheon would have the strongest claim to the Iron Throne, but the show killed her off too. Renly Baratheon would be next, but he’s long dead and had no issue. If King Tommen dies, the senior male line of House Baratheon is extinct.

So who is after King Tommen? King Robert’s father is long dead, and his father had no other kin. Let’s look at how Robert got to be king in the first place. Of course, that was ultimately because he conquered it and drove the Targaryens out of Westeros (and out of being alive, mostly). But it helped that Robert Baratheon had the strongest claim to the Iron Throne of any non-Targaryen, due to intermarriage between their lines. Robert had some Targaryen blood—his grandmother was a Targaryen— and that cemented his claim. When he took the throne, only Viserys and Daenerys and Aegon, if he lived, had better claims to the throne. Hence Robert’s constant fixation on killing Daenerys.

But that means that, with the last of Robert’s perceived-legitimate offspring doomed by prophecy, Daenerys could benefit from the same strong claim Robert did. If Tommen dies without issue, it is far easier for her to sweep in on her dragons and tell everyone to kneel before her. Not because she’s a conqueror—although she will be, with fire and blood—but because she’s the closest thing left to a rightful heir. And that makes her job a lot easier. Well-played, showrunners of Game of Thrones. It’s a neat little pickle you’ve made for the Lannisters and Baratheons, for now their worst enemy is a heartbeat away from the Iron Throne.