Season 1 of Game of Thrones has concluded.
Ned Stark is dead.
Shocking.
Especially since his death and the coming wars all could have been prevented if King Robert had simply made his last request public. Why did Ned go along with his request to wait until after death to reveal? That was the stupidest idea seen so far. Just one of them, Robert or Ned, could have had the bright idea to assemble the whole counsel and the leaders of the guards and the army and allow King Robert to proclaim his demand loudly and publicly.
But of course that might have been the end of The Game. And that wouldn't be any fun. So on to Season 2!
What will happen?
The Starks have Jaime Lannister. What will they do with him?
Ned Stark is already dead and all of The North wants revenge. Robb Stark wants to march straight to Kings Landing to attempt to kill King Joffrey. But this seems foolish. In addition to facing all of the Lannisters (who are going to use their full force to get Jaime back), they will likely need to face the 5 other Kingdoms, plus all the whole court at Kings Landing. If any of the other Kingdoms were to join the war against King Joffrey they would need to agree on which person to back as the new king. It appears they do not agree.
It is also foolish for another more important reason: As far as The North knows, the King's Court still has both of the young Stark daughters. They both can and likely will be killed or imprisoned and tortured at any sign of aggression from The North.
The other Lords of The North recognize the foolishness and instead propose that they abdicate and form their own seperate Kingdom, proclaiming Robb Stark as King of The North. This is a good idea. It would be a minor revenge, but still a large and significant symbolic blow to Joffrey's reign, and perhaps encourage other Kingdoms to abdicate as well. It would also force a potential war to come to them on their homeland.
The War will come as long as they have Jaime Lannister. And if they abdicate at the moment, they risk the death/imprisonment of the Stark girls. So, clearly, The Starks should trade Jaime Lannister for the Stark girls. Stansa would now be glad to return home. There will be problems when Arya can't be found. King Joffrey will also be a problem. He won't want to give up Stansa, even though his mother will nearly demand it. He will probably imprison Stansa instead. Or force her to marry him, though she'd probably rather die now.
Jaime Lannister also has been thinking over what his Father last said to him. He is highly intelligent and perhaps the best soldier on the continent, he is also handsome and charasmatic and backed by the wealthiest house. No doubt he knows that his nephew (he probably doesn't know that Joffrey is actually his son) is a pathetic psycho and unworthy of being king. Perhaps he, Jaime, should be king. (His lover is queen after all). He will also probably learn of Joffrey's mistreatment of his brother, Tyrion, and not appreciate that.
Tyrion Lannister, the dwarf, was sent to Kings Landing to be the new Hand to the King. Sent by his Father Tywin, the most powerful lord and Grandfather of Joffrey. But certainly the harsh and cruel King Joffrey remembers the unpleasent way Tyrion scolded him the last they saw each other. Joffrey will want to punish Tyrion in some way for this. Possibly by forcing him to do unpleasent and demeaning tasks. Perhaps worse. Tyrion may be imprisoned or banished. If not, the unpleasent/demeaning tasks may be unbearable to the intelligent dwarf and this will lead him to vacate his position. Either way, he will get along poorly with Joffrey and likely won't remain as Hand for long.
Jaime will learn of King Joffrey's unwillingness to make a deal for Jaime's protection and of his harsh/demeaning treatment of his brother, Tyrion. He will understand that he will be killed if a negotiation cannot be made. Therefore, he will have a change of heart and profess his admiration for the honor of Ned Stark and offer to join The North in an attempt to dethrone King Joffrey. He is already The King-Slayer after all. Jaime will promise the safety of the Stark girls and peace and harmony and wealth for The North. Perhaps some greater form of independence. As well as Joffrey's head. He will offer the full support of the Lannister wealth and army - believing that they will all be behind him. All on the condition that he becomes king. He believes Cersei would support him as king - of course she knows that Jaime would be a better king than Joffrey and she would be treated very well. The rest of the Lannisetrs would have more loyalty and respect for Jaime Lannister than the child, Joffrey Baratheon. Jaime believes they will all support him.
Another possibility is that Tyrion is disgusted by the tyrrany of King Joffrey and of the deameaning tratement he receives (if not imprisonment). He may try to escape somehow to plan a coup. Perhaps joining the Starks.
Either way, I think the Lannister House will become seperated. Part of the House will remain loyal to King Joffrey. Queen Cersei will. She will support Joffrey even against her lover, Jaime, and even knowing the unhinged cruelty of her son. She is very smart, cunning, clever, and has all the right loyalties secured. She will not be easy to remove. Her Father, Tywin, will probably back her and his grandson as well. He might come to like his grandson, maybe even appreciate the unhinged cruelty. But other Lannisters will join with the Starks.
Cersei will show herself as a capable and fair ruler. Though constantly at odds with her cruel son. She will continue to support him and make all the right mannevers behind his back. But at some point, he will grow tired of her demands, and he will turn against her. it will then be too late for Cersei.
Meanwhile, out east, Daenerys Targaryen will, by incredible means, build a coalition that will begin to resemble a kingdom/army. Perhaps Tyrion will be banished to the Free Cities and will join her and help. Her dragons are just babies. It will take a long time for them to grow up. Perhaps King Jeoffrey will target the Free Cities in some kind of ill-advised "special military opersation." This could bring them to support Daenerys. Though Daenerys will still build much of her forces through cunning, charisma, force of will, and supernatural abilities. But she will likelyu suffer some kind of defeat at the end of the season - because it needs to keep going. But the dragons will persist.
Meanwhile up North, fighting will begin beyond the wall and progress right up to it. Arya Stark will join The NightWatch and continue to train under her brother. They will come to realize that Winter is coming and they will soon be totally overwhelmed. Someone needs to go back to spread the urgency of the situation and demand armies. Arya Stark would be the natural choice, but she is still in danger. Jon Snow will be sent instead. And Arya Stark will be groomed to be the next in command - the first woman commander.
... Or maybe something totally different will happen.
What do you think?
