Game of Thrones theorycrafting: Will Cersei Lannister marry Euron Greyjoy?
By Dan Selcke
Now that Game of Thrones Season 6 is over, we’ve got a long offseason ahead of us before Season 7 begins (longer than usual, according to showrunner Dan Weiss). However shall we fill this time? Speculation can help.
There’s a theory floating around the internet right now about the hurdles our heroes will face come next year. When last we left her, Daenerys was sailing for Westeros with what looked like a pretty unstoppable army. She has Dothraki cavalry, Unsullied infantry, and allies waiting for her across the Narrow Sea, not to mention three battle-ready dragons. How can the newly crowned Queen Cersei possibly stand against all this? She’ll need allies, and there may be one waiting in the wings: Euron Greyjoy. Let’s look at how likely a team-up between these two is.
WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM A FEAST FOR CROWS AND A DANCE WITH DRAGONS
(But it’s anyone’s guess as to whether they turn up on the show.)
Game of Thrones introduced Euron in Episode 2 of Season 6, “Home.” He showed up again in “The Door,” when he was elected King of the Iron Islands over his niece Yara. He ordered his subjects to build him a thousand ships, promised them “the world,” and then…we didn’t hear from him again for the remainder of the season.
This is probably a good thing. If Euron had shown up with 1000 ships in the finale, it would have stretched credibility close to the breaking point. But there’s no way the show is done with him. In “The Door,” he announced his plan to sail to Meereen, wed Daenerys, and use her military might and her dragons to claim Westeros for the Ironborn. But in “Battle of the Bastards,” Daenerys promised to support Yara’s claim to the Iron Islands over Euron’s. It was always very unlikely that Daenerys was going to throw in with Euron, but her alliance with Yara officially makes them enemies.
Daenerys and Cersei are also natural enemies. Cersei sits the Iron Throne. Daenerys wants to sit the Iron Throne, and Cersei doesn’t want to give it up. Conflict is inevitable. And in any case, Varys forged an alliance with the Tyrells and the Ellaria Sand of Dorne, both of whom have grudges against Cersei, on Daenerys’ behalf. The enemy of Daenerys’ friends is Daenerys’ enemy.
That means that Cersei and Euron have an enemy in common: Daenerys. It behooves both of them to make an alliance, and as we’ve seen, in this world, alliances are often sealed with marriage. I think Euron would be up for it. True, he wanted to marry Daenerys, but now that there’s no chance of that, he’ll need to look at other options, and marrying the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms would still give him access to a lot of power. Cersei will probably hate the idea—remember that she was adamant about not marrying again after Robert’s death in Season 3—but if she wants a chance of holding on to her throne, she’ll see the wisdom in marrying Euron.
Now, I grant you that Cersei and wisdom aren’t exactly great friends, but I’m willing to bet that these two will at least form an alliance, if not a marriage pact, in Season 7.
The next question is: so what? Even if these two team up, how can they hope to stop Daenerys and her allies and her army and her dragons? It seems impossible, but together, they may have more of a chance than you think.