The GoT Party Election Ads Get Heated (Video)

HBO continues its GoT Party promotional campaign with a new set of ads from the four competing candidates heading into Game of Thrones Season 7. As the presidential election in the United States continues to careen wildly off the rails, the elections in Westeros are also heating up. Our four way race, in case you have forgotten, represent the Final Four “Great Houses” left after the War of the Five Kings.

The North: Jon Snow/Lyanna Stark. Jon Snow has been semi erratic at times, ranting about honor, and refusing to answer questions about a supposed “health issue” while at the Wall, but Lyanna Stark has been a fabulous surrogate, calm and professional, taking down interviewers right and left with her steely gaze and no-nonsense attitude. His current ad shows his “man on the Street” appeal. Too bad none of the constituents shown are actually registered voters in Westeros.

https://youtu.be/RE0Rf3oUqnM

The Eyrie: Petyr Baelish/Sansa Stark. Eyebrows were raised when Littlefinger picked the half-sister of the Northern candidate as his running mate. Most saw it as a ploy for respectability and to have a “True Stark” name on the ticket. But Littlefinger has a mountain to climb, as he’s been involved in several scandals. Perhaps that’s why the ads he’s running in a continent wide ad buy (where does he get the funds?) have gone negative early and often.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLuy8jEz0r4

The South (and all of Essos, and the Iron Islands, and the Westerlands): Daenerys Targaryen/Tyrion Lannister. Daenerys is the ultimate outsider candidate. No, really—she’s sailing directly for Westeros from another continent in a bid to overthrow down the ruling party. Can we say “Maverick?”

Pundits foresee issues, though, when she finally makes it to the heart of Westeros, particularly once it gets out that her running mate is the man known in the streets of King’s Landing as the Imp. Known for murdering half his family, blamed for the deaths of hundreds of from famine and war, and rumored to have offered money to eat babies, this could be a real optics issue for the Dragon Queen. At least those “Wheel” logos are memorable and look great on the back of a fashionable wagon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Ig7NRqplo

King’s Landing: Cersei Lannister/Qyburn. The current incumbent has little going for her. From her refusal to give press conferences to unanswered questions about why she was not at the Sept of Baelor the day of the supposed “terrorist” attack, the suspicions just keep mounting. All of that adds up to deeply distressing poll numbers.

Jaime Lannister, her brother, was dispatched recently to the Sunday circuit to sooth the press. But when asked about his sister’s future plans, the normally golden-tongued (and golden-handed) was unable to answer, and instead hefted a thousand mile-long troubled stare into the middle distance. It seemed to suggest that even Cersei’s, ahem, closest adviser is not on message anymore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtBdAUrR3rk

It’s an effective ad, but the Lannister gold that usually funds their runs seems to be missing. Her ad buys have been paltry, and there’s even word that, for the first time, the Lannisters are taking donations. It was also noted recently in their FEC filings that 2/3s of campaign spending are going directly back to Lannister-owned companies. Is she running for office, or is this campaign merely a long con grift? We’re still awaiting our press conference to ask these questions.

With one day left to vote, here’s where the polls stand.