Game of Thrones Tarot Deck: Review and Analysis

The minor arcana

The 56 minor cards in the tarot add further insight to one’s day-to-day life: angles to consider and steps to take to settle disputes, realize opportunities, and achieve your goals. As with any reading, it depends on what issue you need resolved, and how you interpret your drawn cards to achieve that resolution.

Since 56 analyses is a titanic endeavor, we’ll instead look at each suit of the minor arcana, and discuss only some of the details found in the Game of Thrones deck.

Each suit of the minor arcana is paired with one of the four elements:

1. Spears (traditionally wands): Fire (the soul): passion, intuition, communication, and action
2. Swords: Air (the mind): conflict and decisions, battles both external and internal
3. Cups: Water (emotional): love, relationships, imagination, and interpersonal growth
4. Coins: Earth (physical): money, structure and security, home, and rewards

Spears

This suit is largely straightforward, as most of the cards depict illustrations of spears in each card’s corresponding numbers. As such, there’s not much to unpack in terms of analysis. But there is one notable detail, and that’s the similarity between the Two and Three of Spears, respectively. As we can see, the imagery is shockingly alike, even though the characters and the card meanings differ.

When Daenerys’ card is upright, it describes a choice between staying still or moving forward, which she’s done by arriving in Westeros and agreeing to aid in the war against the White Walkers. But when reversed, the Two of Spears warns of an unreliable alliance. Considering this, as well as the similar illustrations of Daenerys and Littlefinger — the latter of whom was betrayed by his allies (however tenuous that alliance was) when the Starks learned of his past crimes — it makes one wonder what, exactly, is in the cards for Daenerys.

The imagery could very well be a coincidence, but… Well, make what you will of it for now.

Swords

This suit is often cited as the most violent, which is reflected in the chosen designs of this deck. As suggested by its element of air, Swords is dominated by blood and battles: Bran yielding Winterfell to Theon, Locke’s capture of Brienne, Grey Wind at the Red Wedding, and the scene of Jon’s murder at Castle Black, to name a few.

Befitting the brutality of the suit, the court includes a Son of the Harpy, Ramsay Bolton, Cersei Lannister, and the Night King — characters who wield and delight in violence to meet their own ends.

Cups

This suit has far more association with characters than Spears does. Cersei and Sam each make an appearance, but the Starks make the best use of the suit of Cups, perhaps because they best encompass the theme in their emotional connections to one another. The suit focuses on togetherness, love, nostalgia, and the future — all of which provide a hopeful outlook for the family.

Sansa and Jon hold court as the Queen and King of Cups, which speaks to their individual characters as well as their relationship as wardens of Winterfell. Whether they embrace or deny them, these characters are both attuned to their emotions, and use their compassion for others to universal benefit. When reversed, these cards indicate internal struggles and emotional exhaustion, and encourage proper communication; a major theme of Jon and Sansa’s time together since their reunion.

Coins

Arya’s Braavosi coin, “A Lannister always pays their debts,” an Iron Bank official, Joffrey and Margaery’s pricey wedding, and financial backers Olenna Tyrell and Petyr Baelish seem like simple enough associations between Thrones and Coins, but they are nevertheless compatible with their respective cards.

While money is clearly at the forefront of each card, there is also a concentration on rewards, gifts, and a sense of security and home to be found in the details. The Nine of Coins is especially indicative of this, as it portrays Daenerys with Drogon in Qarth: Per the card’s upright position, she has found a sense of fulfillment with her dragons and her own aspirations. But, as told by the reversed card, Daenerys also faces financial disputes when she struggles with whether or not to accept Xaro Xhoan Daxos’ proposal, and ultimately imprisons him when his dishonesty is revealed.

Queens and Kings

The holders of each court are as follows:

"Spears Queen: Daenerys Targaryen King: Ned Stark Cups Queen: Sansa Stark King: Jon Snow Swords Queen: Cersei Lannister King: The NIght King Coins Queen: Olenna Tyrell King: Petyr Baelish"

Nearly half of this cast is dead, which leaves the remaining royalty as follows:

"Queens: Daenerys Targaryen, Sansa Stark, and Cersei Lannister Kings: Jon Snow and the Night King"

Now, just as we can’t rely on tarot to spell out our futures, we can’t expect that this particular deck foretells any plot elements of Game of Thrones. But it does, just as tarot is meant to, provide tools for introspection — or, in this case, speculation.

There’s an obvious enmity between the two kings, but should we expect a war of the three queens to emerge in season 8 as well? Their cards and corresponding elements speak to their differences in temperament and leadership, and if we assume that only one king will prevail, one queen may do likewise.

Final review of the deck: Despite some sorely missed characters — Catelyn, Robb, Theon, Margaery, and Oberyn, to name just a few — the Game of Thrones tarot deck is, on the whole, a fascinating insight into many of the remaining characters and their stories. The artwork is gorgeous; and the guidebook is informative enough to make tarot beginners comfortable but not overwhelmed, and detailed enough for seasoned tarot readers to enjoy, even when we know all the rules.

Next: Season 8 filming: Jaime Lannister's new look

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