So Ultimately, Who was the “Chosen One” in ‘Game of Thrones’?
Spoiler: there was none.
During the run of Game of Thrones, fans were divided as to who was the “Chosen One”, the ultimate hero of the story who would triumph at the end and be the saviour humanity always needed. In a complicated story such as GoT, was anyone ever intended to claim that title anyway?
GoT fiddled with the idea of the “Chosen One” trope ever since Stannis’ introduction in season 2, through Jon Snow after his resurrection in season 6 up to Daenerys, the Mother of Dragons and the mythical reputation she gained across the Narrow Sea. So, which one was the Prince or Princess that was promised, the Chosen One, the one to lead humanity through darkness into the light?
The first character we saw struggling with a messianic complex was Stannis Baratheon. Stannis’ biggest driving force was his claim to the Throne — according to Ned’s revelation about Robert and Cersei’s children being bastards, after Robert’s death, he was the rightful person to sit on the Throne. But besides that, he always had Melisandre on his side, whispering in his ear how he was the Warrior of Light that will end the darkness that comes to swallow the dawn. By her guidance, he always believed he is destined for greatness, beyond his “regular” human role in the world. He believed that the Lord of Light intended him to be the person who would rule Westeros, and will guide the people and unite them to fight the Great War coming from the North.
“If a man knows what he is and remains true to himself the choice is no choice at all”.
What did it bring him? It caused him to burn people who didn’t believe in the same god as him. He used dark magic in order to assassinate his own brother, and later on, he even sacrificed his own daughter to the god he believed in, all while believing the end justified the means, even the most terrible means of them all — with the end being him as the Warrior of Light that unites humanity against the darkness and that defeats the usurpers that took the Throne from the rightful claim of his family. After Stannis’ despicable act, half of his army deserted him, Melisandre rode north, and his wife committed suicide. Stannis brought his downfall on his own self, and after all of that, the battle against the Boltons seemed lost already, and Stannis knew it, while his fanatic aspirations ultimately made the job very easy for the Boltons. But Stannis, full of belief that he is the ultimate saviour, kept fighting. We all know how it ended.
“We march to victory or we march to defeat. But we go forward. Only forward”.
Once Stannis’ forces were defeated, and Stannis himself was slain like a mere human, Melisandre had an existential crisis, wondering how she had been wrong to believe Stannis was the “Chosen One”, the Prince that was Promised. Just around the same time, Jon was murdered by his brothers of the Night’s Watch, and Ser Davos suggested to Melisandre to try and resurrect him. At first, she was skeptical about her ability to do so, but when she succeeded, she was overwhelmed and shifted her attention to a new Prince that was Promised — Jon Snow.
“I did what I thought was right. And I got murdered for it”.
Put aside the fact he was later discovered to be the best contender to the title, at this point it was just another speculation, and another prophecy Melisandre chose to subscribe to — a prophecy Jon always opted to reject. Later on, he managed to unite many of the Northern armies, captured Winterfell back from his enemies, and proved himself as a worthy ruler, which only fueled Melisandre’s belief in him further. But once he exiled her from the North after learning what she did to Shireen, it didn’t really matter. Except, the next thing she went to do was go to Dragonstone in order to try and unite Ice and Fire, to help Jon fulfil his destiny.
Meanwhile on the other side of the Narrow Sea, we saw another character struggling with messianic complex, and that of course would be Daenerys Targaryen. We don’t intend to elaborate too much on that, since Dany’s delusions of grandeur and twisted sense of justice were already discussed at length. However, to put it shortly, Dany grew up under her brother’s obsession to claim the Throne, the same brother that would stop at nothing to acquire an army in order to reclaim House Targaryen’s claim to Westeros. After getting rid of him, she made that aspiration her own, knowing that she was the Mother of Dragons and she intended to reclaim her family’s glory and take back Westeros by herself. There is no denying she did wonders at Slavers’ Bay, but the difference is, compared to what came later, people admired her there as the Breaker of Chains, and as the messianic figure she always perceived herself to be, and it only strengthened her self-esteem. Once she came to Westeros, and people were wary of her as a foreign invader, especially with their shared past with her father, the Mad King, her strength and confidence were starting to crack. Once she learned about Jon’s true identity, his claim to the Throne, the support the people had for him, and the fact that people who were allegedly on her side were undermining her — that was it. Maybe she was not the saviour she always thought she was?
“Let it be fear”.
In the end, she was true to all the promises she made along the way — she killed her enemies in their iron suits and tore down their stone houses, while, in the process, murdering thousands of civilians. Afterward, she promised Jon she would build a good world “Because [she] know[s] what is good”. Jon, already fearing for his sisters at this point, knowing they wouldn’t accept her tyranny, asked “What about everyone else, everyone else who thinks they know what is good”?.
“They don’t get to choose”.
Strangely enough, some fans see the story as if George wrote it in the intention of being a House Targaryen triumph story — of how this beautiful magi Strangely enough, some fans see the story as if George wrote it in the intention of being a House Targaryen triumph story — of how this beautiful magical powerful “superior” species regained the long-lost glory usurped from them by local forces, whom they actually forcefully conquered a few centuries ago. While we presumably don’t really know how the books will end, following previous themes in the story, looking at hints in Dany’s story and even in the later-released prequel show House of the Dragon (endorsed by Martin, and in which he was personally heavily involved), and also knowing George provided David and Dan with details regarding the ending of the story, it seems more likely than not that the story is written as some sort of indictment of their house. The house that always perceived itself as the superior species of all, that by the fact they controlled Dragons and hold this magical power they should also lead the country and rule over everyone, even the foreign people of Westeros.
In the end, their house orchestrated its own downfall and brought itself to ruin because of its lust for power, greed, hubris, and most of all — messianic complexes. This is just like any other Shakespearean or Greek tragedy, yet communicated to modern times in themes that are more familiar to us in recent literature. We are sure that in future seasons of House of the Dragon, and if an Aegon’s Conquest show is greenlit on HBO, this point will be even more obvious to the general audience.
The bottom line is, Daenerys and Stannis are both representatives of a subversion of the “Chosen One” archetype in mainstream literature — suggesting that being the “Chosen One” is actually a dangerous thing, that might lead to exaggerated hubris and immoral behaviour. Loving Daenerys or Stannis as fictional characters is entirely understandable, as is rooting for them as “badass” TV characters, but rooting for them on a personal ideological level by the end of their arc seems to us to be missing the point of the entire show. Both Dany and Stannis embraced their status as the “Chosen Ones”, and that drove their entire motivation forward. Stannis, believing he was the rightful heir to the Throne after Robert’s death and the Warrior of Light, and also Daenerys, that believed her claim to the Throne is the ultimate one, based on the Targaryen dynasty followed by Aegon’s conquest, and the fact that she was the Mother of Dragons, the Breaker of Chains, the Unburnt, etc. But in the end, both saw the same outcome, of their hubris and immoral behaviour that was driving them towards greatness actually causing their downfall and ending their entire dynasty.
Jon, on the other hand, symbolises the exact opposite. Looking at it superficially, Jon was the only character that was actually a Chosen One. He was the rightful heir to the Iron Throne by the rules of succession based on the Targaryen dynasty, but also a fitting person to rule that found himself in the position to potentially lead the Seven Kingdoms with the support of the common people after all of his achievements, especially his role in ending the Long Night and eliminating the White Walkers’ threat. The difference is that Jon was the only one that rejected his “Messianic” status, and rejected his role as the “Chosen One”.
“I don’t want it. I never have.”
After all of his achievements, and after he knew how much support he has from the common people, he still never intended to be king or to rule over anyone. Jon’s story only emphasises the fact that Game of Thrones tried to intentionally go against the “Chosen One” trope that is so popular in other works of literature. Jon was the character who met the criteria the most yet rejected their status, and eventually he was the one who didn’t get an overly tragic ending in which his arrogance caused his downfall. In an expected Game of Thrones fashion, he also wasn’t the triumphant hero who won the Throne at the end — he rightfully paid for his crime of murdering Daenerys. But eventually, the only one whose power didn’t consume him and caused his undoing, and the only one whose hubris didn’t bring about his downfall.
So if the show denies us the hero we expected, the “Chosen One” trope coming to fruition and the cathartic ending we anticipated, what does it offer instead? The answer lies in perhaps the most unexpected choice of all — the choice of Bran being the eventual king of the Six Kingdoms. Make no mistake, Bran was not and was never intended to be a “Chosen One” in this story. But what is important to understand is that this choice falls exactly in line with the deconstruction of this trope the story tried to explore. In choosing Bran as the one ruling the Six Kingdoms, the characters of the show managed to truly ‘break the wheel’. Heritage and war bravery will no longer determine who will rule over the people — but someone of their own kind, a story they could connect to. Bran is not the eventual chosen ruler because he will rule the best, or because he “deserved it” on a straightforward “hero’s journey” approach, but because it works thematically with the message the writers wanted to emphasize.
Game of Thrones never intended the “Chosen One” trope to be a real thing; that would lead to an ultimate hero triumphing in the end by their claim, their powers, or even their achievements. If anything, we believe it intended to show how dangerous such a perspective is and how a messianic complex can be a destructive thing. When characters got the idea that they were superior and that they were meant for greatness and were chosen to lead others, it only made them act immorally and increased their hubris, ultimately resulting in their downfall. There was no “Chosen One”, and there was never intended to be. In the end, the character with the best narrative the people can connect with ended up on top, even though the thought of them ruling any kingdom, let alone six of them, never crossed his mind. The story of ASoIaF came to show that a pursuit for power based on claim, prophecy, arrogance, hubris, family name, and title isn’t what will get you to glory in the end, but perhaps humility and wisdom, or most of all — the power to do good for the common people, instead of chasing glory for oneself.
“Everything you did brought you where you are now. Where you belong”.
