Game Of Thrones Power Rankings: Are The Starks Still In The Game?

At this point, the world of Game of Thrones must be running out of people to kill. This week’s episode saw an entire fleet burnt alive, and the better part of two armies killed each other to a standstill. On the upside though, Jon Snow is still alive. It was touch and go there for a while.

Make no mistake, there are winners and losers coming out of these fights, but here everyone has paid the highest of prices. For the Starks, who were sort of victorious when looked at from a certain angle, there are still potential enemies north of the Wall, south in King’s Landing and in their own backyard.

With trepidation, then, here are our penultimate Game of Thrones power rankings:

 

1. Team Targaryen

It’s hard to decide who to put top this week, what with the Mother of Dragons and the Starks pulling off big wins. While most of the action was at Winterfell though, it’s still Daenarys that ends the episode in a better position. The Masters are defeated and she has a handy fleet ready to take her massive armies to trounce the Seven Kingdoms. With the Ironborn, the Unsullied, the Second Sons and the Dothraki under her command she’s going to take Westeros quicker than you can say ‘Winter is coming.’

 

2. Team Stark

The Starks have Winterfell again. Hurray! There’s something different though, this time. Sansa has turned into a ruthless political pragmatist, while Jon Snow nearly drowned in a pile of corpses. They’re still not safe, either, by any stretch of the imagination. Oh, and we lost Rickon. We’re another Stark down, but also Ramsay got eaten alive by his own dogs. Is it just me or are we all getting a little desensitised to this stuff? The Lannisters could be fed slowly through a giant blender and I don’t think any of us would bat an eyelid.

 

3. Littlefinger

Petyr Baelish managed about 30 seconds of screen time this week, and zero dialogue, but somehow he’s secured his position with the new Stark regime in the North. His army from the Vale saved the day when the battle was pretty clearly lost. The ultimate opportunist strikes again, and he will surely be setting his sights south next, to the Lannisters and the Tyrells. Does the North have what it takes this time to defeat the South? Or will Littlefinger switch sides again?

 

4. Team Wildlings

Let’s not forget the part the Wildlings had to play in the Battle of the Bastards. Sure, it was Littlefinger’s troops that landed the crushing blow against the Bolton army, but who were the guys in the thick of it with Jon Snow? Who bashed down the gates of Winterfell in under a minute, removing the need for a lengthy siege? These guys have earned their place behind the wall. Like Ned Stark, Jon Snow is a man of his word to an almost robotic degree. He’ll make sure to keep up his end of the bargain he struck with them.

 

5. Team Sparrow

Nothing from King’s Landing this week, but we can safely assume the High Sparrow and his prize marionette King Tommen are still in control. Sure, Cersei and Qyburn have some shenanigans in the works, but right now the Faith Militant control the King, and the King still controls the Kingdom. Whether we’ll be saying the same a week from now is another question. If Game of Thrones has taught us anything it’s that no one is a winner for long. If you’ve climbed your way to the top, don’t expect to be there long before you’re cut down in some deeply ironic manner.

 

The Rest

Team Yara

With Yara and Theon officially allying themselves with Daenerys, for the time being they’ll be part of Team Targaryen.

Team Lannister

The Lannisters don’t get enough credit for surviving at the top as long as they have. Expect Cersei and Jamie to make their move on the High Sparrow in the season finale.

Team Bolton

Weren’t we just talking about ironic deaths? These guys are finished. As his final battle proved, Ramsay was a great tactician (the whole Rickon gambit worked) but it was his father who was the true strategist. He got outplayed. The game of thrones is over for him.