Throughout the first five seasons, "Game of Thrones" featured plenty of rapes, beatings, and general misogyny, but only rare moments of female empowerment. That all changed in Season 6. Dany continued merging power, claiming Meereen and amassing an army to rival any force in Westeros. Arya Stark went full cutthroat and exacted her revenge on House Frey for the Red Wedding. Her sister Sansa finally reunited with their brother Jon Snow and saved his sorry ass by bringing some knights to a bastard fight. Then, in one of "Game of Thrones" all-time unforgettable moments, Sansa fed her husband/rapist Ramsay Bolton to his own dogs. His hounds' betrayal was legendary. The infamous Cersei Lannister, having lost her husband and two sons, finally donned her best medieval Rhythm Nation wear and ascended the Iron Throne.
With her history of holding power, Cersei played by Lena Heady won't reign long. But will that leave Westeros wanting for female leadership? In fact, if by chance Game of Thrones turns out to be the definitive statement on the failures of patriarchy, you can see the show ending with women ruling the Seven Kingdoms. All men must die, but as Dany played by Emilia Clarke will tell you, she is not a man. It's a longshot, yes, but this is how all of Westeros could end up under a matriarchal rule. This means no War of the Five Queens is required. This will not be surprising because all wars in history have been started by men.
The men in Game of Thrones, seem to have this view that they are the one controlling everything. However, it is the women that are keeping the kingdom from totally falling to ashes. Every time the men start wars the women try and stop them. First, Ellaria and the Sand Snakes Consolidate Power in Dorne At the end of last season, Ellaria Sand played by Indira Varma gave Cersei's daughter Myrcella Baratheon the kiss of death, stabbed Doran Martell in the heart, and vowed in her words that "weak men will never rule Dorne again." Ellaria no doubt wants revenge on House Lannister for the death of her beloved Oberyn Martell, who died defending Tyrion however, from the looks, she wants to consolidate power in Dorne first. There are more men in the world.
There is also the Mother of Dragons. Daenerys Stormborn taking the Iron Throne has been in the air since Season 1. She is the daughter of "Mad King" Aerys Targaryen which means she holds a legitimate claim. The Baratheons deposed of the "Mad King" during Robert's Rebellion. Robert's wife, Cersei, wears the crown now but must fight Dany. However, Dany comes with all those standing behind her. She is backed by the Dothraki, the Iron born, the mercenaries of the Second Sons, the fleets of Dorne, the Unsullied, Cersei's brother Tyrion played by Peter Dinklage, and three friggin' dragons. No woman in the Seven Kingdoms exerts more power than Dany.
These are only two of the bad-ass women in Game of Thrones. Women are ruling the Seven Kingdoms. Seeing a show so firmly grounded in machismo end with women in charge where they are creating a world that, as Dany claims, is "better than we found it," would be more than a novel for the society we live in. It would be revolutionary. Then again, we're talking about Game of Thrones. They'll probably all be dead by the end of the show.
