A UMR Research poll on who GoT viewers expect to win the Iron Throne and which major characters are expected to live or die looks much more optimistic than the “bittersweet” finish George Martin promised.
37% are expecting, Jon Snow to end up on the throne and a further 19% Daenerys Targaryen. Add in picks for Arya Stark (11%) and Sansa Stark (8%), Tyrion Lannister (7%) and Gendry Baratheon (2%) and that is 84% expecting a positive winner. Bran Stark , favourite in some betting agencies was not included in our prompted list but was volunteered as the eventual winner by just 0.3% of respondents.
Only 1% expect Cersei Lannister to retain the throne. 2% expect the Night King to triumph.
Some of the outsiders could, of course, only make it if the major characters die. But that does not appear to be the general expectation. 63% expect Cersei to die, 42% the at least partly redeemed Jamie Lannister and a perhaps surprisingly low 24% the Night King. Of the perceived good characters 23% expect both Daenerys and Tyrion to die and 22% Sansa. Only 18% expect Jon Snow to be killed off.
A bloodthirsty 6% are expecting all 9 characters tested to die and a pollyannish 3% expect them all to live. Overall there may be if the “bitter” part is true there seems likely to be more teary deaths than fans are allowing for.
Results are based upon questions asked in an online survey (advertised through Facebook) of 670 respondents who declared they currently watch Game of Thrones or have watched Game of Thrones in the past. The survey was conducted between 15th to 23rd March 2019.