Despite a strong need to occasionally smack Cersei in the face, I really do love her as a character. Paranoid and ruthless and deeply, bitterly resentful of being underestimated her entire life, Cersei now has unqualified, unquestioned power and she intends to keep it. Cersei has always been a primary antagonist, first of Tyrion and the Starks, and then of the Tyrells, and now of Westeros in general. She has proven time and again that she is above nothing in her pursuit of security and power, even mass murder. Destroying the Tyrells (and many of her own innocent citizens) last season destroyed her final presumed imminent threat, and with an enormous monster protector, FrankenMountain, by her side, she seems invincible. But, what is she fighting for? As Jaime pointed out in last night's premiere episode, their children are dead. There is no Lannister legacy left to fight for, and they are now surrounded by large armies of enemies on all sides. Jaime, though, has once again underestimated his twin. Cersei is not fighting for family glory, as her father did, or even for love as Jaime always has. Cersei is fighting for herself, for her own pride, and her own vanity. Now severed from her one "redeeming" characteristic, her enormous love for her children, Cersei is all about herself and her own life, which she knows is in constant danger.

        Aside from the constant threat of attack by Danaerys, it would seem that Cersei's greatest need at this time is to keep the people of Westeros from revolting against her. She has never been one to give the actual citizens under her rule a passing thought, and even seems to actively detest them (remember her stepping over them with a disgusted look on her face way back in Season 5?) The feeling seems mutual- during her infamous Walk of Shame at the end of Season 5, the unwashed masses of King's Landing threw dung at her, cursed at her, spat on her, and shoved her, all while hurling mean (if accurate) insults at her. The rise of the Bernie Sanders-esque populist hero The High Sparrow may have given the common people someone who, at least on the surface, really cared about them. His recent death, as well as Cersei's complete disregard for the innocent lives lost in her recent attack on the Sept, may propel the citizens of King's Landing to stage a coup d'tat against their wicked queen. 

        On the surface, Danaerys is the clear threat to Cersei's rule- after all, it was prophesied that one who was "younger and more beautiful" would come and "cast you down and take all you hold dear." Since Danaerys is literally coming to cast Cersei down, Danaerys is an imminent danger, and most would say that of the two choices, Dany is obviously the best option. But, the question remains: is Dany prepared for the challenge ahead? It's all well and good to feel entitled to something by birthright, but it's another entirely to settle in a country you're not familiar with, which is both warring with itself and facing enormous threat from ice zombies, and decide to rule things.
         First of all, Dany's track record as a conqueror is great, but her track record as an actual ruler isn't as good. Historically, she has taken over a city, sacked it, freed it's slaves and murdered many of its ruling class, and then promptly abandoned the city to go on to the next one. Her inability to stick around very long usually means that the cities she takes over inevitably fall back into chaos, usually with those who had power in the first place taking it back. Whenever a government is overthrown, a new order must be established, and Dany's strong sense of morality is entirely black and white. She is not willing to negotiate or compromise, and usually this means freeing the slaves of a city and roasting anyone who doesn't agree with her alive. 

       This level of ferocious morality doesn't work in "the great game," as Tyrion calls it. Dany cannot take over Westeros and claim it as her birthright, and then just set fire to anyone who doesn't like it. This was the strategy used by her father, the Mad King, and as each season passes, it becomes clear that Dany has a little of the infamous Targaryen madness in her veins. There are some things working in her favor, though: firstly, several of the influential players of the other great houses are gone. Cersei destoryed the remaining Tyrells, the Baratheons destroyed themselves in the Battle of the Five Kings, and all of the Lannister/Baratheon children are dead. Secondly, the remaining power in those great houses have strongly aligned with her. The Greyjoys, the Martells, and Grandma Tyrell have joined forces with her. Finally, though she doesn't yet know it, she has a nephew who is the ruling King in the North. Will Jon leave Sansa to run Winterfell and join his aunt in defeating the White Walkers and taking Westeros back from Cersei?
      Much of this comes, once again, down to the citizens of King's Landing. Dany has always had the popularity of the commonfolk, which Cersei lacks. Riding a wave of populism may put her into power on its own. However, as I discussed before, Dany is now settling in to stay, and being queen is much more difficult than becoming queen. Will the common people accept an outside foreigner as their best bet for survival? If they disagree, will Dany release her dragons on them? We'll see. 

      Sansa's growth as a character has been among the most fascinating throughout the series. She began in Season 1 as Everyone's Least Favorite Character (much of that hate being for totally sexist reasons) and was pretty much a bratty, starry eyed teenage girl. Since then, she has been through hell and back, first under the thumb of Joffrey and Cersei, and then as Ramsay's bride. Poor Sansa has consistently had her hopes dashed and her body abused, and she has become much like Cersei- beautiful, icy, and vengeful. Much of Cersei's influence lingers in Sansa. After all, it was Cersei who truly taught Sansa what power is and how to wield it. In last night's premiere episode, Jon is left to determine what will become of the children of the North's rebellious houses, the Umbers and the Karstarks. Jon favors forgiveness and mercy, choosing a united North to fight the White Walkers with him. Sansa chooses revenge and harsh consequences, deciding it better to reward loyalty by casting the young Umbers and Karstarks out into the snow and giving their ancestral homes to loyal houses. Jon wins, because he is the King in the North and Sansa is not, and later chastises Sansa for calling him out in front of his men.
     This is an interesting turn of events. Just like Cersei, Sansa is being dismissed and fussed at by the men in her family, even though Jon isn't actually a Stark at all. Once Sansa learns that Jon is a Targaryen, will she turn against him and decide to take her place as Wardness of the North? Will Jon's resentment of being pushed around by men turn her into Cersei 2.0? Though she still values family and her own home, Sansa is no longer the naive little girl she once was. There's no telling where her story will take her, but if I had to guess, I'd guess that she is named Wardness of the North, with Petyr Baelish demanding that she marry him in exchange for his army. (Shudders)

        Much as we all love Arya, my gut says that she will not be left standing at the end of this. I feel that Arya's death will come in a blaze of glory, killing someone on her list- Cersei, maybe, or even The Hound. (Wouldn't that be tragic, after all this time?) What remains to be seen with Arya is how deeply she gets into killing. She's already become a hard, soulless little assassin, and as Harry Potter proved to us, murder divides up the soul. What will become of Arya? She aspires to power and has none. All she wants is vengeance for her family. What is her role in the Great Game? We'll see.