Spoilers for the Season 6 finale of Game of Thrones are all over this article. If you haven't caught the episode, yet, and would like to be surprised, please check out one of our other lovely articles.
Tonight's Season 6 finale of Game of Thrones wasn't as loud or expensive as the episode that preceded it, at least not at first. In fact, "The Winds of Winter" featured quieter moments than some of the previous episodes. At the beginning of the episode, we saw Loras, Tommen, Margaery, Cersei and others getting dressed as they quietly awaited the trials that were coming. Loras went first, renouncing his claims on Highgarden and committing to the Sparrows. Then, the world exploded.
Tommen was pulled from the trial by his mother before she blew up everyone involved with wildfire. However, while his mother is heartless, Tommen is not and he felt the loss of his wife Margaery keenly. He didn't wait long before he removed the crown from his head and quietly stepped to the edge of the window, falling to his death. His suicide wasn't the craziest or biggest death in the episode, but it was one of the most impactful and one of the most important in the episode, as it left the Iron Throne wide open. Here's why Game of Thrones was always going to kill that character off.
The Lannister Children Were Always Fated To Die
Remember when Game of Thrones revealed its first flashback and it was a sequence when young Cersei bravely went into the woods and was given a prophecy by a fortune teller named Maggy? In Season 5, Cersei demanded Maggy tell her what would happen in the future, only she didn't really love the answer she got. She was told that her husband---Robert Baratheon---would have twenty kids while she would only have three. The witch also prophesied the doom of Myrcella, Joffrey and now Tommen, by noting, "Gold will be their crowns; gold, their shrouds." Sure, it could have just been some nonsense spouted by a crazy lady in the woods, but if that were true, it probably wouldn't have been a scene that made an episode of Game of Thrones.
Poor Parenting Made The Lannister Kids Vulnerable
While it is clear that Cersei fiercely loves her children, she and Robert Baratheon/Jaime Lannister weren't exactly the best of parents. When Joffrey needed to be disciplined, he was more often indulged; this led to him turning into a monster who was later murdered. Myrcella was impetuous and caused problems when she fell in love with the young Dornish heir, Trystane, but she never really had parents guiding her in regards to falling in love with the enemy. Tommen was arguably the best of the bunch, but like his other two siblings, he had a major fault that ultimately led to his demise. While we applauded his willingness to finally leave his mother's apron strings and make his own decisions, he was still following Margaery and the High Sparrow around like a lapdog. That's not the type of personality that should be the leader of an entire nation, and it ultimately led to his downfall. If he had respected his mother, maybe he wouldn't have ended up in the position he was in during the Season 6 finale.
Tommen Was Never Fit To Lead
This leads us to our next point. Tommen was never fit to lead. In fact, probably the most memorable moment he had during the entire series was in a bedroom scene with Margaery that was totally hijacked by Ser Pounce. In the time since, he let the High Sparrow first flout his authority and then totally bamboozle him. He let his wife get the upper hand and he totally cast aside his family, letting his mother walk naked in the streets and then forcing her to face trial, all while sending his Uncle Jaime to Rivverrun while he was out of his way. Not only was he bad at being his own person and running King's Landing effectively, he surrounded himself with his enemies instead of his friends and family. Unfit kings don't usually step down. They get disposed of. Considering Jaime Lannister's storied history, Tommen should have known what happens to kings who can't lead.
Cersei Should Never Be Underestimated
Cersei is one of Game of Thrones' most heartless characters. She had no qualms about killing the High Sparrow or torturing the Sparrow that had been cruel to her. She had no qualms about killing off her enemies, including Margaery, or blowing up a huge chunk of King's Landing. Lamentably, fan favorite character Margaery hasn't had enough screen time during Season 6, and her final moments on the series weren't pretty. Although Cersei did not plan to kill her own son during the wildfire sequence, she inadvertently killed him when she took everything he loved and held dear from him. She should have known he was too weak to sustain the blow. Maybe she did and just didn't care. Either way, she was always going to do what it took to be in charge.
King's Landing Was Always Going To Need A True Leader
The HBO drama is called Game of Thrones. While there's a lot of other stuff going on, the series is essentially about several people with very different perspectives all sharing the same ambition: to hold the Iron Throne. I don't think any fans would have been happy, if sad, sappy Tommen were still sitting on that epic throne at the end of Season 8. It wouldn't be good TV and it wouldn't be very logical, considering how aggressive and tactically sharp a lot of the other characters on the HBO drama are. With Tommen out of the way, King's Landing now belongs to Cersei and Jaime. That's going to give showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff time to set up new puzzle pieces and wrap up the series in the 13 or so episodes they've mentioned are left. If Tommen were still alive, that particular plotline could drag on for a while. His character had to be killed off at some point, and it made sense to do it now rather than too much later.
To find out what we know about Season 7, head here.
