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Does Daenerys have a stronger claim to the Iron Throne than Cersei after

Tommen’s death

if we say she succeeds Tommen and not Aerys II?

Tommen left no siblings behind; his 'father' Robert and Robert’s siblings are dead.

We have to go further up the Baratheon family tree and we will see that Robert had a grandmother (she would be Tommen’s great-grandmother), Rhaelle Targaryen, who is also Daenerys's great-aunt.

Some people say that Cersei Lannister is the heir of Tommen - if you go all the way up the Baratheon family tree, you will find Cersei’s great-great-great-great-grandfather, Mathin Lannister, but isn’t this claim weaker than Daenerys's claim?

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Paul D. Waite
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thompson004
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    Close Votes: I don't believe this is a duplicate; this question is more about Dany's claim than Cersei's, which the other question and it's answer does not address. (It's also, I believe, factually incorrect, but that's a different issue.) – KutuluMike Jul 19 '16 at 20:45
  • @KutuluMike - I wouldn't push back if you wanted to reopen based on how specific it is; mostly I just had the memory of many questions very much like this right after the finale. – Radhil Jul 20 '16 at 01:37
  • the OP apparently agreed to close it, so I'm not going to argue. – KutuluMike Jul 20 '16 at 02:01
  • Uh, as the author of the other answer, regardless to whether it qualifies to close this as a dupe, I am interested in knowing How is it factually incorrect? @KutuluMike – Aegon Nov 01 '16 at 08:51
  • @Aegon Like I said, in my opinion your answer is wrong. I believe that the current claim to the throne derives from Robert winning the war, and nothing else. As soon as Robert chose to depose Aerys, Targaryen heritage stopped being relevant. – KutuluMike Nov 01 '16 at 10:21
  • @KutuluMike That would have been a valid assumption except that Robert's own De jure claim came from his Targaryen heritage (With defacto coming from his hammer). By owning up to his heritage for crown, even as a formality, He shows that Targaryen claim isn't irrelevant. In any case, Of course, that's bordering on opinion based debate with Varys' little riddle being the most factual bit there is about legitimacy. Cheers, for the response. – Aegon Nov 01 '16 at 10:35

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If our understanding of Westerosi inheritance is correct, then Cersei has a stronger claim than Dany, because the line of succession never follows marriages, only blood relations. So, for example, the fact that Tommen's great grandfather married a Targaryen does not put anyone on the Targaryen side of the family into the Baratheon line of succession. Cersei is probably not the strongest claimant -- we'd have to follow the male lineages at every tier of the family tree and confirm that they're all dead, but if she's the first still-living descendant on one of Tommen's male ancestral blood lines, that's a valid claim, while Dany's is not.

There is also the fact that any claim Cersei could make, in theory, Jaime could also make, since they are twins. And under Westerosi law, male heirs always dominate, so his is stronger. It's unclear what his oaths as Kingsguard may or may not have done to such a claim.

Of course, the question is really just a pointless technicality, because:

  • If you consider the Targaryens the legitimate royal family, Dany's claim is by far stronger than Cersei's because she's the last living child of the last King.
  • Cersei has the throne through the simple fact that no one else is alive to contest it, and she has control over the military. No one else's claim is even remotely strong enough to convince people to back theirs over Cersei's.

In the end, the strongest claim to the throne will go to whichever manages to murder the other first.

KutuluMike
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    “the strongest claim to the throne will go to whichever manages to murder the other first” — the great unwritten rule of the Seven Kingdoms’ constitution. – Paul D. Waite Jul 19 '16 at 20:34
  • Also whoever has the power to hold the throne. – Joe L. Jul 19 '16 at 22:23
  • I personally think that the Targaryen line is not considered because of Roberts overthrow of the Targaryen dynasty and their exile - see here: http://www.thisisinsider.com/who-has-the-rightful-claim-to-the-iron-throne-after-the-game-of-thrones-finale-2016-6

    What do you say about this?

    Also, why do you think Danys claim is stronger because "she would be the last living child of the last king"? The last king was officially Tommen Baratheon.

     – thompson004 Jul 20 '16 at 02:29
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    You can't just ignore the first half of a sentence and then ask what the second half means... if (like many people in Westeros) you consider Robert an usurper and Aerys the last true king, then Dany's claim is obviously the strongest. – KutuluMike Jul 20 '16 at 10:47
  • If our understanding of Westerosi inheritance is correct, then Cersei has a stronger claim than Dany, because the line of succession never follows marriages, only blood relations., Can you elaborate on that? By that sentence alone, how does Cersei have a better claim by having married a Baratheon as compared to Daenerys who's descended from the direct Royal line? – Aegon Nov 01 '16 at 08:52
  • @Aegon you're right, I was actually misreading the family tree. Mathin Lannister is Steffon Baratheon's great-great-great-uncle... but it's by marriage, so it shouldn't count any more than Dany's claim-by-marriage. – KutuluMike Nov 01 '16 at 11:13