Liam Cunningham and Gwendoline Christie on the end of House Baratheon

CAUTION: THIS POST HAS SPOILERS FOR LAST NIGHT’S NUTSO HOUR OF GAME OF THRONES

If you believe that Stannis was killed, off-screen, by Brienne during last night’s Game of Thrones Season 5 finale, then you might be wondering just who will carry on the Baratheon legacy, now that he’s dead. It certainly cannot be Shireen, as she was sacrificed to the Red God in “The Dance of Dragons.” It most definitely won’t be Renly, since Stannis and Melisandre’s shadow baby killed him back in Season 2. It can’t be Tommen, because he came from the incestuous relationship of Jaime and Cersei, not good King Robert. So who is left?

The answer is no one. Not unless you count Robert’s bastard son Gendry, and for all we know, he died at sea in a horrible boating accident. Actor Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth) has some thoughts on the subject, and he shared them with Vulture.

Tommen shouldn’t be there. He’s a usurper.

That sounds exactly what Davos Seaworth would say. Cunningham went on to postulate who might claim the Iron Throne now that the One True King is dead, his bloodline ended.

Any other show, you would say Dany, but it being Game of Thrones, it’s up for grabs. Is it Ramsay who said last season, ‘If you think this is going to have a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention’? I’m as interested as anyone to see what happens next. We’re plummeting, racing towards the end of the story now.

That would make the most sense, seeing as how weak Tommen’s claim to the crown actually is. And, if Dany can rally the Dothraki, who she was reunited with in the finale, on top of already having an army of Unsullied and three large dragons, then it would seem as if she is the perfect candidate…which means, using show logic, she will be dead before Season 7.

So what’s in store for Davos, now that he no longer has a king to follow? Cunningham did not comment on what the future holds for the Onion Knight, but I personally hope he gets to finally go home to his wife Marya and their remaining children. It would be a nice and peaceful ending for such a loyal character.

Elsewhere, Gwendoline Christie talked to Entertainment Weekly about her part in ended the Baratheon line. Brienne may not have had much to do in the second half of this season, but killing one the main characters sort of puts her back into the game. Here’s what she had to say after EW asked her how she reacted when she got the script for “Mother’s Mercy.”

[Christie makes screeching sound that’s impossible to replicate by text]

So she was excited. Christie was a fan of Brienne’s Season 5 journey, and appreciated the way it showed us a side of her character that was a bit more calculating, pointing at how Brienne used the network of Stark loyalists to get to Sansa within Winterfell. Christie also had an interesting take on why Brienne abandoned her watch for Sansa’s candle, something she’d tirelessly observed for weeks at a time, at the worst possible moment.

There’s an exploration of this character as a person—she’s dedicated to the greater good, not acknowledging her personal wants and needs in favor of something better than her. [Going after Stannis is] the one moment she responds to her emotional world and her feelings. She’s overtaken by something that we haven’t seen before.

Hopefully, that bit of laxness won’t come back to bite Brienne, because I’m not sure I could take her death after last night’s bloodbath. Christie doesn’t know what’s in store for Brienne next year, but says she’s prepared if her character is killed off. On this show, it probably pays to be prepared.

• Published on 06/15/2015 at 1:25 PM CDT
• Last updated on 06/15/2015 at 1:28 PM CDT