‘Game of Thrones’: What will Euron Greyjoy’s “gift” to Cersei be?

Culture

Cersei Lannister might technically run the Seven Kingdoms, but as her brother/lover Jaime pointed out, she’s really the ruler over three — at best. Westeros is in full rebellion at the start of Game of Thrones’ seventh season, with Houses Tyrell and Martell teaming up with Daenerys Targaryen’s army and her fire-breathing dragons. Jon Snow is the new King in the North. One of Cersei’s only allies, the Freys, were wiped out in the same halls where the Red Wedding took place, thanks to Arya Stark.

Some viewers are predicting Cersei’s death at some point this season (I support that theory), but she already looks doomed from the onset. So, in the premiere that aired on Sunday night, she plants the seeds for the only alliance that’s available to her, even though it’s a dangerous one: a union with Euron Greyjoy.

Theon and Yara’s uncle, sporting an outfit that’s basically a pirate mixed with The Rocky Horror Picture Show, goes to King’s Landing in hopes of procuring a marriage with Cersei to unify his fleet of ships with the Iron Throne. It’s a deal similar to what he was prepared to offer Dany before his niece and nephew beat him to the punch. Cersei, however, is wary of Euron’s double-crossing ways — he’s fresh off of murdering his brother and trying to do the same to Theon and Yara, after all. So Euron says that he’s going to provide Cersei with a “gift” as a token of good faith.

And that’s where the speculation begins: What will Euron’s “gift” to Cersei be? All we really know is that, whatever it may be, the cryptic episode three synopsis says Cersei “returns a gift.” But we have a few ideas.

Helen Sloan/HBO

What if it’s Gendry?

Remember Gendry, one of Thrones’ long-lost, forgotten characters that disappeared in the show’s sprawling narrative? The last we saw of him, Ser Davos was helping Gendry escape Dragonstone and a nasty ritualistic death at the hands of Stannis Baratheon and the red priestess Melisandre. That was back in season three, and the parting image of Gendry rowing to safety has left fans speculating about his whereabouts.

What’s he been up to since then? Has he been rowing this whole time? Could he beat the Mountain in arm-wrestling match, with all the rowing he’s endured? Is he aware of the very creepy Gendry-Arya fan fiction that’s out there?

Gendry returning before the end of Thrones wouldn’t be pure fan service. Since he’s a bastard with Baratheon blood, he’s one of a few characters who could have a legitimate claim to the Iron Throne. Euron gifting Cersei with the last remaining link to the previous Baratheon rule (technically, Tommen was a Baratheon in the eyes of the common folk, even if they’d heard the incest rumors) would be a pretty big deal, as she’d be able to wipe out that bloodline entirely. And if anyone were to stumble upon Gendry as he’s rowing around aimlessly, it’s one of Westeros’ premier pirates.

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Does Euron have Dragonbinder in the show?

In George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, two magical horns could ostensibly control’s the show “fire” and “ice.” The Horn of Joramun, or “Horn of Winter,” can apparently destroy the magical Wall protecting Westeros from the White Walkers. It’s unclear if Sam Tarly finds the horn in season two, when the Night’s Watch is at the Fist of the First Men, or where that horn would be in the show.

The other horn, Dragonbinder, is in Euron’s possession in the books and can supposedly control dragons, which would be bad news for Dany. If Euron gifted Cersei with Dragonbinder, it would shift the odds back in her favor against Dany’s impending army. If Cersei would be able to command Dany’s dragons, it likely wouldn’t matter how large the Khaleesi’s army is — we all saw how quickly she dispatched her enemies in Slaver’s Bay in season six.

It would be odd, though, for Thrones to introduce such an important plot device so late in the series, especially when neither horn has been mentioned once. It’s not unlike the show to simplify the books’ complex plotting. Though the same could be said about Euron, who only showed up last season and is already pegged to have a larger role this year as one of the show’s final antagonists.

Can Euron kidnap someone from Dany’s army?

Macall B. Polay/HBO

Cersei’s biggest threat is Dany’s army, and there are some personal stakes at play as well: She knows her brother Tyrion is Dany’s Hand of the Queen. Also allied with Dany is Olenna Tyrell, who hates Cersei’s guts for wiping out her entire family and has the greatest food supply in the realm, which is paramount for the coming winter. Plus, the Martells and Ellaria Sand, who poisoned Cersei’s only daughter Myrcella, are aboard the Dany bandwagon.

Euron somehow kidnapping any of these people as a “gift” would put him in Cersei’s good graces. Tyrion seems the most unlikely, but it’s tempting to imagine: Cersei face-to-face with the brother she hates, and Jaime conflicted over helping his younger brother, who he clearly still cares about. It’s not like Dany’s whereabouts are much of a mystery, either — of course she’s set up camp in a place called Dragonstone, her birthplace and the Targaryen’s ancestral home, which just so happens to be abandoned.

Euron’s sailing somewhere, and Dragonstone isn’t that far from King’s Landing.

A tailor

On an aesthetic level, Cersei and Euron’s all-black garbs are a match made in heaven. Cersei’s rocking some Romulan chic, Euron’s a punk pirate. What better way to formalize an alliance than offer Westeros’ queen a tailor that befits someone so fierce?

Euron’s probably got something grander in mind, but we’ve got just enough time left in the show to add an apparel subplot.

The seventh season of Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. Eastern on HBO.

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