The first official Game of Thrones trailer featuring new footage from Season 7 is here, and it sets up a clash of queens of epic proportions. However, in an interview Wednesday with Esquire, Kit Harington laid out one simple theory on why Jon Snow would be a better ruler than Cersei or Daenerys: He doesn’t want the job.
“Thrones can be used as a metaphor way too much, but if there’s one truth, I think, it’s that people who really desire power are the people who shouldn’t have it,” Harington said. “Maybe Jon’s the one person who should have it, because he’s not looking for it.”
Cersei and Daenerys are both certainly looking for it. In the trailer, Cersei discusses squashing her enemies to the north, south, east, and west in order to maintain her grip on the Iron Throne. Daenerys, meanwhile, asserts that ruling is her birthright. Neither has displayed the best political acumen. Daenerys made a mess of Meereen, and Cersei blew up her own people in order to claim the throne.
Jon, on the other hand, has gone his entire life feeling entitled to nothing, as society has looked down on him for being a bastard. He’s risen to the occasion and learned how to be a leader through his time in the Night’s Watch. Harington just might be onto something.
Game of Thrones Season 7 premieres on Wednesday, July 16 on HBO.
