In last night's finale of Game of Thrones, we finally see the evidence of what I've known all along. Stannis Baratheon, the First of his name, is the greatest of the claimants for the King of the Seven Kingdoms. Not that there are a lot of options left to work with.

He's better than Joffrey, the demented boy who thought it was a good idea to provoke Tywin Lannister -- and during a meeting on the subject of what happened to someone who was stupid enough to do so!

He's better than Balon Greyjoy, who abandoned his son to torture and death simply because he couldn't continue the family line. Besides, his House's words are "We Do Not Sow," he'd rake Westeros for all its worth, not restore it.

He's even better than Daenerys, by virtue of being on the same continent as the place he wants to rule. Her claim is as strong as his is, sure. She even has dragons backing her up. But until she actually sets foot in Westeros, all of that means little and less to the realm.

Unfortunately, a king without subjects is hardly a king. Just a man in a fancy chair wearing a shiny hat. A king must protect his people, and punish the guilty according to the law. Yet Stannis is the only king that takes his title seriously. When the White Walkers come down on the Wall, it will be Stannis and his army standing alongside the Night's Watch, waiting to defend the realm. And, as he says in the books, there will be no shortage of carrying out the law.

"Every man shall reap what he has sown, from the highest lord to the lowest gutter rat. And some will lose more than the tips off their fingers, I promise you. They have made my kingdom bleed, and I do not forget that."

But what are the chances of him sitting the Iron Throne in the end? Even if he manages to survive a war with the creatures of ice now rambling towards the Wall (a big if, never mind that Dragonstone has the glass that kills them literally everywhere), he'll eventually have to descend back south to sit his throne. Supposing he did save the realm, and everyone knew about it, the Lannisters may grant him a pardon for rebellion. A Lannister pays his debts, after all. But they're hardly going to make him the king.

And Daenerys, when she finally ends her tour of Slaver's Bay? She's not going to forget that it was Stannis that stormed Dragonstone as her brother and mother fled for their lives. The Lord of Light may be a fire god, but He's not going to make dragonfire any less deadly.

And that's the quiet tragedy of Stannis Baratheon. Nobody picked him, nobody loves him. He could literally save the world, and it still wouldn't gain him the throne, in the end. But the thing that makes him a true king is that he's going to do it anyway.

Thomas Fichtenmayer is the author of a spoiler-filled Tumblr obsessed with the characters of the Game of Thrones, especially Stannis Baratheon.

READ Fichtenmayer's dossiers of Game of Thrones characters and his Power Rankings

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