Rolling Stone Highlights New Firehouse/Optimus Poll

May 20, 2019

The Country is Divided in Politics But Not in Who We Want to Win ‘Game of Thrones’

Surprise: It’s a white guy

By:PETER WADE

Republicans and Democrats alike can’t agree on much in American politics, but they can agree on Westerosi politics: They both want Jon Snow to ascend to the Iron Throne on the Game of Thrones series finale airing Sunday on HBO.

A poll, conducted by Firehouse Strategies and Optimus, revealed that 50 percent of registered voters across the country who watch the show said they were rooting for Jon Snow to rule over the Seven Kingdoms in the end. And, according to the poll, Snow has bipartisan support from 47 percent of Democrats and 55 percent of Republicans nationwide.

The Night King slayer Arya Stark came in a distant second, with 14 percent support, while Sansa Stark and Daenerys Targaryen were tied at 11 percent. Tyrion Lannister landed just behind Sansa and Dany, at 10 percent, and six percent were rooting for “someone else”—maybe a resurrected Night King?

pie chart

It would be interesting to see what the poll would have looked like before last week’s episode, when Daenerys Targaryen undoubtedly lost a bunch of supporters by committing genocide on the city of King’s Landing. But women tended to be more supportive of Daenerys (13 percent) than men (8 percent).

Interestingly, satisfaction with the show’s final season was not overwhelming; 53 percent were satisfied while 47 percent were not. And young viewers tended to be more dissatisfied (53 percent) than viewers age 35-55 (43 percent).

The poll also questioned viewers about their opinions on the Wall of Ice in the North versus President Trump’s much-touted border wall. Most believed the fictional wall of ice to be more effective than Trump’s proposed steel slats. Sixty percent preferred the Wall of Ice, versus 29 percent who liked Trump’s.