And Cersei just went and claimed it, so.

As somebody online pointed out, she didn't just blow up the Faith Militant and the Tyrells, she blew up the entire King's Landing court which would have included the heirs, claimaints and royalty of the other houses. In short, there's really not that many people left.

According to this Mashable post, Cersei may actually be the legitimate heir.

Huh. Interesting. But wasn't Robert's original claim legitimized in part by his relation to the Targaryens? Ned said he had the better claim, and I think that was why.

-t is correct. The founder of House Baratheon married a Targaryen, so all the Baratheons have Targaryen blood, which, yes, is why he had the best claim of the members of the Rebellion.

Barring them, some other house with similar heritage is likely to have the best claim. That may be House Martell, even, which would be interesting. There are any number of Targaryen women who married into noble houses and then had daughters, so who knows where they might have ended up, including, as the author points out, House Lannister. But, once they start down the Not A Baratheon path, any surviving nobles could easily raise a claim and an army, and, then, Even More War.

I expect dragons sort out claimaints with amazing efficiency.

Seems like even non-saurian sources of fire are good at that.

Just now watched the end of Penny Dreadful, and had an ugly cry. They really went with the "everything is awful" theme, huh? I miss it already.

Huh, still up in the air about putty Penny Dreadful on my to watch list. So little time, so many things to watch.

The first season was so gorgeously gothic, it's worth it, Laura. The whole thing was worth it, for me. And the ending is really fitting, given the overall themes and aesthetic.

The aesthetic factor is truly intriguing.