With Ramsay dead by his own hounds after Season 6's Battle of the Bastards, Game Of Thrones Season 7 needed a new Big Bad to fill his shoes and complicate things for the story's heroes. Enter Euron Greyjoy. Theon's and Yara's uncle — who proclaimed himself King of the Iron Islands last season and declared his intention to marry Daenerys and conquer Westeros — has received a major upgrade for the show's penultimate season. Now with the leather-clad swagger of a young Jack Sparrow, Euron has abandoned his pursuit of the Dragon Queen (since his niece and nephew got there first) and has decided to ally with a different queen instead. But what is Euron's gift to Cersei that he promises her during the Season 7 premiere?
Although Euron offered himself in marriage to the newly-crowned Queen of Westeros and pledged her his Iron Fleet, neither of these proposals were the "gift" he spoke of. Rather, the mysterious present is meant as encouragement to convince Cersei to accept his proposal of marriage and alliance. But what could be persuasive enough to get the Queen to wed herself to another man she doesn't love, after her horrific experience with Robert Baratheon? It would have to be something pretty good…
There seem to be three options as to the nature of Euron's gift. The first is that it's a person; someone who Cersei would desperately want to have in her grasp for vengeance and/or use against Daenerys. If it is a person, there's no shortage of options. Euron could be intending to kidnap Tyrion, considering that Cersei has already put a price out on her traitorous brother's head, and Euron did wax nostalgic on the joys of killing one's own brother.
It could also be Theon or Yara, since he already announced his intention to murder them last season, and executing his own kin could be a way of proving his fealty to Cersei. Or it could be Olenna Tyrell or Ellaria Sand, Daenerys' two biggest Westerosi allies, both of whom harbor vendettas against the queen. The Queen of Thorns in particular might make for a juicy present, given that the elderly Tyrell called Cersei the "worst person I've ever met" during their last conversation — and that House Tyrell is control of the bread basket of Westeros, and is choking off key supplies from King's Landing.
The second option is that the gift is an item of some sort; a literal present. But what to get for the woman who already has the Iron Throne? Euron could go looking for Brightroar, the Lannister family's ancestral Valyrian steel sword that was lost centuries before when a member of the family took it with him to the smoking ruins of Old Valyria and never returned. With Jaime having given Oathkeeper away, the Lannisters could use a new family sword, and Valyrian steel is gaining importance as the show nears its endgame with the White Walkers.
Even more likely, Euron could be in pursuit of Dragonbinder, an ancient artifact that, when blown, binds any dragon within earshot to the will of its owner. If there was any "gift" that could level the playing field between Cersei and Daenerys, it would be a tool capable of stealing one or more of the dragons from the Mother of Dragons. Given that the character in the books already claims to be in possession of this artifact, this seems like the most plausible scenario of all.
Finally, the third thing Euron's gift could be — besides a person or an item — is the most valuable gift of all: a dragon. Perhaps Euron isn't setting out to find Dragonbinder and give it to Cersei; perhaps he already has it (like in the books), and is cutting out the middleman, intending to use it for himself and return to King's Landing with a fire-breathing lizard in tow. Now that would be the ultimate gift. (He should just hope he doesn't end up like poor Quentyn Martell in the books, roasted to a crisp after trying to tame Dany's dragons.)
There's one other clue about the nature of Euron's gift. The vague description for Episode 3, "The Queen's Justice," teases that "Cersei returns a gift." This is almost certainly referring to Euron's present; but what does it mean that she'll return it? Will the queen reject Euron's proposal, underwhelmed by his offering? Or, more ominously, does this description indicate that the "gift" is in fact a person… and that a vengeful Cersei will ultimately return the person's severed head, as a threat against anyone else who's plotting against her?
Whatever Euron's gift to Cersei is, this is one unholy alliance of terror that Daenerys would do well not to underestimate.
