Warning: SPOILERS for the Game of Thrones season 7 finale ahead!

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As expected, the Game of Thrones season 7 finale had some major twists and turns. However, what should have come as no surprise was Cersei publicly agreeing to do one thing, while secretly scheming to do something else entirely.

After witnessing the terrifying wight brought back from the north and being negotiated with by Tyrion, Cersei seemingly agrees to not only a truce but to lend her forces to those of Daenerys and Jon in order to fight the Night King. Except, that's just what she says she'll do. What Cersei really intends to do is let the Stark and Targaryen armies either be defeated by the Night King or wear themselves out fighting him, leaving her armies to clean up whatever's left.

Of course, the Lannister army is pretty well decimated thanks to Drogon, but Cersei has seen to this, using the gold taken from Highgarden (and possibly another loan from the Iron Bank) to hire the greatest mercenary army in the world -- The Golden Company of Essos. Who are they and why is their hiring so significant? Let's break it down.

The Golden Company of Essos

The Golden Company led by Aegor Rivers, called Bittersteel by Marc Simonetti
The Golden Company led by Aegor Rivers, called Bittersteel by Marc Simonetti

Like Daario Naharis' Seconds Sons or the Stormcrows hired by Ser Davos to serve Stannis, The Golden Company are a group of sellswords or mercenaries (though they prefer being called a brotherhood of exiles). For a price, they'll ally their armies with yours and help you win your next battle. Most sellswords are notoriously disloyal and if your opponent pays a larger sum, they'll switch sides almost instantly. The Golden Company, however, has a reputation for never breaking a contract and are ruthless with those who break with them. Their motto is "Our word is as good as gold," and being the largest and most famous of the sellsword companies that operate in the Disputed Lands (a region of Essos which the Free Cities constantly war over), they are also the most expensive.

Founded by one of Aegon IV Targaryen's legitimized bastards, Aegon Rivers (AKA "Bittersteel"), The Golden Company came about in the aftermath of the First Blackfyre Rebellion -- during which Aegon IV's bastard son, Daemon Blackfyre tried to usurp the throne from Aegon's trueborn son, Daeron II -- and originally consisted of those exiled lords and knights who had backed Blackfyre. That trend of enlisting exiles from Westeros continues even today, for example, Jorah Mormont, himself a Westerosi exile, took up with The Golden Company when he first came to Essos before swearing allegiance to Viserys, and later, Daenerys Targaryen.

Under Bittersteel and his various heirs, The Golden Company became an immensely disciplined army, able to quickly assemble and march on the enemy after even the most chaotic of landings. In addition to infantry and mounted knights, The Golden Company is also said to have a few elephants in their ranks. As an added bonus of intimidation, their officers and generals proudly display their wealth in ornate swords, fine silks, or with gilded skulls displayed above their banners, and it's said that each member wears an arm ring of gold for every year of service. Hiring The Golden Company is an expensive endeavor, but it's a move that can practically guarantee victory -- assuming, of course, you don't don't double cross them or refuse to pay.

Prince Aegon Targaryen flanked by members of the Golden Company - by Diego Gisbert Llorens
Prince Aegon Targaryen flanked by members of The Golden Company by Diego Gisbert Llorens

The Landing Of The Golden Company

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, The Golden Company is repeatedly mentioned before they ever come to play a significant role in the narrative. When they do enter the story in earnest, word gets around that they have uncharacteristically broken contract with the Free City of Myr and are marching east towards Volantis. Initially, the rumors are that The Golden Company -- now under the leadership of Harry Strickland, AKA Homeless Harry, a fourth generation Westerosi exile -- is planning to throw their support behind Daenerys Targaryen. But when they learn that she plans to remain in Meereen and isn't invading Westeros anytime soon, they change course.

Besides gold and riches, it's said that what The Golden Company wants more than anything is to return home, to Westeros. And when they're approached by a former of their ranks long thought dead, the exiled Lord Jon Connington, former Hand of the King in the final days of The Mad King's reign, The Golden Company has their ticket home. With Connington is a young man claiming to be Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell's son, Aegon. Originally, Connington's intention had been for Aegon -- who, it's explained, was smuggled out of King's Landing before its sacking by Varys and taken across the Narrow Sea -- to marry his aunt, Daenerys, and join her in invading Westeros. But with her decision to remain in Meereen, Aegon decides that he, with backing from The Golden Company, will invade Westeros himself, citing his stronger claim to the Iron Throne.

And in the most recently published novel, A Dance With Dragons, this is exactly what happens. The Golden Company swears their allegiance to Aegon VI and comes to Westeros, landing in the Stormlands. The Landing of the Golden Company is sure to prove a game changer for those in Westeros, though the full magnitude of how it will alter the politics in play remains unknown. (Obviously, The Winds of Winter cannot be published soon enough.) By the end of Dance, The Golden Company has already taken control of several holdfasts and castles, with the intention to next take Storm's End.

Cersei's Hiring Of The Golden Company

game of thrones iron fleet golden company

On Game of Thrones, The Golden Company's involvement is sure to be handled much, much differently. First of all, this Aegon character isn't likely to ever be introduced on the show since introducing yet another potential Targaryen in the final season would be absolutely insane (though not impossible). And in fact, many of the details pertaining to Aegon (AKA Fake Aegon or fAegon by many fans) have already been co-opted by other characters and plot lines. For example, in the novels it's Jon Connington who contracts greyscale when rescuing Tyrion from the stone men, not Jorah, and in the show, Varys has been conspiring with men like Illyrio Mopatis to sit Daenerys on the throne, not her secret nephew.

Still, having been mentioned earlier in season 7 and now again in the finale, The Golden Company are still coming to Westeros. Only this time, they're arriving in aid to Cersei's cause and not any Targaryen usurper. According to Cersei, she has sent Euron Greyjoy and the Iron Fleet to collect The Golden Company and bring them to Westeros. She cites that they have 20,000 men (along with horses and a few elephants) which should prove more than enough to bolster her defences and offer her the opportunity to regain some ground. All she need do is pay them and not betray them.

But being Game of Thrones, betrayal is all a part of how it's played. So while it's Cersei who will bring The Golden Company to Westeros, she likely won't have their allegiance for long. So who will? Well, the finale might have hinted at that when it revealed that Jon Snow's mother gave him another name, one that carries with it a heady dose of destiny -- Aegon Targaryen.

Kit Harrington as Jon Snow in the Game of Thrones finale

If the novels continue to provide a framework for where Game of Thrones is heading, even as the television series far eclipses the plot of the books, then it's very possible we'll see one Aegon's storyline combined with another. With the reveal that Jon Snow is also named Aegon Targaryen it appears all but confirmed that fAegon is indeed a fake Aegon and that Jon's older half-brother did die as infant in the Sack of King's Landing. In that case, where The Golden Company was supporting a imposter in the novels, they may well come to support the real deal on TV.

With the way in which the series teased out the reveal of Jon's true-true parentage -- that he isn't just Rhaegar's son, but his trueborn son with Lyanna Stark -- it seems fair to assume that season 8 will see Jon and Daenerys pitted against each other as Targaryen claimants to the Iron Throne. To again use the novels as a guide, The Golden Company are most likely to throw their support behind the Targaryen they believe has the strongest claim -- that's Jon, now Aegon, the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.

NEXT: Will Daenerys Accept A Different Heir to the Iron Throne?

Game of Thrones returns for its eighth and final season in 2018 on HBO.