If you haven’t heard by now, then either you’ve been living under a rock or have just arrived on our lovely planet. Yes, Game of Thrones has officially concluded, and it has been 8 long seasons filled with murder, betrayals, sacrifices, politics, and fire, lots of fire. What will I do with my Sunday evenings from now on! Talk to my family? Complete that stupid Big Ben puzzle I never finished? Perhaps a nice jog? Who are we kidding, I’ll find some other show to invest all of my emotions and convictions into.
In the meantime, I’ve decided that after reviewing every episode for this past season, I’m going to approach this last “recap” as more of an analysis on what was portrayed in the finale. If you have not been aware, countless fans who have stuck loyally with the series have expressed their frustration, disappointment, and even anger with the final project. There has been a lot of talk about how the final season seemed “rushed” and left us with many unanswered questions. What’s more frustrating is that the payoffs for most of the characters were just benign or inconsistent with their arcs. With that being said, also keep in mind that these slight nitpicks are not to criticize or negate the love we all have for GoT. The series is about fantasy and as die-hard fans we’ve become so attached to the world of Westeros that we lose sight of why we adore the series in the first place. So let’s have some fun and take a look at some of these final head scratchers.
Death to the Queen
It’s been evident that in the past couple episodes the Queen and Mother of Dragons has been evolving into a tyrant. Showing no mercy and torching King’s Landing with Drogon was the final act of her true form. Throughout the entire series Daenerys was the liberator, the true Queen that was going to break the so-called wheel. Sure, her acts of liberation were violent and gruesome, but they were against evil forces and therefore justified. Yet Dany’s mindset started to break as her inner circle doubted her leadership and revelations about Jon Snow’s true identity broke out. Eventually her character fell short of capturing the Iron Throne and her demise was unreasonable. Dany deserved better, even if her inevitable reign of terror was about to begin.
Killed by her loyal lover boy, Dany’s body was taken by the grieving Drogon, as he scooped up his mother and flew away, leaving Jon unharmed. Perhaps his Targaryen blood tipped off Drogon that he’s alright in our book. Another puzzling question was how did they seize Jon for the murder? Did he confess or did they just assume he was the guilty party? With no evidence of the body why would the Unsullied and Dothraki forces blame Jon. They clearly fought side by side with Jon and have seen that he has been loyal to Dany. Either way Jon goes from honorable lap dog to enemy of the state in a heartbeat.
Rise of the New King?
After the fall of the Queen, Tyrion and Jon are prisoners but not for long. See Tyrion gets summoned by a counsel of the remaining power players in the realm. (Samwell. Really?) By the way, how did they all receive the message to show up to King’s Landing that quickly? Who the hell are some of these people also? Ok so amidst this meeting, Tyrion is told not to speak by Grey Worm then proceeds to talk for 10 minutes. Following the rules is not the imp’s forte, so he goes on to suggest that the realm needs a new ruler. Well what about the rightful heir to the throne, you know that guy that has been involved in all the pivotal battles, the guy with a heart of gold and immeasurable honor? The one that is beloved by everyone and has nothing left to prove. BRAN?!?! Yea ok, the kid who talks to trees is the new king of Westeros. Well I’m glad that’s settled.
Ok so Bran isn’t such an awful choice, but he wouldn’t be anyone’s first. Did the writers just want to throw us a bone seeing as how he became a cripple and now, he’s the ruler. Started from the bottom, now we’re here? Perhaps in a world of maniacal tyrants, Bran is the just choice as in he symbolizes the humble anti-oppressor and by the way can’t bear children for future jerk rulers. Either way it was a bummer that Bran’s story and journey were so unturned and unpolished, that we have more unanswered questions about him than almost any other character in the series. There was so much untapped potential to his story line with all the powers he possessed, instead he just speaks to everyone like a stale fortune cookie. “You will accomplish great things in your career and people enjoy your company.” All hail Bran the Broken…
I did enjoy the political quibbles by the counsel members, where at one-point Sam suggests that the people, yes, the people vote for their ruler. Almost everyone there shut that idea down in a second. Oh Sam, you and your wild fantasies about a proper democratic process. Keep dreaming bookworm. Other amends were made by Sansa, where she declares the North a separate kingdom and she the rightful ruler (makes sense actually). Bran nods and approves, he now only rules over 6 kingdoms. At this point, we were susceptible to almost anything, perhaps Drogon gets a cabinet position also…
Starks, Destined to be Apart
With Tyrion reluctantly appointed as the hand to the king, he asks what shall become of our dear Jon Snow. Apparently, the masses of opinion are split about him, where half adore and love him, while the other want his head on a stick. Jon’s position at this point is also very questionable. He has clearly made a name for himself as a noble and just man, surely, we could forgive him for killing his crazy aunt. Right? Nope, instead he is exiled to the dreaded wall, to protect and guard against what exactly? Who knows honestly since we all saw that the Night King was a joke of a threat. Next time we have some trouble with the undead just send Arya. Speaking of our favorite little assassin, Arya decides to venture out past the breaker where no one has ever been before. Good luck out there young adventurer! Once again, the Starks are a family not meant to be together. The tribe gets split and it makes us wonder why they can’t just all hunker down in Winterfell for a while.
There has also been a lot of fuss about the length of this final season. Many fans seemed to think that this season was extremely rushed and with so many gaffes (Starbucks Cup, water bottle) it’s hard to argue otherwise. By shortening the number of episodes, we were instead handed longer features each week. Essentially fully produced films with huge sequences and moments. Even with these satisfying productions, I can’t help to wonder if they just stuck with the original episode count, could we have had more depth to this closure. I honestly wouldn’t mind if the Battle of Winterfell was extended between two episodes, possibly one where we could actually see the action.
Endings are difficult, especially for a generational show that has redefined the genre of fantasy and realism. Millions of fans fell in love with these characters and stories, and as we watched through the bloody sequences, the perpetual heartbreaks and downright awesome action, we need to understand that the basis of these tales were about good vs evil. The ultimate modern Shakespearean drama, Game of Thrones will forever be nit picked and part of its lore will converge with endless internet “what ifs”, but I will always cherish the series for bringing incredible moments of shock and awe. There hasn’t been anything of such artful delivery to our living rooms on Sunday evenings ever, so get your grumblings out of the way and just remember what a hell of a ride Westeros was…
Satisfied or frustrated with the series finale? Did your favorite character survive? Lets us hear your thoughts!