Did I love it or hate it? I’m not sure.
Spoilers ahead
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Immediately after the show ended I wasn’t the least bit happy. Bran? Really? The most boring character with the most boring story is going to be king? Um, okay. So, I slept on what happened and am starting fresh today.
The first part of the episode was about everyone processing Daenerys’ destruction and how her absolutism about her rightness was going to lead to more death and destruction. (Dany really is Thanos, isn’t she?)
I don’t think anyone had more titles than Daenerys, and in the end she added Mad Queen and Queen of Ashes to the list.
Having Jon kill Daenerys made sense. Throughout the entire series Jon has been a moral compass. Duty has always mattered to him. And while he loved Daenerys it was obvious what had to be done.
“What would you have done?” Tyrion asks Jon, but we all knew the answer.
The death of Daenerys is also the death of the Iron Throne. Drogon melts it. There’s symbolism for ya!
The second part of the show was about who would rule the 7 Kingdoms. I enjoyed the scene, especially when Sansa tells Edmure to sit down. I was worried we would have to listen to everyone make their case for the throne.
Okay, choosing Bran makes some sense, but it just didn’t feel satisfying. (Honestly, I’m not sure what would have been more satisfying.) I guess that while Bran stores all the memories he hasn’t really demonstrated an ability for compassion or an ability to rule – because ruling means making decisions and changing outcomes, and for quite a while Bran has been okay with horrible things happening because that’s the way it was meant to happen. Not sure if that’s a good quality for a leader.
All that said, Legacy for the throne is dead.
Sansa ending up as Queen of the North was satisfying and richly deserved. Over the years we have watched her evolve from an annoying, shallow teenager to a force to be reckoned with.
While the show (from the very beginning) showed us how Daenerys was a good conqueror and a horrible ruler, we watched Sansa grow into a ruler with all the traits a good ruler should possess.
Kinda interesting how we start out liking and cheering for Daenerys while disliking Sansa only to have our opinions flipped.
Tyrion… I could watch Peter Dinklage forever. In his conversation with Jon he finally became the true Hand of the King. Because in that moment Jon was King.
Jon ending up with The Wildlings made sense. Is he now King of the Wildlings? I’ll admit I cheered when I saw Tormund and Ghost!
Arya takes off to undiscovered lands, while the rest of our characters become the King’s counsel. That was a bit anti-climatic. Maybe having Bran say something – for once! – would have been better.
Ending this show was always going to be difficult because we became so use to juggling so many moving parts and following so many characters. It was part of why we loved the show. And I did love the show!
As usual, I left out a lot. More than usual, due to having a house guests! Have at it!
The 2 most moving parts of the episode were turned in by GCI fake animals who dont speak.
thats what i have to say about that.
For all that hated the ending, I ask: what were you expecting or how did you want it to end? With Jon on the Iron Throne, or Dany? Neither was going to happen after the events of the last two seasons. Or did people want Dany to install Democracy? Again, Dany was never going to give the people democracy. She was going to kill all that disagreed with her vision of a perfect world. She said so right before she died at the hands of Jon. It is why he killed her. She was not going to install democracy. And Democracy at all in this feudal world? LOL, I loved LOVED the scene when all the nobles broke out in laughter at that thought. If you thought Democracy was going to be the ending of this story, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.
The reason I am fine with the ending (yes, I have a quibble here or there, and the Song of Ice and Fire bit was eyerolling), is that Ned Stark’s children run the world. It is a perfect circle. Sansa is Queen of the North. Bran is King of Six Kingdoms. Jon is the King Beyond the Wall. Arya is the Queen of Everything Else.
All neatly tied up in a bow. Except Grey Worms passivity after Dany was killed. Kind of out of character considering he worshiped his queen. Jon, a tragic figure at the start, stayed true to character and was a tragic figure at the end. I still have no respect (even in a fictional story) for Sansa, who as a child unwittingly betrayed her father and deliberately betrayed her “brother.”
I was a bit disappointed in this last season. And yeah, I’m a romantic and would have like to see Jon rule and get the girl. I thought he would be a good ruler simply because he didn’t want to be one.
Anyway, that’s quibbling. All in all, it is a fascinating saga of politics and conquest, richly detailed in both character and geography. I’m in awe of the mind that contain such depth and breadth. And I consider Martin the Tolkien of our time. So while I may quibble about some things, the show entertained the entire world and gave us some great memes and quotes, the last one repeated from the first season where Maester Aemon told Jon Snow about why the Night’s Watch can’t have families. “Love is the death of duty,” he said, followed by Tryion’s “Duty is the death love.”
Of course we are prone to create parallels to our times and in 2015 I was effectively saying “Winter is coming” and sure enough it arrived with a bang and the Night’s King is as every bit as terrible as he is in the books. Hopefully we’ll find our Arya sooner rather than later.
I’m at a loss why people don’t understand why Grey Worm didn’t act. He was set free, but he was never a free actor. He needs someone to tell him what to do. He had orders to kill the Queens enemies. He had no orders on what to do with Jon. I, for one, didn’t need a second episode with an ash covered Kings Landing as background to watch this part of the story spin out.
As an ending it works. Wanting more, but satisfied with what I got.