So Game of Thrones has ended and yeah, I have some thoughts š
Disclaimer: Spoilers obviously.
Other disclaimer: I read the spoilers when they were released so I think by the time it aired I was more resigned than anything else. My biggest problem with this show has always been the writing and it didnāt let me down here.
I do want to start with the good. Emilia Clarke killed it this season. I do wonder how people can say this wasnāt a heel turn when the actress was surprised by this seasons scripts and seemed really upset by them.
But either way she gave it her all and the scene with Drogon nudging his mum was legit the first time in this show I teared up since Cat begged for her sons life and lost in the Red Wedding. (Not so big on him ignoring Jon to burn the throne. But he was probably thinking nah, even dragon fire canāt melt your plot armor.)
Jon and Tyrionās plot armor was strong in this one. I especially loved how Tyrion told them no one wanted to hear from him anymore and then proceeded, without irony it seemed, to tell them exactly what they were going to do and who was going to be King.
Iām also wondering if Jon hasnāt just been brain dead since his actual death. Maybe Melisandre wasnāt specific when she brought him back? Like we just need him to brood, have great hair and be able to have sex.
I have all kinds of issues with how fast this story moved but honestly Emilia winning will be the Emmy thatās most deserved this year. Drogon taking off with her was a beautiful shot as well.
Winter is Really Just a State of Mind in Westeros.
It was snowing in Kingās Landing when Jaime left at the end of 7. Winter has never been that bad even up North. I mean burn one kid alive and it just melts overnight. All hail Melisandreās Lord of Light. Circle back to Cersei in episode four and it seems nice enough in Kingās Landing.
Then we were trying to decide if it was ash or snow in the beginning of this episode. It looks quiet stormy over the sea when Drogon flew away but then boom a couple weeks later and weāre fine.
Ned was super overblowing this winter thing. I mean even the physical manifestation of it in the Long Night lasted… one night. Obviously Old Nan was full of shit. Iāve had worse winters in Palm Springs.
King Fucking Bran
Not Bran
Brandon Stark is dead. King 3 Eyed Raven.
Mister I Donāt Want Anything Anymore…
Tyrion: I know you donāt want it…
Not a Bran: Why do you think I came all this way?
Okay even if you donāt subscribe to the theory that Not a Bran is straight-up evil the shows doing absolutely nothing with this character and his powers leads to quite a few implications that I donāt think they mean to.
I mean if nothing else Bran can be said to have let all this happen. Dropping the truth bomb on Jon when he did (literally because he said Jon had to know) did nothing in the story- nothing- except further push and isolate Dany. Did he maneuver everything? If a qualification to be King to Tyrion and Varys and the rest is that the person doesnāt want it Bran, in the end, seemed to not just want it but feel entitled to it.
Also he is completely by his own account lacking in compassion and empathy. What a great fucking King.
I think the problem with Bran goes back longer. They were never really interested in him and the magic elements of the story so when they did bring him back he was little more than a plot device so him now being the endgame to a part of the story his character never touched didnāt work. And if Bran is really now just a body for Brynden Rivers (boy can he play a long game if thatās the case) the show never really touched that though so I have to think heās just the 3-Eyed Raven and everything else is fanās trying to fill in the blanks.
Putting aside all of that it means at best heās a checked out puppet King for Tyrion I Fail Upward Lannister…
Fucking Bronn on the Council just killed it for me. Not just on the Council but apparently Mister Good Guyās first act as basically de facto King was to reward his sell sword, murdering, blackmailing buddy with perhaps the most prosperous and important piece of Land in Westeros in Highgarden.
And he made him the Master of Coin! The Master of Coin. Cue the brothel jokes. Literally it was part of our first council to have him fighting with Davos about rebuilding brothels versus rebuilding ships.
My head fan fiction is that Oleanna and Margery are going to haunt his ass and also that theyāre going to make sure heās impotent until someone shoves a knife in his gut.
Oh I also loved how Sam wasnāt just a Maester but Tyrion referred too him as Grand Maester. I guess itās good to know the right people. I havenāt liked show Sam since heās stated reason for leaving the Wall was to keep banging Gilly. Cause what are vows in this world? The more things change the more they fucking stay the same. But hey Brienne was there. She didnāt really contribute anything except writing a bullshit ending to Jaimeās page in the White Book which didnāt matter a lick to show Jaime.
Queen I Am Out of Here
I had no doubt Sansa was going to be Queen of the apparently Respawned People of the North but the way it was done and the timing just killed it for me. It simply was not believable that the King would immediately let his big sister peace out with one of the largest parts of his Kingdom and everyone else would be like, “Cool.”
I mean yeah maybe they donāt want to deal with her either. But they want to deal with Not a Bran and a Lannister?
Yara actually brought up independence with Dany when they meet in season six. Dorne in the books is one of the most independent areas already and they have a long history of standing against the Iron Throne. I think it wasnāt believable that those two were just fine with that.
Thereās long term political stupidity to the idea anyway but itās Sansa the Golden so weāll just let those things fall to the wayside but the idea that it wouldnāt immediately led to the other Kingdoms doing the exact same thing was just to unbelievable. I think they should have broken up completely- closest thing to breaking the wheel. Seven kingdoms again and a Council with No King at all.
But then who would rebuild the brothels?
For better or worse this season Game of Thrones provided us with a lot to talk about not the least of which how we see our stories and our heroes, whether subversion of expectations is really as great as some writers seem to think and how social media has changed our interaction with our entertainment and itās creators.
But as to the story itself?
It feels hollow and empty. The War Against the Dead certainly didnāt unite anyone. Nothing about Jon really mattered (so Ned could have told his poor wife the truth!), Drogon destroyed the throne, another Queen is dead and it was all immediately replaced by an all powerful King and his council of friends.
I donāt have much hope for the future of Westeros.
They didnāt put NEARLY the development in to justify Bran being king. The only real saving grace for me was Sansa saying eff that the North is itās own thing, yāall do what you want. I agree tho they would have broken everything up at that point. And Bronn of Highgarden is like bad fan fiction?
They found time to diss Edmure though! I mean yeah he made some mistakes in the books, but ever since they introduced him the show has made a point to make him a buffoon or laughingstock. Someone on that team REALLY dislikes Edmure lol?? .
That was so sad. Edmureās a stand-up guy in the books! Of course he screwed over Blackfish in the show so… Tobias Menzies should have just done a Black Jack Randall on the lot of them š
Thatās how I felt at the end of everything…hollow and resigned.
I just tell myself Drogon and Ghost are happy š
Silver lining š
I enjoyed your take on this and I absolutely understand a lot of your frustration with it. I was also so heartbroken at Drogenās reaction to Danyās death. I was just relieved that Jon and Ghost were finally reunited and he actually greeted his wolf properly this time! That was the one moment I was hoping for and I got it, but yes I completely agree with you about everything with Bran that you mentioned. Seemed rushed and like they were just trying to fill in the blanks with who they had left. Great read on this.
Thanks!
Now we can enjoy all the fan fiction about where Drogon took Dany š
Iām mostly satisfied, but even so, the last episode was a bit meh for me…
Like, yea, right… Bran the Broken, mkay. Sansa be like “nope, iām a kingdom, thank you” that was cool š
Samās promotion - oh yess!
Poor Jon Snow being banished…? Whaaaā???
That sums it all up š
And Grey Worm left so he didnāt really need to stay banished? (Although if I were him Iād stay out of Westeros at that point myself.) Maybe Tormound can go back for Brienne before evil Bran ruins everything š
Oh yes, Tormund & Brienne, thatād be cute š
Aye! Aye!
š
“…at best heās a checked out puppet King for Tyrion I Fail Upward Lannisterā¦”
Fail upward Lannister… yepppp that was funny as heck.
Itās what heās best at. That an endless monologues!
“But he was probably thinking nah, even dragon fire canāt melt your plot armor” - haha oh God š I still havenāt watched it. I just canāt bring myself to witness that mess
Best part of the season has been the reactions now that people finally canāt defend the writing š
oh some fanboys try. Itās so sad to witness
hmmmmmmm well I donāt disagree with anything you said specifically cuz you made some great points! But I still loved it and I am going to turn a blind eye haha. Tho you are right about everyone just randomly accepting Bran as their King and the fact that The North isnāt going to be part of his rule. I feel like Yara would have wanted the Iron Islands to be free as well as they have a history of being free.
I do that myself! I did like that Drogon and Ghost lived š
Youāre right about almost everything and I agree, the ending was pretty hollow and meah, but somehow I was satisfied by it. Not emotional, not upset, not ecstatic…..just OK with it. And yes, everything that was wrong this season was exclusively bad writing…which is sad and disappointing, not only for the characters we love, but also for the actors.
Itās too bad they didnāt do anything with the Bran character because there are just too many questions and implications left to his part that could have still made this work. Martin has written hive minds and super conscious type characters if I recall in the past so I buy King Bran but they arenāt good things. It will be interesting to see what (fingers crossed) he actually does with Bran, Bloodraven and that part of the story š
Glad you enjoyed it though!
Its such a pity that I havenāt watched Game of Thrones in its entirety, I only watched Season 1 and from then on I have had bad luck of my friends spoiling the endings of the subsequent season finales before I even sat down to watch the episodes. I guess I should have been keeping up with it..Hehehe.
Thanks for the post and keep up the good work on your blog. Cheers.
I suppose the good thing I started ranting about it in early seasons no one ever wanted to talk about it with me š
Why were you ranting about it? If you donāt mind me asking
I had problems with how Catelynās storyline was adapted or wasnāt such as it was and many of the changes there which leads into huge issues with how Jaime and Brienne were adapted throughout. Arya and the Faceless Men. And then basically my favorite part of the books was the Northern plot (I recognize peopleās issues with books 4 & 5 for certain though) I thought that was some of Martinās best writing in the whole thing honestly and none of it was there for the Ramsey show š
I feel like the story in the books has more heart, hope and beauty even for as dark as it can be and the show didnāt bother with it.
Okay… I now understand your point of view. I kinda had the same feeling bout Harry Potter
The ending for Dany was (imo) really badly executed, but I do agree that Emilia Clark gave it her all. Ah the plot armour was strong this series. hahaha yeah Nan was definitely full of shit. Seems like HBO didnāt have a budget for dragons, direwolves AND snow š Iām still pissed about King bran- completely agree heās evil and unempathetic and just WHY?! I agree the problem stems from the writerās disinterest in him (even though THEY KNEW how it would end- so knew they were screwing us over by not developing his character properly- gah! I feel like they deliberately didnāt set it up properly just so they could surprise us?! I mean thatās the only explanation that makes sense- and it still doesnāt make frickin sense!) There was so much political stupidity and I agree that ultimately it felt hollow and empty. Yeahhh Westeros is screwed- because contrary to what D&D think a world run effectively by a psychotic Big Brother figure (aka Bran the Broken in the Brain) is NOT going to be a happy place to live.
I really donāt get why they stuck to Martinās ending at all. (Even he canāt write it.) But they went off book really starting in 5 and seemingly had little interest in Bran or the magic elements that might explain Bran better- it so I just donāt get it from any perspective why not just say yeah, thatās not going to work for us and these characters. I mean Martin seemed to have no control or say so I doubt he was holding them to an ending. It does make me worry a bit for the books though!
I saw the script leak and I was appalled by the way it was written - especially Drogon accidentally burning down the iron throne, I was hoping itād be more deliberate. *sigh*
I saw the spoiler for Bran becoming king, felt confused, but Iāve since warmed to the idea. It would have been interesting to see a bit more about how the newly formed small council would make an improvement on the former one.
I think Emilia Clarkeās scenes with Sophie Turner were brilliant and in 805 where sheās mounted on top of Drogon before all hell breaks loose was her finest acting, I was in awe. But I donāt feel like she *killed it* across the board, and I knew her best acting is Lena Headeyās worst when sheās crying over Jorah (I love Jorah), and I didnāt cry too, and I always cry when I see people crying. She cried with her eyebrows. If Emilia Clarke, mediocre white woman wins, itās not only a slap on Lena Headeyās face, but it really goes to show that white women and men can do the bare minimum that their role requires and get awarded. And, yeah, it is about race, this is what happens in the workplace too.
I take much of what Emilia Clarke says with a grain of salt. She was blindsided, but I see why, she drew strength from Daenerys and I felt sorry for her because I canāt imagine what it must have been like to have multiple aneurysms. Sounds terrifying. I donāt think sheās the brightest tool in the shed though. One of her notes included studying Hitler speeches and she thought āweird flex, but ok.ā I would have felt suspicious of the character that Iām playing if thatās the note I got. š
Bran gets flashes of the future, but we canāt be sure that he sees the full picture. Either way, it takes away Daenerysās agency and free will. I get visions of the future, but if thereās anything Iāve learned, thereās very little I can do, whatās going to happen is going to happen. But itās interesting if we think about it in terms of therapy and the clear distinctions between emotional, rational and wise thinking, the latter being the more encouraged more of thinking and itās food for thought as to how itās important in kingship. Itās a shame we may not get to see more about how Bran rules. The system needs replacing! How does the new system look like? Well, itās got this person and that person! But how does it work? You donāt need to know. Meh.
Emiliaās not actually up against Lena it turns out. I tend to prefer the two leads for Killing Eve (basically the only three performances in that category Iām familiar with) but as far as the Emmyās goes I tend to think itās not going to matter and Thrones is going to win for everything.
I donāt have a problem with Bran becoming King in theory I just donāt feel like they devoted nearly enough time or thought to his character and I can take an ambiguous ending with him but Martin devotes so much time to the world-building, the politics and the rule and in the beginning the show did to they could have spared some extra thought to at least his election scene. The Prince of Dorne deserved a name š
I heard Jodie Comer won for Killing Eve? Well, I mean, I saw her picture plastered on Twitter, so that can only mean good things. Iām disappointed that Peter Dinklage won… Alfie Allen was easily the best male actor across the series, what a snub.
I agree. I think with better development itāll make much more sense in the books, perhaps Martin is trying to make a point that a person with no personal desires can rule well or that control has to be passed to a group and not one single individual. The Prince of Dorne has a name - Sophiaās second husband after Keanu Reeves.
You have excellent taste in husbands!