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scifi_rewatchI can forgive the last episode for more crap than I can forgive this one. This one has a lot more to live up to, of course—the very last Game of Thrones coda before the curtain drops. And I wish it had felt more authentic.
To address the big dragon in the room—who will be the next ruler of Westeros—this definitely felt a bit slapdash. In an earlier season, full of political machinations, it would have been someone else. I realize that Tyrion was trying to take the positive aspects of Dany’s “break the wheel” metaphor by switching things up a bit, but would the lords and ladies of Westeros really have gone along with it that easily? (In the show’s defense, I guess, maybe they were sick to death of war and strife. Anything to just start rebuilding already!) But yeah—it was too quick and too simple.
Can I just go ahead and spoil here who the next ruler is? Hopefully anyone reading this has watched the show? It’s Bran. And from a fandom perspective, he doesn’t work because we’re not invested enough in his character. That’s why it doesn’t give us the warm, fuzzy, resolution feelings. And I love Bran! He’s my favorite male character! :P Though to be honest, I’m responding more to the Bran of the books than I am to the Bran of the show.
At the end of the day, I didn’t completely hate the episode. I certainly didn’t go off to sign a petition to have Game of Thrones re-filmed, or talk about the show’s legacy as a complete waste. Some of these character moments still worked for me. (And worked a lot!) Others didn’t…even the ones that I sorta wanted? :P That’s weird.
It is likely that a show like this is impossible to end effectively. Part of its intrigue was always tied up in the never-ending drama, which I suppose is a plus for the show, because most of those storylines didn’t go stale. But I also think that David and Dan rushed the ending for the last two or three seasons, and that worked to the show’s detriment.
Basically, my rewatch of season 8 of Game of Thrones confirmed everything I wrote more immediately after the finale. :P If I were to add something more explicitly, it would be that Essos was a big stumbling block, for both the books and for the adaptation. Alas.
But in terms of what I wanted thematically—a grimdark show about complicated people that left room for hope over nihilism—this final season, this final episode, delivered. So kudos.
Summary:
KING’S LANDING
Tyrion walks through the smoldering streets and gazes upon the dead and injured. Jon and Davos are behind him. Looks a bit like Vesuvius around these parts. Tyrion decides to enter the Red Keep alone, though Jon offers to send in men with him. But Jon has other fish to fry; he tries to stop Grey Worm from executing enemy soldiers in Daenerys’s name. There’s no moving Grey Worm, so Davos says Jon should take his complaint higher up. Not in time to save the soldiers though. :/
Tyrion walks through the rubble-filled map room to the Small Council table. He picks up a torch and goes to the dungeon, where he digs out the bodies of his brother and sister. He cries along to the “Rains of Castamere” music. The Lannisters have finally met their end.
Arya has ditched her horse from the last episode, sneaks through piles of bodies and spies on the celebrating Dothraki soldiers. She sees Jon walk through them, up to where the Targaryen flag hangs over a ruined building. Arya keeps pace with her brother, eyes stony. Jon makes it to lines of Unsullied and up a bunch of steps, where Grey Worm is waiting. Guess he’s finished his executions. Above, Drogon lands, and Jon continues his ascent. Dany walks forward, Drogon’s wings stretching out behind her as he flies off. From the back, we see her approach her people for a victory speech, in a scene certainly meant to evoke the fascism of WWII.
Her speech to the Dothraki does remind us that their vows to her included brutal warfare, like tearing down stone houses and defeating enemies in iron suits. Grey Worm is named Dany’s master of war, commander of all armed forces. He takes the position, but there’s a glimmer of sadness in his expression, perhaps because his true wish to see Missandei home can no longer be realized. Dany continues to name the Unsullied as liberators, as Tyrion walks up behind her. She calls on them to continue, to help her liberate all the people of the world. When she names Winterfell as one of those places, Jon’s head pops up. Yikes. The Unsullied, of course, stomp their spears in unity with their queen.
Dany takes strength from the response of the people who’ve sworn themselves to her, and Tyrion completes his walk towards her. She tells Tyrion he committed treason by freeing Jaime. Tyrion blames her for slaughtering the city, and throws off his Hand of the Queen pin. The Unsullied stop their pounding. Dany has two of her guards take Tyrion away. Tyrion gives Jon a knowing look before he goes.
Shortly after Dany follows her former hand out of frame, Arya sidles in next to Jon. They implicitly discuss the threat Sansa, as Lady of Winterfell, is under if she won’t accept Dany now. Then Arya speaks explicitly about Jon—as a male Targaryen, he’ll always be a threat to the queen. Dany will surely have him killed, sooner or later.
Jon goes to see Tyrion in the room where he’s being held prisoner. Tyrion asks Jon if there’s life after death, but Jon has no good news for him. The Lannister goes through a list of his sins throughout the series and says he’d betray Dany again for what she did. Jon is struggling because he can’t justify what happened, but he tries to trick himself into thinking the war is over. Tyrion raises his eyebrow. Maybe Jon couldn’t understand Dany’s speech, but the writing is on the wall.
Jon argues that we shouldn’t be blamed for the reputation of our houses or for our fathers’ mistakes, but actions speak louder than words, Jon. Jon goes through the injustices Dany has seen, but Tyrion won’t use those as justification for sacking King’s Landing. He challenges Jon further: would you have made the decisions Dany did, if you were in her shoes? Jon continues to struggle, but Tyrion knows the truth. And even Jon can admit by the end of this chat that “love is the death of duty,” as Maester Aemon said seasons back.
(There’s a whole other argument that Tyrion goes into about why Dany thinks she’s good and right, but maybe I’ll wait to complain about it until my “thoughts” section. :P Moving on!) The two end their talk by Jon saying he’s sorry Tyrion is about to die, and Tyrion suggesting that maybe Jon’s sense of fighting the good fight should be aimed in a new direction. Ahem.
Jon walks outside and Drogon shakes himself out of a pike of snow. He sniffs at the other Targaryen and lets Jon pass. Dany is having a moment with the Iron Throne, which survived though the wall behind it is gone. It does look a little bit like her vision from the House of the Undying in season two! Again, I very much appreciate the themes of the show, about this cost of power. I just don’t entirely buy how we got here.
Dany waxes nostalgic about Viserys building up this throne in her mind. Jon accuses Dany of killing defeated soldiers. He grows emotional as he describes the scene of King’s Landing devastation to her. Dany has excuses for everything, from Cersei using her people as human shields to Tyrion conspiring against her. Jon advocates for mass forgiveness. Maybe that can repair her image with the people (and with him as well.) But Dany is too wrapped up in her grand vision for “small mercies.” She tries to comfort him, getting in close. She wants him by her side, as the only person who gets to decide the new world (er, so long as he sees things her way, that is.) Jon swears his loyalty, even kisses her…and then stabs her in the chest!
Dany bleeds out in his arms while Jon cries. Drogon screeches his way in, like “what the hell has happened here?!” Jon lays Dany’s body down, and turns to face the snarling dragon. Once Drogon ascertains that Dany is dead, he decides to burn down…the Iron Throne?! Oh yeah, like that makes a lick of sense. I mean dammit, I wanted to see that throne destroyed, but I didn’t want it to be this level of fan-servicey! Anywho, from there, Drogon cradles Dany in his talons and flies off, never to be seen again.
Sometime later, Grey Worm and the Unsullied gather Tyrion from his cell. They take him to the dragon pit, where members of the great houses have assembled. Or basically, who’s left from the cast. :P Sansa wants Jon brought to them, too, but Grey Worm refuses. The two of them exchange threats. Yara steps in to argue with Sansa about whether Dany was a liberator or a tyrant. Arya almost brings things to blows at the peace table when she offers to cut Yara’s throat, and poor Davos has to step in.
Obviously the Unsullied, who, you know, helped save Westeros from the dead, need some sort of compensation. How about the Reach? They could fashion themselves into a feudal, Westerosi house (oh, joy.) No more war! Grey Worm doesn’t want payment; he wants justice. Tyrion suggests that Jon’s fate be decided by the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms…er, what? Why don’t y’all choose one, Tyrion suggests. Edmure Tully is the first one to put himself up as an option, until Sansa gently shuts him up. :P Everyone else just looks awkward.
Sam makes a play for democracy, but lol, this is Westeros we’re talking about. :P Best we can do is hope the rich people don’t chose another tyrant. So Tyrion is the one left to be the kingmaker…and he chooses Bran! :o Like everyone else, I have Thoughts. In the thoughts section! (I mean, I guess that’s why they freed Tyrion in the first place—to speechify at them as usual. :P)
When Tyrion asks if Bran will take up the duty of kingship, he answers “why do you think I came all this way?” Which I suppose is as much as we’ll get from him in terms of character development. :P The other lords and ladies say “aye”…until Sansa?! She tells here brother she thinks he’ll make a good king, but that after everything they suffered, she can’t let the north bend the knee again. The seven kingdoms are going down to six! Bran nods his assent, and even me, as Team Stark all the way, am arching my eyebrow a bit at the nepotism at play. :P Plus, why wouldn’t other people want to follow, at least Yara, in the name of the Iron Islands? Does this make sense? To say nothing of Grey Worm standing quietly at Jon’s effective brother being crowned. Anywho, moving on here. Bran is sworn in as “Bran the Broken.” Game of Thrones likes its irony. And the first thing Bran the Broken does is rope Tyrion back into the Hand position. So now Westeros is ruled by two people who don’t want power! Booyah.
Grey Worm wants more justice. So we jump over to scraggly-haired Jon in his cell! Tyrion re-gifts Jon with his old role of undesirable at the Night’s Watch (technically, shuffling off unwanted relatives to the Night’s Watch was more that Wall’s purpose than protecting it from the White Walkers ever was! :P) Once again, Jon will have no chance to father children or hold titles. But he gets to live! “No one is very happy, which means it’s a good compromise, I suppose,” says the Hand of the King.
Jon asks Tyrion for absolution for what he did, which seems like a good choice if the dude wants to feel better about himself. :P Tyrion goaded him into it, after all! But Jon is still basking in a bit of self-pity. So this is goodbye? Unless Tyrion wants to “piss off the edge of the world” again. So many callbacks in this ep!
With his clothes on (though hair doesn’t seem to be brushed) Jon walks down to the docks of King’s Landing, escorted by Night’s Watch members, I assume. Lots of ships getting ready to sail, it seems…and the buildings all seem repaired as well! They do quick clean up after battles on Game of Thrones. :P
The Dothraki (who didn’t seem to be included in the doling out of goods earlier, just sayin’) are milling around the boats. Grey Worm, aboard one of them, sends Jon a glare. No forgiveness to be found there. But Grey Worm finds new (or old) purpose in sailing the Unsullied to the Isle of Naath. He can’t save Missandei, but maybe he can save her people!
Jon gets to say goodbye to his “siblings.” Sansa feels she’s betrayed Jon by not getting him back to be King in the North. Jon counters that “Ned Stark’s daughter” is the best they could ask for. Arya announces to her family that she’s going to explore “west of Westeros,” where the maps stop. And finally, Jon kneels before Bran. He apologizes for not being there for his brother, and Bran repeats his tired line, “you were exactly where you were supposed to be.” Maybe I should be nicer to this line. Life doesn’t always go as planned, but these Starks survived. And helped save Westeros, too! The House music swells as the three younger ones watch Jon board his dingy.
Later on, Brienne, wearing the gold plating of the kingsguard, fills out the rest of Ser Jaime’s entry in the book of knights. There’s a lot missing! :P She signs off with “Died protecting his Queen.” It’s a lovely gesture. Even though he didn’t chose to stay with her, Brienne respected who he was as a person. (Or at least the good parts, I suppose. :P) Everyone (in Westeros, anyway) is complicated!
Don’t forget to start your own list of deeds, Brienne! But I guess, for now, it’s time for a Small Council meeting (after Tyrion adjusts the chairs, in another callback). And although I’m sad that Brienne isn’t still with Sansa (such a great relationship there,) I respect that her calling is to be a knight of theseven six kingdoms. And she is still protecting one of Catelyn’s children, after all! Sam (as Grand Maester) unveils the brand new Citadel-published book “A Song of Ice and Fire” (eye roll), which is the show’s version of the history…of the show. :P Not sure why Sam presented it to Tyrion, cos it doesn’t seem that the Hand of the King gets a mention! Oh, the prejudices of Westeros.
Other members of the Small Council are Davos and Bronn (ugh, why.) Tyrion tells Bran that prospects for the other seats will have having their interviews soon. Then Bran checks out to find Drogon, with Pod, now also a Kingsguard, rolling him out. Bronn, as Lord of Highgarden and Master of Coin, is charged to find money to feed starving people. Davos, as Master of Ships, is charged with rebuilding the armada and the King’s Landing ports, so he also starts sniping with Bronn about money. The new Small Council continues to bicker in a friendly way as we slow-mo out of the scene.
STARK MONTAGE TIME!
Jon and his guards approach Castle Black. Tormund gives him a nod, and the doors close behind him.
Jon picks up his sword and sheaths it. At Winterfell, Sansa gets dressed in finery. On a boat, Arya sheaths her knife. Jon wraps up tools and Arya unfurls a map. She picks up a telescope and, in shadow, walks down a hallway. Jon walks across outer corridors of Castle Black. Sansa walks down inner corridors of Winterfell. We see Arya’s face first, as she gets to the upper deck of her ship. Jon walks down steps to join a big group of Free Folk. Sansa enters hallway where House Stark soldiers bow to her. Arya walks through a group of sailors. Jon walks to the front of the Free Folk. He sees Ghost at the end—reunited with some scritches! Aaaaw. Seems like Tormund’s words from a few episodes back, about northern people belonging in the north, has come to pass.
Arya’s ship is decorated at the bow with a Stark direwolf (so does House Stark have a nautical exploratory arm now? Has Sansa roped her into some sort of official business? I assume not, just that Arya chooses to sail under the House banner, and this wouldn’t be an issue with her sister. Moving on!) The gates open for Jon and Tormund on horses in the front! Sansa is crowned, and yes, I got wibbly. MOVING ON!
Sansa now has a slightly more decorated chair in the Great Hall, and one kick ass outfit. Honestly, I think it’s the most incredible the wardrobe department has ever made. I’m not biased. :P When she sits down, we get our first audio of this montage, as the soldiers cry out “The Queen in the North!”, a la what they did for her brothers in past seasons. Arya sails out of scene, and Jon rolls out beyond the Wall, the Free Folk behind him. There’s a sprig of grass on the ground, so is winter gonna end everywhere? Major lifestyle changes ahead for the Free Folk, if that’s the case. Anywho.
Jon watches the final gates close behind him, kind of like the final gates to Westeros, too. (Will he be back? Probably not for awhile, at least. This certainly feels like he’s going to his true home with his true people.) Still, he has to look pensive for a moment, and then ride forth to the Game of Thrones theme song, with new vocals! And thus ends the series!
Thoughts:
I commented a lot in the Summary section, leaving only so much to extrapolate on here. But hey, it’s my last Game of Thrones recap and I’m ready going a little long! :P
Tyrion’s speech to Jon about Dany’s psychology was supposed to justify her character arc, methinks. Because she’d only ever defeated wholly evil people before, she got an outsized opinion of her goodness. To me, I think that’s a cop out. I mean, would we go up to World War II vets who claim that defeating Hitler was a righteous act on their part, and say to them, “yeah, but are you really a good person?”
In context: yes! People who fight against and/or defeat genocidal dictators or slavers, or the Dothraki leaders who are pretty much only known for pillaging and subjugating are good people. The problem is that not every German or Italian, or even Axis soldier is a Hitler or a Mussolini or etc. Killing those people doesn’t make you good. But over in Essos, Dany never killed those people. In essence because they didn’t exist. One was either a slaver or a slave. And that’s not comparable to real life. Or, as Dany found out, to Westerosi life.
But the way they describe Dany in these absolutist terms, “good” and “evil” and “crazy” and “fire and blood” means that her development is shallow and lame. Most other characters get far more nuance. Hell, I think the show did a better job with Cersei than the books did, by far. The only characters who should be that two dimensional are the White Walkers. And poor Dany didn’t really have a choice! Because Essos was an unrealistic place.
In the back of my head, I understand Dany to be a criticism of the Great Man (or Woman, in this case,) trope. And I’ll probably even analyze her on those grounds when I get geeky in blog posts about different fandoms. :P But the show didn’t do her justice, ultimately.
As a bit of a transition, I appreciated the callback to Varys and Ned, when Tyrion basically egged Jon along the path by invoking his sisters. Ned, of course, declared Joffrey as king in order to save his daughters. Arguably Jon killed Dany to make sure that she wouldn’t do the same to Sansa and Arya. Stark family feels!
Moving onto Bran. I mean, I guess I covered a lot of it above. It’s certainly not realistic to crown a teenager (at least he’s not as young as he is in the books!) as king just because he has superpowers. :P Again, I’ve stated ad nauseum in other reviews that I don’t think book Bran will ever come south of the Wall again, and that his powers are very much tied to the North. He wouldn’t, say, he able to track Drogon across Essos, but whaevs.
And for all the “wheel breaking” that Bran is supposed to do, how much really changes? Two rich siblings now rule neighboring kingdoms, and Bran’s uncle and cousin have large fiefdoms under him. Yay, feudalism! And Bran, like many kings who came before him, isn’t even sitting in on his Small Council meetings! It’s the Hand who continues to rule in that regard. Plus, with Bronn on the council, you know Westeros is gonna slide back into corruption sooner or later. Ugh.
Still, it was nice to see all of the lords and ladies again—including Edmure and Robin! Robin didn’t have much to say beyond “aye,” but presumably he’s in better shape now. :P As for poor Edmure, now it’s Sansa who shuts him up. Alas, the show always treated that character as a buffoon. Ah well. Sansa is treated with respect now, and that’s all that matters to me, lol. (Gendry was also there, as Lord of Storms End, which was nice to see, but his story arc effectively wrapped up in episode four, so. *shrugs*)
Who will rule over Westeros in canon, if anyone? It could be Jon…if GRRM brings him back to life. :P I still think he’s prime contender to die defeating the White Walkers, but who knows. His Targaryen lineage could be important indeed. One thing I guess I do believe is that the show got it right about Dany. She won’t rule Westeros (unless the books end with another tyrant on the throne.) But maybe I’m wrong! Maybe Dany will get her act together in the books. One can hope!
As for the Stark siblings—including Jon in here—I like where they ended up. Jon does strike me as someone who is most at home with the Free Folk. Arya strikes me as someone who can never go home again. I know other fans were disappointed that she decided to go exploring some place on the map that she’d never talked about before. But for me, Arya is a redemptive story because she gave up revenge. And she still gets to live life on her own terms, woman or no.
As for Sansa, I mean the only thing I didn’t like was that her coronation wasn’t a bigger deal in the show. :P And that’s my own bias speaking, because I was mostly watching GoT for her. I mean, I went into the final season(s) doing breathing exercises, because I figured she could die at any moment. Certainly, if Dany had remained in power… :/ Anywho. For my money, I think Sansa as Queen makes sense. We’ve seen her grow into a strong person and competent leader these past few seasons. And it’s a redemptive arc for her as well. Yes, she was foolish and bratty as a girl. But that didn’t have to define her. She could come back home, serve her people, and realize that she deserved a place at the table. Because of her own strengths, and not her attachment to some husband or fiancé. Maybe GoT was more progressive than I gave it credit for.
To address the big dragon in the room—who will be the next ruler of Westeros—this definitely felt a bit slapdash. In an earlier season, full of political machinations, it would have been someone else. I realize that Tyrion was trying to take the positive aspects of Dany’s “break the wheel” metaphor by switching things up a bit, but would the lords and ladies of Westeros really have gone along with it that easily? (In the show’s defense, I guess, maybe they were sick to death of war and strife. Anything to just start rebuilding already!) But yeah—it was too quick and too simple.
Can I just go ahead and spoil here who the next ruler is? Hopefully anyone reading this has watched the show? It’s Bran. And from a fandom perspective, he doesn’t work because we’re not invested enough in his character. That’s why it doesn’t give us the warm, fuzzy, resolution feelings. And I love Bran! He’s my favorite male character! :P Though to be honest, I’m responding more to the Bran of the books than I am to the Bran of the show.
At the end of the day, I didn’t completely hate the episode. I certainly didn’t go off to sign a petition to have Game of Thrones re-filmed, or talk about the show’s legacy as a complete waste. Some of these character moments still worked for me. (And worked a lot!) Others didn’t…even the ones that I sorta wanted? :P That’s weird.
It is likely that a show like this is impossible to end effectively. Part of its intrigue was always tied up in the never-ending drama, which I suppose is a plus for the show, because most of those storylines didn’t go stale. But I also think that David and Dan rushed the ending for the last two or three seasons, and that worked to the show’s detriment.
Basically, my rewatch of season 8 of Game of Thrones confirmed everything I wrote more immediately after the finale. :P If I were to add something more explicitly, it would be that Essos was a big stumbling block, for both the books and for the adaptation. Alas.
But in terms of what I wanted thematically—a grimdark show about complicated people that left room for hope over nihilism—this final season, this final episode, delivered. So kudos.
Summary:
KING’S LANDING
Tyrion walks through the smoldering streets and gazes upon the dead and injured. Jon and Davos are behind him. Looks a bit like Vesuvius around these parts. Tyrion decides to enter the Red Keep alone, though Jon offers to send in men with him. But Jon has other fish to fry; he tries to stop Grey Worm from executing enemy soldiers in Daenerys’s name. There’s no moving Grey Worm, so Davos says Jon should take his complaint higher up. Not in time to save the soldiers though. :/
Tyrion walks through the rubble-filled map room to the Small Council table. He picks up a torch and goes to the dungeon, where he digs out the bodies of his brother and sister. He cries along to the “Rains of Castamere” music. The Lannisters have finally met their end.
Arya has ditched her horse from the last episode, sneaks through piles of bodies and spies on the celebrating Dothraki soldiers. She sees Jon walk through them, up to where the Targaryen flag hangs over a ruined building. Arya keeps pace with her brother, eyes stony. Jon makes it to lines of Unsullied and up a bunch of steps, where Grey Worm is waiting. Guess he’s finished his executions. Above, Drogon lands, and Jon continues his ascent. Dany walks forward, Drogon’s wings stretching out behind her as he flies off. From the back, we see her approach her people for a victory speech, in a scene certainly meant to evoke the fascism of WWII.
Her speech to the Dothraki does remind us that their vows to her included brutal warfare, like tearing down stone houses and defeating enemies in iron suits. Grey Worm is named Dany’s master of war, commander of all armed forces. He takes the position, but there’s a glimmer of sadness in his expression, perhaps because his true wish to see Missandei home can no longer be realized. Dany continues to name the Unsullied as liberators, as Tyrion walks up behind her. She calls on them to continue, to help her liberate all the people of the world. When she names Winterfell as one of those places, Jon’s head pops up. Yikes. The Unsullied, of course, stomp their spears in unity with their queen.
Dany takes strength from the response of the people who’ve sworn themselves to her, and Tyrion completes his walk towards her. She tells Tyrion he committed treason by freeing Jaime. Tyrion blames her for slaughtering the city, and throws off his Hand of the Queen pin. The Unsullied stop their pounding. Dany has two of her guards take Tyrion away. Tyrion gives Jon a knowing look before he goes.
Shortly after Dany follows her former hand out of frame, Arya sidles in next to Jon. They implicitly discuss the threat Sansa, as Lady of Winterfell, is under if she won’t accept Dany now. Then Arya speaks explicitly about Jon—as a male Targaryen, he’ll always be a threat to the queen. Dany will surely have him killed, sooner or later.
Jon goes to see Tyrion in the room where he’s being held prisoner. Tyrion asks Jon if there’s life after death, but Jon has no good news for him. The Lannister goes through a list of his sins throughout the series and says he’d betray Dany again for what she did. Jon is struggling because he can’t justify what happened, but he tries to trick himself into thinking the war is over. Tyrion raises his eyebrow. Maybe Jon couldn’t understand Dany’s speech, but the writing is on the wall.
Jon argues that we shouldn’t be blamed for the reputation of our houses or for our fathers’ mistakes, but actions speak louder than words, Jon. Jon goes through the injustices Dany has seen, but Tyrion won’t use those as justification for sacking King’s Landing. He challenges Jon further: would you have made the decisions Dany did, if you were in her shoes? Jon continues to struggle, but Tyrion knows the truth. And even Jon can admit by the end of this chat that “love is the death of duty,” as Maester Aemon said seasons back.
(There’s a whole other argument that Tyrion goes into about why Dany thinks she’s good and right, but maybe I’ll wait to complain about it until my “thoughts” section. :P Moving on!) The two end their talk by Jon saying he’s sorry Tyrion is about to die, and Tyrion suggesting that maybe Jon’s sense of fighting the good fight should be aimed in a new direction. Ahem.
Jon walks outside and Drogon shakes himself out of a pike of snow. He sniffs at the other Targaryen and lets Jon pass. Dany is having a moment with the Iron Throne, which survived though the wall behind it is gone. It does look a little bit like her vision from the House of the Undying in season two! Again, I very much appreciate the themes of the show, about this cost of power. I just don’t entirely buy how we got here.
Dany waxes nostalgic about Viserys building up this throne in her mind. Jon accuses Dany of killing defeated soldiers. He grows emotional as he describes the scene of King’s Landing devastation to her. Dany has excuses for everything, from Cersei using her people as human shields to Tyrion conspiring against her. Jon advocates for mass forgiveness. Maybe that can repair her image with the people (and with him as well.) But Dany is too wrapped up in her grand vision for “small mercies.” She tries to comfort him, getting in close. She wants him by her side, as the only person who gets to decide the new world (er, so long as he sees things her way, that is.) Jon swears his loyalty, even kisses her…and then stabs her in the chest!
Dany bleeds out in his arms while Jon cries. Drogon screeches his way in, like “what the hell has happened here?!” Jon lays Dany’s body down, and turns to face the snarling dragon. Once Drogon ascertains that Dany is dead, he decides to burn down…the Iron Throne?! Oh yeah, like that makes a lick of sense. I mean dammit, I wanted to see that throne destroyed, but I didn’t want it to be this level of fan-servicey! Anywho, from there, Drogon cradles Dany in his talons and flies off, never to be seen again.
Sometime later, Grey Worm and the Unsullied gather Tyrion from his cell. They take him to the dragon pit, where members of the great houses have assembled. Or basically, who’s left from the cast. :P Sansa wants Jon brought to them, too, but Grey Worm refuses. The two of them exchange threats. Yara steps in to argue with Sansa about whether Dany was a liberator or a tyrant. Arya almost brings things to blows at the peace table when she offers to cut Yara’s throat, and poor Davos has to step in.
Obviously the Unsullied, who, you know, helped save Westeros from the dead, need some sort of compensation. How about the Reach? They could fashion themselves into a feudal, Westerosi house (oh, joy.) No more war! Grey Worm doesn’t want payment; he wants justice. Tyrion suggests that Jon’s fate be decided by the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms…er, what? Why don’t y’all choose one, Tyrion suggests. Edmure Tully is the first one to put himself up as an option, until Sansa gently shuts him up. :P Everyone else just looks awkward.
Sam makes a play for democracy, but lol, this is Westeros we’re talking about. :P Best we can do is hope the rich people don’t chose another tyrant. So Tyrion is the one left to be the kingmaker…and he chooses Bran! :o Like everyone else, I have Thoughts. In the thoughts section! (I mean, I guess that’s why they freed Tyrion in the first place—to speechify at them as usual. :P)
When Tyrion asks if Bran will take up the duty of kingship, he answers “why do you think I came all this way?” Which I suppose is as much as we’ll get from him in terms of character development. :P The other lords and ladies say “aye”…until Sansa?! She tells here brother she thinks he’ll make a good king, but that after everything they suffered, she can’t let the north bend the knee again. The seven kingdoms are going down to six! Bran nods his assent, and even me, as Team Stark all the way, am arching my eyebrow a bit at the nepotism at play. :P Plus, why wouldn’t other people want to follow, at least Yara, in the name of the Iron Islands? Does this make sense? To say nothing of Grey Worm standing quietly at Jon’s effective brother being crowned. Anywho, moving on here. Bran is sworn in as “Bran the Broken.” Game of Thrones likes its irony. And the first thing Bran the Broken does is rope Tyrion back into the Hand position. So now Westeros is ruled by two people who don’t want power! Booyah.
Grey Worm wants more justice. So we jump over to scraggly-haired Jon in his cell! Tyrion re-gifts Jon with his old role of undesirable at the Night’s Watch (technically, shuffling off unwanted relatives to the Night’s Watch was more that Wall’s purpose than protecting it from the White Walkers ever was! :P) Once again, Jon will have no chance to father children or hold titles. But he gets to live! “No one is very happy, which means it’s a good compromise, I suppose,” says the Hand of the King.
Jon asks Tyrion for absolution for what he did, which seems like a good choice if the dude wants to feel better about himself. :P Tyrion goaded him into it, after all! But Jon is still basking in a bit of self-pity. So this is goodbye? Unless Tyrion wants to “piss off the edge of the world” again. So many callbacks in this ep!
With his clothes on (though hair doesn’t seem to be brushed) Jon walks down to the docks of King’s Landing, escorted by Night’s Watch members, I assume. Lots of ships getting ready to sail, it seems…and the buildings all seem repaired as well! They do quick clean up after battles on Game of Thrones. :P
The Dothraki (who didn’t seem to be included in the doling out of goods earlier, just sayin’) are milling around the boats. Grey Worm, aboard one of them, sends Jon a glare. No forgiveness to be found there. But Grey Worm finds new (or old) purpose in sailing the Unsullied to the Isle of Naath. He can’t save Missandei, but maybe he can save her people!
Jon gets to say goodbye to his “siblings.” Sansa feels she’s betrayed Jon by not getting him back to be King in the North. Jon counters that “Ned Stark’s daughter” is the best they could ask for. Arya announces to her family that she’s going to explore “west of Westeros,” where the maps stop. And finally, Jon kneels before Bran. He apologizes for not being there for his brother, and Bran repeats his tired line, “you were exactly where you were supposed to be.” Maybe I should be nicer to this line. Life doesn’t always go as planned, but these Starks survived. And helped save Westeros, too! The House music swells as the three younger ones watch Jon board his dingy.
Later on, Brienne, wearing the gold plating of the kingsguard, fills out the rest of Ser Jaime’s entry in the book of knights. There’s a lot missing! :P She signs off with “Died protecting his Queen.” It’s a lovely gesture. Even though he didn’t chose to stay with her, Brienne respected who he was as a person. (Or at least the good parts, I suppose. :P) Everyone (in Westeros, anyway) is complicated!
Don’t forget to start your own list of deeds, Brienne! But I guess, for now, it’s time for a Small Council meeting (after Tyrion adjusts the chairs, in another callback). And although I’m sad that Brienne isn’t still with Sansa (such a great relationship there,) I respect that her calling is to be a knight of the
Other members of the Small Council are Davos and Bronn (ugh, why.) Tyrion tells Bran that prospects for the other seats will have having their interviews soon. Then Bran checks out to find Drogon, with Pod, now also a Kingsguard, rolling him out. Bronn, as Lord of Highgarden and Master of Coin, is charged to find money to feed starving people. Davos, as Master of Ships, is charged with rebuilding the armada and the King’s Landing ports, so he also starts sniping with Bronn about money. The new Small Council continues to bicker in a friendly way as we slow-mo out of the scene.
STARK MONTAGE TIME!
Jon and his guards approach Castle Black. Tormund gives him a nod, and the doors close behind him.
Jon picks up his sword and sheaths it. At Winterfell, Sansa gets dressed in finery. On a boat, Arya sheaths her knife. Jon wraps up tools and Arya unfurls a map. She picks up a telescope and, in shadow, walks down a hallway. Jon walks across outer corridors of Castle Black. Sansa walks down inner corridors of Winterfell. We see Arya’s face first, as she gets to the upper deck of her ship. Jon walks down steps to join a big group of Free Folk. Sansa enters hallway where House Stark soldiers bow to her. Arya walks through a group of sailors. Jon walks to the front of the Free Folk. He sees Ghost at the end—reunited with some scritches! Aaaaw. Seems like Tormund’s words from a few episodes back, about northern people belonging in the north, has come to pass.
Arya’s ship is decorated at the bow with a Stark direwolf (so does House Stark have a nautical exploratory arm now? Has Sansa roped her into some sort of official business? I assume not, just that Arya chooses to sail under the House banner, and this wouldn’t be an issue with her sister. Moving on!) The gates open for Jon and Tormund on horses in the front! Sansa is crowned, and yes, I got wibbly. MOVING ON!
Sansa now has a slightly more decorated chair in the Great Hall, and one kick ass outfit. Honestly, I think it’s the most incredible the wardrobe department has ever made. I’m not biased. :P When she sits down, we get our first audio of this montage, as the soldiers cry out “The Queen in the North!”, a la what they did for her brothers in past seasons. Arya sails out of scene, and Jon rolls out beyond the Wall, the Free Folk behind him. There’s a sprig of grass on the ground, so is winter gonna end everywhere? Major lifestyle changes ahead for the Free Folk, if that’s the case. Anywho.
Jon watches the final gates close behind him, kind of like the final gates to Westeros, too. (Will he be back? Probably not for awhile, at least. This certainly feels like he’s going to his true home with his true people.) Still, he has to look pensive for a moment, and then ride forth to the Game of Thrones theme song, with new vocals! And thus ends the series!
Thoughts:
I commented a lot in the Summary section, leaving only so much to extrapolate on here. But hey, it’s my last Game of Thrones recap and I’m ready going a little long! :P
Tyrion’s speech to Jon about Dany’s psychology was supposed to justify her character arc, methinks. Because she’d only ever defeated wholly evil people before, she got an outsized opinion of her goodness. To me, I think that’s a cop out. I mean, would we go up to World War II vets who claim that defeating Hitler was a righteous act on their part, and say to them, “yeah, but are you really a good person?”
In context: yes! People who fight against and/or defeat genocidal dictators or slavers, or the Dothraki leaders who are pretty much only known for pillaging and subjugating are good people. The problem is that not every German or Italian, or even Axis soldier is a Hitler or a Mussolini or etc. Killing those people doesn’t make you good. But over in Essos, Dany never killed those people. In essence because they didn’t exist. One was either a slaver or a slave. And that’s not comparable to real life. Or, as Dany found out, to Westerosi life.
But the way they describe Dany in these absolutist terms, “good” and “evil” and “crazy” and “fire and blood” means that her development is shallow and lame. Most other characters get far more nuance. Hell, I think the show did a better job with Cersei than the books did, by far. The only characters who should be that two dimensional are the White Walkers. And poor Dany didn’t really have a choice! Because Essos was an unrealistic place.
In the back of my head, I understand Dany to be a criticism of the Great Man (or Woman, in this case,) trope. And I’ll probably even analyze her on those grounds when I get geeky in blog posts about different fandoms. :P But the show didn’t do her justice, ultimately.
As a bit of a transition, I appreciated the callback to Varys and Ned, when Tyrion basically egged Jon along the path by invoking his sisters. Ned, of course, declared Joffrey as king in order to save his daughters. Arguably Jon killed Dany to make sure that she wouldn’t do the same to Sansa and Arya. Stark family feels!
Moving onto Bran. I mean, I guess I covered a lot of it above. It’s certainly not realistic to crown a teenager (at least he’s not as young as he is in the books!) as king just because he has superpowers. :P Again, I’ve stated ad nauseum in other reviews that I don’t think book Bran will ever come south of the Wall again, and that his powers are very much tied to the North. He wouldn’t, say, he able to track Drogon across Essos, but whaevs.
And for all the “wheel breaking” that Bran is supposed to do, how much really changes? Two rich siblings now rule neighboring kingdoms, and Bran’s uncle and cousin have large fiefdoms under him. Yay, feudalism! And Bran, like many kings who came before him, isn’t even sitting in on his Small Council meetings! It’s the Hand who continues to rule in that regard. Plus, with Bronn on the council, you know Westeros is gonna slide back into corruption sooner or later. Ugh.
Still, it was nice to see all of the lords and ladies again—including Edmure and Robin! Robin didn’t have much to say beyond “aye,” but presumably he’s in better shape now. :P As for poor Edmure, now it’s Sansa who shuts him up. Alas, the show always treated that character as a buffoon. Ah well. Sansa is treated with respect now, and that’s all that matters to me, lol. (Gendry was also there, as Lord of Storms End, which was nice to see, but his story arc effectively wrapped up in episode four, so. *shrugs*)
Who will rule over Westeros in canon, if anyone? It could be Jon…if GRRM brings him back to life. :P I still think he’s prime contender to die defeating the White Walkers, but who knows. His Targaryen lineage could be important indeed. One thing I guess I do believe is that the show got it right about Dany. She won’t rule Westeros (unless the books end with another tyrant on the throne.) But maybe I’m wrong! Maybe Dany will get her act together in the books. One can hope!
As for the Stark siblings—including Jon in here—I like where they ended up. Jon does strike me as someone who is most at home with the Free Folk. Arya strikes me as someone who can never go home again. I know other fans were disappointed that she decided to go exploring some place on the map that she’d never talked about before. But for me, Arya is a redemptive story because she gave up revenge. And she still gets to live life on her own terms, woman or no.
As for Sansa, I mean the only thing I didn’t like was that her coronation wasn’t a bigger deal in the show. :P And that’s my own bias speaking, because I was mostly watching GoT for her. I mean, I went into the final season(s) doing breathing exercises, because I figured she could die at any moment. Certainly, if Dany had remained in power… :/ Anywho. For my money, I think Sansa as Queen makes sense. We’ve seen her grow into a strong person and competent leader these past few seasons. And it’s a redemptive arc for her as well. Yes, she was foolish and bratty as a girl. But that didn’t have to define her. She could come back home, serve her people, and realize that she deserved a place at the table. Because of her own strengths, and not her attachment to some husband or fiancé. Maybe GoT was more progressive than I gave it credit for.
