max Game of Thrones, The Final Season

[Pancake]

I had hoped for an ending scene with Bran in/as the dragon.

 

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

I watched it with my sister, it is only the 2nd GoT episode I've ever watched in full...other than the first one. I've caught bits and pieces of a few others, and I haven't read the books either. What I know, I know from my sister being a fan of the show. I'm not much a TV person...there's this thing called Second Life.

I know no Queen, but the Queen in the North whose name is Stark. I was expecting Sansa to get the Iron Throne, but Bran getting it brings us full circle since it was his seeing Cersei and Jaime being all incest-twins was was started the whole mess in the first place.

That's the true message of GoT..."Incest is Bad mmkay and it makes you cray cray as a participant like the Incest Twins, or descendant of incest like Ragerys Dragonrideris Blondegirlyen"

I was still hoping that Lyanna Mormont would come back from the dead, being brought back by that other red woman priestess...googles....Kinvara, and set things right by riding a bear and kicking ass.

 

[Ava Glasgow]

Meanwhile, Jon finally gets to pet Ghost.

Who's a good boy?!

 

[Myficals]

So a couple more thoughts:

When Sansa declared Nexit, I would've loved it if the Dornish prince went "Hang on, we're changing our choice..." Dorne was the last of the Seven Kingdoms to ceed to the Iron Throne. Historically they've always chafed against outside rule.

Following from that, it's not "King of the Andals and the First Men," it's "King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men." Given the Dorne are the Rhoynar, seems everyone's excluding them anyway. Also, the last of the First Men are the Northmen So with Nexit it's really just "King of the Andals" now.

Please stop calling him Bran the Broken. Generally those sorts of names are bestowed by future historians looking back, and besides, isn't it a bit disrespectful to assume that being "broken" is going to be the most significant thing about his reign?

Did anyone else spot the parallels between Arya and a certain other fiesty, but tiny fencer, with a desire to discover what's west of west? Or am I the only one who remembers my Chronicles of Narnia to that depth?

 

[Ariane]

A friend of mine said he would be super mad if Jon became king, because he literally did nothing to deserve it. Jon seems to have a way of failing upward, getting rewarded for stupid stuff. He's happy at Jon's fate.

The lore of GoT has always been that Dragons and Targaryens have a connection. It makes sense that Drogon did not kill Jon because Drogon considers him a friend because of his father. I guess he can smell his genes? (this is why it is called "fantasy") Either way that scene played out would have made some upset, so burning the iron throne seems to be the best answer.

The Iron Throne is basically GoT's version of The Ring of Power from LotR. Having it destroyed by fire so no one else can use it seems perfectly fitting.

Everything after that scene felt like a Mexican Soap Opera. At least two pathetic attempts at humor ("Sit down uncle", "You're not in it") were especially groan worthy. I had to look up who that pathetic guy was that was trying to claim the throne. It was that same guy who couldn't light a fire in season 1.

Will this match the ending of the books? I would not be the least bit surprised if the fate of Dany plays out the same in the books, but because the books are about internal dialogue, the build up to that ending will definitely pay off better. There are a number of bad plot elements in the last couple of seasons that GRRM should definitely avoid repeating. The whole plot of going north of the wall to retrieve a wight and take it to Kings Landing should be avoided at all costs. It felt like a TV contrivance then, and the book needs to be better.

 

[Myficals]

/me facepalms: They did it again.

 

[Beebo Brink]

I'm impressed that someone spotted that. A cup on the table right in front of the queen is one thing, but a water bottle behind someone's boot? Who is studying all the feet?

 

[Myficals]

I'm impressed that someone spotted that. A cup on the table right in front of the queen is one thing, but a water bottle behind someone's boot? Who is studying all the feet?

Inorite? I checked the episode too, and it's on screen probably for less than half a second.

 

[Zaida Gearbox]

Now having had time to really think about it. I think the Starks - or at least Bran - pulled a fast one on the Unsullied. He knew damn well there's really no more Night's Watch. I think those two dudes dressed in black that escorted Jon to the wall - were actually Wildlings in disguise. That is why they were all there waiting for him when he arrived. He is now King Beyond the Wall, and because of how long they focused on Jon and the Wildlings walking into the forest - that makes me think they'll be a part of a spin off.

I didn't like it that Brienne was on Bran's Kingsguard. She should have been with Sansa in the north - actually I wanted her to be with Tormund in the real north.

See if they hadn't killed the Hound he could have gone West of Westeros with Arya. *pouts* (lol)

 

[Vaelissa Cortes]

Now having had time to really think about it. I think the Starks - or at least Bran - pulled a fast one on the Unsullied.

 

[Eunoli]

Everything else aside, the fact that there's not been one peep from GRRM congratulating the series or anyone working on it is very telling since he's never been shy about social media. I very seriously doubt that the books will end this way (the whole last two seasons way - the results might be the same) if they ever do get finished.

The reason we loved the series so much is because of the wonderful character development in the books and in the first several seasons of the show. We grew to really care about the Starks and the others because of how real GRRM made them. In the last couple seasons they've either been essentially the same people or simply changed without a lot of explanation as to how (besides the show creators telling us why in supplementary bits). The whole importance of the smallfolk and how they would have literally gone berserk after Cersei blew up the Sept and the insane reaction that her open incest towards the end would have caused is really glossed over. It couldn't be the same story in the books because the world is too in-depth in the books.

Things that really bug me:

Too many and too detailed. But the one biggest thing that bugged me the most was the way the prophecies got mauled and ignored. They were a big part of the early series and I really do think that GRRM will follow them through. Every single thing Maggie the Frog said came true except the most important one. Had Jamie strangled her, I would probably be happily overlooking everything else.

That, the way Dorne was just ruined (super important characters missing, teenage mutant Dornish ninjas. etc) and the way Dany was set up to be super-likeable bugged me a lot all along.

The way Tyrion and Varys were nerfed also really pissed me off. They were so much more complex than could or was displayed. As much as you could tell that Tyrion is likely GRRM's favorite character (besides Arya, perhaps), his bitterness and anger seemed to slide away in favor of a fawning over his queen that just didn't ring true to me.

I will bite my tongue on the rest because really, what good does it do?

Things that I really liked:

I think that GRRM told the showrunners that Jon was Azor Ahai. The scene in the throne room was all Azor/Nissa Nissa. Another giant prophecy - and at least this one got fulfilled.

The fact that the lords laughed when Sam suggested democracy. I almost choked when that happened.

Tyrion screwed up one final time when he left it with six lords to decide the next king. Having an even number was very obviously just setting the whole thing up for a tie and the next war when Bran dies (this also goes under hates because Tyrion was too savvy to do that in the books and he is my favorite character).

That said, as pissed as I was at the last couple seasons, I'm sorry that its over.

 

[Eunoli]

Also, best quote I've seen about last night's episode from this amazing article:

This is quite possibly the smartest dragon in the world, as it inherently understood that it was the corrupting power of the Iron Throne that led to Dany’s downfall, and not Jon Snow.
Or it’s the stupidest dragon in the world, as it saw a knife in Dany and assumed it was the evil chair made of knives who stabbed her, and then had its revenge. TAKE THAT, KNIFEY CHAIR. MY QUEEN, YOU HAVE BEEN AVENGED.

 

[Ann Launay]

 

[Beebo Brink]

The reason we loved the series so much is because of the wonderful character development in the books and in the first several seasons of the show.

What the last few seasons have shown is that the showrunners are very skilled at distilling GRRM's books for the screen, for picking out key elements and keeping the plotline moving. What they're not good at is writing stories from scratch. Once they lost their source materials, they were back to being average TV hack writers.

 

[Chalice Yao]

A human might have deduced that Jon was the murderer, but it's a stretch for an animal to make that connection and dragons obviously aren't too bright. "Hard shiny thing bit mommy..... look, lots of hard shiny things over there!.... KILL THEM!!!"

Well, it's either

or

 

[Veritable Quandry]

The last episode really needed the books to provide more about people's motivations and internal dialog.

For example, everyone assumes that the last dragon melted the Iron Throne because it knew what the throne meant to Dany. But she was dead when it arrived. The living person at the scene was the last Targaryen next to the body of Mommy. Jon was highly emotional and descended from the people who can control dragons.

What if it was Jon's wish that they destroy the Iron Throne? It ruined everything and everyone that he loved. He had a claim to the throne. Melting it could be his way of rejecting the throne. And about his regret about Dany, which is why her body gets taken to the ancestral home. Jon is sending her off to her rest among her people, who Jon is also rejecting. The only home he knows is beyond the Wall, and so he choses the wolf over the dragon.

I can't wait to read this scene to really know what is in his head, not just what they do.

 

[Beebo Brink]

What if it was Jon's wish that they destroy the Iron Throne?

Good one! That scene would have been even more dramatic if it had been Jon who screamed "Dracarys!!" to order the dragon to melt the throne.

Which gets back to the problem with the showrunners. They miss great opportunities for drama because they're just focused on the visual aspects, such as the image of the dragon melting the throne. They don't explore the motivations and the emotional context of scenes, just the blocking.

Having Jon command the dragon would reinforce his birthright, and all that implies. His tie to the dragons never went beyond just hopping on their back.

 

[Roxanne Blue]

This is actually a rumor that has GRRM very pissed off. He keeps ranting about it on his blog. He insists it is not yet written, though he also says he is home and working on it now. Perhaps this last crappy season will inspire him.

A few years back, when the series threatened to overtake the fifth book and producers worried he might die before they finished, GRRM did a "broad outline" of the remaining story and plot points for them. I'm relatively sure that's what we got last night, and that "Winds" (and possibly "Spring") will not depart substantially from this ending.

"“The major points of the ending will be things I told them five or six years ago,” Martin told Rolling Stone in March), before Game of Thrones’ final season debuted. So it seems safe to say that Daenerys’s turn to raining fire and blood down on King’s Landing and her subsequent murder by Jon are part of his plan to end his novels. "

It reportedly took him six years to finish "A Dance with Dragons", and he's had nearly eight to work on "The Winds of Winter" (and presumably "A Hope for Spring" if he sticks to the original plan/outline). If the last two are indeed not finished yet, you'd have to think they are complete in their major plot points. It would be a huge disappointment if those books are never finished/published. If the "major points" align with his vision of the conclusion, I'd also think that Martin always planned to have the characters "explain themselves" in the progress of the story, and that's what is taking so long.

I think sending John back to the Wall, with no expectation that he needs to stay at Castle Black, was what amounts to a happy ending for ASOIAF. He'd rather be in the "real North" and he gets Ghost back. I had much the same feeling for Brienne. For a woman who was told she could never be a "Ser" to become Lord Commander of the Kingsguard would be the ultimate achievement. She couldn't go back to Winterfell, the place she was abandoned by Jamie.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Daenerys Tells All!

Emilia Clarke on the final episode of “Game of Thrones,” meeting Beyoncé, and the sad fate of Daenerys Targaryen.

www.newyorker.com

Her thoughts on the character and the challenges of playing her are well-worth the read. And the strain of keeping the ending secret for 18-months odd, while people were loving Daenerys and naming their daughters after her, must have been dreadful.

 

[Ariane]

It is obvious from the books that many plots from the series will be very different. As I understand it, Brienne is a minor character in the books, but the show runners like the actress and character and gave her scenes and plots designed for characters not on the show (ie. Lady Stoneheart). Ditto Bronn. His whole trip to Dorne with Jamie in season 5 is in the books with two completely different characters. Jamie was supposed to go to Riverrun, not Dorne.