I will start every one of these posts off with this warning about spoilers. There will be plenty of spoilers. Seriously, if you have not watched the episode, do not read this post. I will also be mentioning stuff from the books. These are not straight up recaps of episodes, nor are they reviews. I will just mention the stuff I liked/disliked and probably give some opinions about what could happen next.
It has finally come to an end. I will not make some joke about our watch ending or something stupid about playing the game of thrones.
I loved the final episode. In fact, I loved this season. I thought it wrapped things up nicely. I understand why they made certain decisions. Do I wish it could have been a few episodes longer? Of course, but I wish that of all the shows I love. I never want them to end. Fortunately, this is not the end of GOT. There is another series coming, it should be out next year sometime.
I would like to mention how people love to say that they have been huge fans since the beginning. Uh huh. The first episode had 2.2 million viewers. You know who was one of them? Me. Fortunately, I have proof. I was excited about this show back during the first teaser. I read the books back in 2009 (then again during the summer of 2010 when I heard about the show…then I listened to them on Audible last year). I do not say this to brag (okay, a little bit), but instead to point out that I have been truly invested in this show. The highs and lows. I plan my freakin’ work schedule around Sunday nights (not very well at times). So when I say that I am happy with the way it ended, I have a little bit more weight behind those words than someone who just binged seven seasons a few weeks ago so they could watch the final one.
Okay, another side rant. Binge-watching shows is a problem. It may work for something like a comedy, but shows like GOT, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, etc…it does not. Here is why. There is an emotional buildup of going a week not knowing what happens to a character. When Jon dies, we had to wait a year to find out whether he was coming back. That means tons of debates with other fans. But if you binge it, he was dead for like ten minutes. That week long wait, where you think how cool Oberyn Martell is and then he does something even cooler and you hope he ends up being a good dude, it all gets crushed when…well when his head goes pop!
Sorry, ranting is over. I am not saying that you should not binge a show. But maybe try giving yourself a break in between episodes. Allow it to simmer so that you can really grasp what is happening.
Okay, onto the actual episode…
-I totally spoiled Daenerys death for myself. When I did the schedule, I was thinking last week was the finale (I did it like a month and a half ago) and scheduled myself to work second shift. My goal was to be home by 11:30 so I could watch the second airing. Unfortunately that did not happen, I got home at 12:00. I turned on the TV and HBO was on and I was trying to hit the button to change over to the Roku, but when I looked at the screen…Jon stabs Dany. I quickly turned on HBOGO and watched the episode, but when that part came, I knew what was going to happen.
Granted, it was the only sensible outcome. She had to die. Jon had to be the one to kill her. Interesting moment when Tyrion gives Jon his speech, he ends by saying “what about your sisters, will they bend the knee?” It was similar to what Varys said to Ned back in season one about Sansa being safe. Jon chose to protect his family, he may not be Ned’s actual son, but he definitely inherited his sense of duty to family.
-I feel like such an idiot for thinking all the people predicting that Bran would end up on the throne as idiots. I honestly did not see that coming. When Tyrion starts giving his speech, I knew that I had been dead wrong. And yet the signs were there. A cool thing I saw was that in the first episode, when Ned executes the guy for leaving the Night’s Watch, he says something like “in the name of Robert Baratheon, King of the Andals…” the camera pans over to Jon and Bran. Over time, people have assumed that meant Jon is the rightful king. But it was there, right in front of us the whole time.
-I was pretty close with my idea that they would set up some sort of constitutional monarchy. Sam even suggests the people should choose, but that was shot down fairly quickly. Naturally the high lords are not going to give up their power. However, they do agree to the idea of choosing a king. So at least they are progressing.
-I was a little shocked by the ending. I did not expect a happy ending. I half-expected the Night King to be reborn somehow. And yet, the ending worked. Bran is king, Sansa is Queen of the North. Brienne is in charge of the Kingsguard, Bronn has his high lordship, Tyrion is still the Hand of the King, Davos is Master of Ships, Samwell is Grand Maester, and Jon got what he truly wanted. Not to go back to the Night’s Watch (which seems a little pointless now), but instead we see him bouncing from that duty and heading beyond the Wall to the real north. He and Tormund along with Ghost and a bunch of redheads. Ygritte only said it to him like 1000 times (as did Mance) that Jon belongs with the Freefolk. It was pretty much the only time he was happy and at peace. Not bound by duty and honor.
-I loved the nod to GRRM’s complaint about the Iron Throne. Daenerys says that it is smaller than she imagined. GRRM has said before that he envisioned the throne being insanely large and swords just sticking out all over the place.
-I did get annoyed with one thing though, when Arya asks what is west of Westeros, Jon says that no one knows. That is not technically true. The maesters know that the world is round and they know that if you sail west, at some point you will come to Asshai. There have been people who have went exploring west, most notably Elissa Farman (aka Alys Westhill). She stole three dragon eggs and sold them in Pentos for a ship. She then sailed to Oldtown and crewed a few ships for a voyage west. She never returned, but one of the captains of another ship made it back. He said she discovered three islands and that she kept going west. Later, Corlys Velaryon claimed to have seen a ship matching hers in Asshai, so it is possible that she made it around to Essos. Another fun fact: many buildings in Asshai are built from the same oily, black stone as is the Seastone Chair on the Iron Islands.
-I thought the coolest shot was the scene where Daenerys walks out to give her speech to the army and Drogon’s wings frame her so she looks like some kind of monster. I loved that!
-I am not going to ramble on more. I loved the series. I thought the final season was great. Was it perfect? No. Did it have satisfying ending? Yes. Do I look forward to watching the spin-offs? Absolutely. Do I wish the books would come out already? Duh.
I will probably write something more in a few days. I want to watch it again.
