SPOILERS FOR GAME OF THRONES THROUGHOUT
Enough of the slander.
Game of Thrones ended five years ago this month, and with that, I’ve been rethinking my views on the 8th and final season of the show. Of course, every show has ups and downs, and this was no different. However, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss received too much flack for the conclusion of George R. R. Martin’s epic adaptation.
The Game of Thrones final episodes were actually good. Did every character’s fate go the way you wanted them to go? Absolutely not. Dani, one of the main protagonists, turns to the dark side and gets skewered like a pig. Jon Snow was banished to the wall! IT’S NOT FAIR!!!!
It was logical, though, and what’s a narrative without clear motivation and logic? Rebel Moon, that’s where.
Let me explain why you should shift your opinions on the Game of Thrones finale.
Everybody loved Daenerys (Emilia Clarke). She was a sweet girl with a heart of gold, freeing all those slaves and such. She was a Queen of the People, garnering loyalty and respect from her subjects. And she had those SIIIIIIICK dragons. What’s not to like?
Well, she was ambitious to the point of madness. Hell, she came from a line of Mad Kings, so it was in her blood! If you watched the show like I did (binging the last three series in one go), you could see the cracks way before she incinerated Varys. I mean, she had her own brother killed with melted gold in the first season! Rationalize it all you want, but there are more humane ways to have someone put down.
When things don’t go her way, she snaps under pressure, and when Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) is killed in front of her, it’s the last straw. It’s time for a massacre. This was how her character was meant to progress.
Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) did the right thing, assassinating Mad Queen Dani. She had become unhinged with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of innocent souls in the capital perishing. In fitting with his character, Jon makes the hard choice, saving the citizens of Westeros from a tyrannical ruler.
He became a Queenslayer. However, unlike Jaime Lannister (a Kingslayer himself), Jon Snow had killed a beloved leader, the sweetheart of the Dothraki and the savior of Meereen. She had thousands of loyal subjects, none of which would allow Jon to sit on the remnants of the Iron Throne. He had to be punished.
Also, Jon kinda loved The North, anyway. His bestie Tormund and the rest of the Wildlings, newly safe from the threat of the Night King, live up there. I think he’d have a good life, not having to worry about the politics of the capital in the aftermath of the Lannisters.
It had to be a Stark, and it had to be Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright).
He was the main target of the all-powerful Demi-God, The Night King, at the Battle of Winterfell. Imagine that! An almost immortal being who is so scared of one person, they amass the largest fighting force of wights you ever did see. Bran was freaking IMPORTANT.
OH YEAH, and he had supernatural powers! He could not only warg into creatures to gain tactical advantages over his enemies (a birds-eye view was never so literal) but as the Three-Eyed-Raven, he could f*%@ing see the future!
Who better to lead Westeros into a more prosperous, peaceful and fair future than a person with foresight and a power that is the embodiment of empathy?
I’m confused by the thought that this finale was rushed. I’ve just gone through three of the main climatic choices in the series, and they all make sense within the context of the show. What more could you want? A scene with Jon Snow telling Tyrion that he “knows what to do”. We kinda got that!
The entirety of the previous SEVEN seasons had been setting up these moments. They have shown their working from cradle to grave. Season 8 was all about the action and putting pins on everything. Dani had been slowly going crazy from year to year. We saw it happen. Tyrion’s time in both the Lannister and Targaryen camps had ensured he’d amassed enough knowledge and respect that he was taken seriously, (finally!) in matters of the throne. So when he suggests electing a leader to the throne, after witnessing the concept of birthright corrupt first his own family, and then the sweet girl he came to trust, it’s logical.
If you’re going to discard the previous seasons’ legwork, then why bother at all?
Action? Check. Shocking Twists? Check. Dragons smelting the only piece of furniture anybody actually cared about? Check, check, check.
The last season had great action, engaging story beats and a logical, if not crowd-pleasing, conclusion. An ending shouldn’t be written because the masses want it to end a certain way. It should be written in spite of that, continuing with the creative vision you had!
Maybe Martin wouldn’t have finished A Song of Fire and Ice like this, but he should consider it. It was a bombastic, action-packed last opus with logical and believable character growth.
You may think it was rushed. You may be annoyed with the story direction. But it all made sense. Tell me I’m wrong.
