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It's all over now!
The most popular show on television, the one that everyone has been long waiting for, and discussing and debating (and complaining, at least this season) over is now done and history.
For a day and a half, I tried to avoid all of the spoilers, not having seen the series finale. There were complications with the computer from the friend who had been sending me the episodes, and he had reached too much data, which made opening the episode from my end impossible. But it finally went through Monday night (actually, technically, early Tuesday morning), and so I had my chance.
Finally got to watch the Game of Thrones series finale, which means I am all caught up.
In truth, I had seen a couple of major spoilers before seeing the episode, which kind of clued me in to the general direction that they were taking this. I will mention more about that later. First, however, I post the warning about spoilers to come as I discuss this episode a bit more in detail later.
Before I go on, I have to do my standard warning for those of you who have not yet seen this (or some of the more recent episodes, to boot), but intend to. So, if you have not yet seen the most recent episodes, please stop reading at this point.
*** SPOILERS****** SPOILERS****** SPOILERS***
Okay, you have been warned. If you are still reading by this point, then you either have already seen the episodes, or for one reason or another, do not mind the spoilers to come. Just don't say that you were not warned!
As mentioned earlier, I had seen some spoilers already, even though there were not many details. Just enough to give me an idea about the general direction of the episode. What did I see that served as spoilers? Well, the first thing was an image of Joe Biden, of all people, rattling off his qualifications, and then underneath, an image of a tent, with the Starks (sans Jon Snow) sitting underneath, and a caption underneath, telling Joe Biden to sit down. It was meant to be humorous, and was. But it was also revealing. The second image was an altered image of the Iron Throne, but altered so that it looked a bit like a wheelchair.
From those two images, I surmised that, indeed, Daenerys had been killed (as most had expected), that all of the Starks had ultimately made it to what remains of King's Landing, and that Bran Stark somehow becomes the leader.
Still, there was some intrigue left in the final episode, although I can understand how so many felt disappointed. Personally, I thought that they did some interesting things, worked out some interesting ideas. But if there is one criticism that, whatever the reasons for it, will always leave a lasting legacy for this final season of Game of Thrones, it is that it was too rushed. That seemed evident to me with this final episode, as well.
For example, a lot of people were talking about the "shocking" moment when Jon Snow kills Daenerys. Personally, I found it all too predictable. She had become the Mad Queen, after all. You kind of sensed that she was not going to make it alive out of the series finale. And who else could get so close to her, without all of those guards, not to mention getting past the dragon? So, you just probably had to sense what his real intentions were going to be, right? For a moment there, when the dragon seemed apparently incapable of killing Snow himself, and melted the Iron Throne instead, I thought of the symbolism, and believed that maybe Jon would become the king to end absolute monarchies on the show. That the dragon would become his ally in this deal, and maybe kill the Army of the Unsullied. But instead, the symbolism was of ending the "game" of trying to reach the Iron Throne by simply melting the Iron Throne itself, which was neat symbolism.
There was also great symbolism in other parts of the finale, as well. The almost circular council underneath the tents felt reminiscent of the legend of the Round Table of King Arthur. I liked how they made those present literally laugh at the idea of democracy, and trusting the regular people to elect good leaders. American audiences probably could take a hint from that, given some of the idiots that they have elected, particularly the one in the Oval Office right now.
For the most part, I felt that they wrapped up the series fairly well. Again, this season (and probably even the seventh season) felt quite rushed, and that was to the detriment of the series, and to the fans. However, the storyline still felt compelling, to me. Many people complained that the "sudden" madness of Daenerys really bothered them, and some even suggested that it ruined the series for them. In truth, though, you could kind of see that coming for a while, and there were especially prominent signs in the last two seasons, especially in the episodes leading up to the "Bells" episode, when she turned fully into a war criminal. Jon Snow killed her, so the reign of the "Mad Queen" was at least blessedly short. Then, Snow was sent back to the Wall to permanently be on the Night Watch, and to never father a child into the world. Bran was elected king, but the king of six kingdoms, as Sansa became queen of the newly independent kingdom of the north. Arya is off exploring the western lands. Tyrion is, once again, the Hand of the King, and he has a seemingly stable group to work with to counsel the new king. It is not exactly a democracy, yet it also is a step away from absolute monarchy and the series of abuses and crimes that had dominated before. We even got final confirmation that Cersei and Jaime are dead, although I think that the doubts were a bit ridiculous to begin with.
Personally, I liked the episode, although I can understand why so many people are disappointed. Even some of the actors had expressed disappointment in this season. Again, my main problem with it was that they were only given six episodes to work with this season, and seven last season. That cuts seriously into the character and situational development, which I feel was the show's greatest strength. Detracting from that was inevitably going to piss some people off. Given the time constraints, however, they did the best that they could possibly have done under the circumstances. Not all the issues were resolved, to be sure, but for the most part, it was good. Not everyone is happy, but you cannot ever make everyone happy, and that is fine.
Some interesting questions that a recent New York Times article about the finale by Jennifer Vineyard included why there would still be a Night's Watch? I had the same question, in fact, while watching, when Jon Snow was sent back to the wall. Also, what is west of Westeros? One friend of mine believes that this will be one of the spin off shows, starring Arya and her adventures in the apparently largely unknown western lands.
Also, what about those books that Sam Tarly borrowed from the Citadel library? Did becoming a grand maester essentially allow him to be forgiven? Did they even notice the books were gone? What happens now?
It seems like we will never know. But for the most part, the major troubling areas have been solved. The dragon flew off with the corpse of it's mother, Daenerys, although Bran will likely use his seeing abilities to keep an eye on it, so to speak. Things seem relatively stable, at least for the time being. Guess we will now have to wait for the spin off shows, the sequels and/or prequels that surely are to come, and try to feed off of the stunningly enormous success that Game of Thrones enjoyed.
Still, there was some intrigue left in the final episode, although I can understand how so many felt disappointed. Personally, I thought that they did some interesting things, worked out some interesting ideas. But if there is one criticism that, whatever the reasons for it, will always leave a lasting legacy for this final season of Game of Thrones, it is that it was too rushed. That seemed evident to me with this final episode, as well.
For example, a lot of people were talking about the "shocking" moment when Jon Snow kills Daenerys. Personally, I found it all too predictable. She had become the Mad Queen, after all. You kind of sensed that she was not going to make it alive out of the series finale. And who else could get so close to her, without all of those guards, not to mention getting past the dragon? So, you just probably had to sense what his real intentions were going to be, right? For a moment there, when the dragon seemed apparently incapable of killing Snow himself, and melted the Iron Throne instead, I thought of the symbolism, and believed that maybe Jon would become the king to end absolute monarchies on the show. That the dragon would become his ally in this deal, and maybe kill the Army of the Unsullied. But instead, the symbolism was of ending the "game" of trying to reach the Iron Throne by simply melting the Iron Throne itself, which was neat symbolism.
There was also great symbolism in other parts of the finale, as well. The almost circular council underneath the tents felt reminiscent of the legend of the Round Table of King Arthur. I liked how they made those present literally laugh at the idea of democracy, and trusting the regular people to elect good leaders. American audiences probably could take a hint from that, given some of the idiots that they have elected, particularly the one in the Oval Office right now.
For the most part, I felt that they wrapped up the series fairly well. Again, this season (and probably even the seventh season) felt quite rushed, and that was to the detriment of the series, and to the fans. However, the storyline still felt compelling, to me. Many people complained that the "sudden" madness of Daenerys really bothered them, and some even suggested that it ruined the series for them. In truth, though, you could kind of see that coming for a while, and there were especially prominent signs in the last two seasons, especially in the episodes leading up to the "Bells" episode, when she turned fully into a war criminal. Jon Snow killed her, so the reign of the "Mad Queen" was at least blessedly short. Then, Snow was sent back to the Wall to permanently be on the Night Watch, and to never father a child into the world. Bran was elected king, but the king of six kingdoms, as Sansa became queen of the newly independent kingdom of the north. Arya is off exploring the western lands. Tyrion is, once again, the Hand of the King, and he has a seemingly stable group to work with to counsel the new king. It is not exactly a democracy, yet it also is a step away from absolute monarchy and the series of abuses and crimes that had dominated before. We even got final confirmation that Cersei and Jaime are dead, although I think that the doubts were a bit ridiculous to begin with.
Personally, I liked the episode, although I can understand why so many people are disappointed. Even some of the actors had expressed disappointment in this season. Again, my main problem with it was that they were only given six episodes to work with this season, and seven last season. That cuts seriously into the character and situational development, which I feel was the show's greatest strength. Detracting from that was inevitably going to piss some people off. Given the time constraints, however, they did the best that they could possibly have done under the circumstances. Not all the issues were resolved, to be sure, but for the most part, it was good. Not everyone is happy, but you cannot ever make everyone happy, and that is fine.
Some interesting questions that a recent New York Times article about the finale by Jennifer Vineyard included why there would still be a Night's Watch? I had the same question, in fact, while watching, when Jon Snow was sent back to the wall. Also, what is west of Westeros? One friend of mine believes that this will be one of the spin off shows, starring Arya and her adventures in the apparently largely unknown western lands.
Also, what about those books that Sam Tarly borrowed from the Citadel library? Did becoming a grand maester essentially allow him to be forgiven? Did they even notice the books were gone? What happens now?
It seems like we will never know. But for the most part, the major troubling areas have been solved. The dragon flew off with the corpse of it's mother, Daenerys, although Bran will likely use his seeing abilities to keep an eye on it, so to speak. Things seem relatively stable, at least for the time being. Guess we will now have to wait for the spin off shows, the sequels and/or prequels that surely are to come, and try to feed off of the stunningly enormous success that Game of Thrones enjoyed.
Here are some links to discussion of the final episode of GoT that seemed worth sharing, if you are suffering from withdrawal symptoms and want to read more about it:
9 Things We Still Want to Know Now That ‘Game of Thrones’ Is Over by Jennifer Vineyard May 20, 2019:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/20/arts/television/game-of-thrones-finale-questions-nights-watch.html
The 'Game of Thrones' Finale Failed Because It Coddled the Audience By ESTHER ZUCKERMAN Published On 05/21/2019:
https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/game-of-throne-finale-review-the-iron-throne?fbclid=IwAR2mEishm5tTyWCCpFW4jm_fS5auTeNYvNR2cZhQ7-vZkZFqoSNWDyCSS6U
Game of Thrones was… okay: EW review By Darren Franich May 20, 2019
https://ew.com/tv-reviews/2019/05/20/game-of-thrones-finale-series-review/?fbclid=IwAR2nFE_ScHy7q1hZmrrpEBWi49_5QGmjAKs4QrUbvkgtnBBJiYhrPyaVyJE
Here is a video that explains the final episode, which also seemed worth sharing:
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