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| Dany's Death |
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| Drogon's Anger |
Did I hate the ending? No. Was I happy with it? Not entirely. To be honest, I can safely say I was satisfied with how the story wrapped up.
The season finale had twists and turns which gave it a more familiar Game of Thrones theme. It was almost reminiscent of the Red Wedding, where you get a small glimpse of a joyous occasion, Dany and Jon ruling together. Then a shocker with a sweet kiss, the story gets stabbed in the heart. As a saving grace, Drogon melts the Iron Throne, thus breaking the wheel, which was always Dany's goal. Drogon's broken heart mirrored my own. 💔
After watching the show three times, I finally agree that Bran was the only choice for king. Didn't see that one coming did you? Surprise!!!! Bran the Broken who didn't want to be Lord of Winterfell, becomes King of the Six Kingdoms, something he knew would happen all along.
Surprise!!!! Bran names Tyrion Hand of the King for a third time! Hopefully, this third time around will finally be the charm.
Sansa gets her wish, the North becomes free and separate, and oh yes...she becomes Queen of the North. I knew that was coming a mile away.
Arya goes a-wandering...wonder what adventures she will have and if that storyline was left open for a return? I doubt it, but it's nice to have a dream of spring.
I'm actually happy Jon went north of the wall with Tormund and Ghost (who finally got his "good boy" pets). I don't think I could handle his death or life imprisonment. I feel like this storyline was also left open...as it would be interesting to see how far Jon's path takes him and if he starts a new life, with little Targaryen's to come? While I was feeling sentimental watching Jon head into the forest, I imagined Drogon soaring overhead, coming to join Jon and Ghost. Ahhh, but then I remembered that dragons don't like the north. 😔
This last episode doesn't make up for the poor character development, careless editing (coffee cup, plastic water bottle, missing golden hand) and the horrible writing during the final season. The main disappointment was not spending the time developing Dany's character arc to align with her sudden turn to the "dark side". Bells just don't justify "madness". (In a recent interview, Emilia Clarke stated she is still trying to come to grips with her character's flip from savior to villian in less than 3 episodes. I do give kudos for her performance, she gave it her all!!)
This was not the ending I envisioned for Dany and agonizing over it doesn't change a thing. Actually, it's not important. From my read of the books, I did know Dany would die one way or another in the end.
Thinking this over, I am sure George R.R. Martin will have the same or similar ending in his book, if he ever finishes it. Martin blogged that his ending would naturally have taken an additional 3 or 4 seasons to properly address all the various character arcs. That being said, I doubt anyone would have been happy with any ending of the series contrived by the producers. You can't please everyone, you just do the best you can.
So another re-read of the wonderful books is called for while I await the release of "Winds of Winter". "Valar Morghulis"
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Photos courtesy of HBO