After nine years and eight seasons, Game of Thrones: The HBO Series, is finished.
I’ve watched the series multiple times and read all of the books, those finished to date. So…if you’d like to share your thoughts, by all means speak up.
Were you satisfied with the final season and the ending? Reviews are mixed from both fans and critics.
Personally, I loved it. And hated it.
I’ve watched the series multiple times and read all of the books, those finished to date. So…if you’d like to share your thoughts, by all means speak up.
Were you satisfied with the final season and the ending? Reviews are mixed from both fans and critics.
Personally, I loved it. And hated it.
Game of Thrones was never going to have a “happy ever after” ending—we knew that from the time Ned Stark was beheaded. After following the series through the Red Wedding, King Joffrey’s short reign, Sansa’s rape, the Moon Door, execution by molten metal and dragon fire, and Arya creatively crossing people off her list, don’t tell me you thought we’d end with a royal wedding followed by Dany and Jon being co-rulers?
The biggest complaint I’ve heard this season was, “I hate what they did with Dany.” But I had no problems with Daenerys going full Mad Queen, I felt it was an appropriate character arc, and Jon Snow was the proper person to end her escalating destruction. It was the stuff of Greek tragedy—a man murdering his love for the greater good. And I loved the last dragon scenes, with Drogon melting the Iron Throne, although some fans think he was way too smart to decipher that throne as his mistress’s downfall.
George R.R. Martin used the English Wars of the Roses (1455-1487) as source material for A Song of Fire and Ice. But one commentator drew a parallel between Daenerys’ decision to burn King’s Landing, and Harry Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Did either leader make the proper decision? I don’t know. But in both the actual and the fictional scenario, their action ended the war.
The biggest complaint I’ve heard this season was, “I hate what they did with Dany.” But I had no problems with Daenerys going full Mad Queen, I felt it was an appropriate character arc, and Jon Snow was the proper person to end her escalating destruction. It was the stuff of Greek tragedy—a man murdering his love for the greater good. And I loved the last dragon scenes, with Drogon melting the Iron Throne, although some fans think he was way too smart to decipher that throne as his mistress’s downfall.
George R.R. Martin used the English Wars of the Roses (1455-1487) as source material for A Song of Fire and Ice. But one commentator drew a parallel between Daenerys’ decision to burn King’s Landing, and Harry Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Did either leader make the proper decision? I don’t know. But in both the actual and the fictional scenario, their action ended the war.
The Stark’s split up (by choice this time), one to become king, two to return to the North, and Arya riding to new frontiers beyond the Kingdom was a great idea (and a potential spin-off?).
Arya has always been one of my favorite characters. I’m glad she was the one to kill the Night King. She studied, trained and sacrificed to become a solo assassin, and when the situation called for a hero, she was ready.
I know, poor Jon, but he’s always loved the Wildlings, and he did kill the queen. It could have ended in complete tragedy, so count your blessings that he survived.
As for Bran the Broken as King, this raven-lover actually predicted this ending, but not exactly in the way it happened.
Do you remember the episode mid-season, when everyone is waiting for the battle with the Night King to begin? Toward the end of that episode, Tyrion and Bran are together, and Tyrion comments that Bran must have learned so many interesting things in his travels, physical and astral. I fully expected Tyrion to relate some of Bran’s Three-Eyed-Raven foresight to Jon Snow. Information of the future that would help Jon in his decision to prevent Dany from carrying out her plans for the rest of the Kingdom.
That discussion never materialized.
As for Bran the Broken as King, this raven-lover actually predicted this ending, but not exactly in the way it happened.
Do you remember the episode mid-season, when everyone is waiting for the battle with the Night King to begin? Toward the end of that episode, Tyrion and Bran are together, and Tyrion comments that Bran must have learned so many interesting things in his travels, physical and astral. I fully expected Tyrion to relate some of Bran’s Three-Eyed-Raven foresight to Jon Snow. Information of the future that would help Jon in his decision to prevent Dany from carrying out her plans for the rest of the Kingdom.
That discussion never materialized.
Again, at the final episode Council meeting, I expected Tyrion—or even better Bran Stark—to reveal Bran’s visions. The best way to move into the future is to look at the past, and he’s the one person who knows everything. It feels like he would be an incredibly fair ruler, if he would just talk a bit. But again, nothing. Dammit guys! You missed the perfect opportunity for closure here.
I think the final season moved too fast, leaving us agreeing with many of the character’s decisions, but feeling like those decisions were vaguely unjustified and unearned.
While the first six season had 10 episodes apiece, the show’s creators, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, decided to shorten the final two seasons to seven and six episodes respectively. That decision left this viewer felling like they rushed toward the ending, including lavish (and expensive) battles, but without fully developing the character’s motivations. The outcomes could have been so much more powerful if the lead-ups had been stronger.
Please George R.R. Martin, give us closure!
Here are 12 things, big and small, I still want to know after the Game of Thrones HBO series ending:
How did the Unsullied know that Jon murdered Dany without a body? Did he confess?
Why did no one speak up about Jon’s family legacy? I know Jon didn’t want the throne. But it seemed downright weird that it wasn’t discussed at all by the High Council, after it was made such a BIG DEAL during this last season.
I think the final season moved too fast, leaving us agreeing with many of the character’s decisions, but feeling like those decisions were vaguely unjustified and unearned.
While the first six season had 10 episodes apiece, the show’s creators, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, decided to shorten the final two seasons to seven and six episodes respectively. That decision left this viewer felling like they rushed toward the ending, including lavish (and expensive) battles, but without fully developing the character’s motivations. The outcomes could have been so much more powerful if the lead-ups had been stronger.
Please George R.R. Martin, give us closure!
Here are 12 things, big and small, I still want to know after the Game of Thrones HBO series ending:
How did the Unsullied know that Jon murdered Dany without a body? Did he confess?
Why did no one speak up about Jon’s family legacy? I know Jon didn’t want the throne. But it seemed downright weird that it wasn’t discussed at all by the High Council, after it was made such a BIG DEAL during this last season.
- What has happened to Robin Arryn between his sniveling baby boyhood and his brief appearance at the dragon pit?
- Is Ghost going to join Jon? Of course, everyone is rooting for this reunion. Throw us a crumb. And this time, have Jon hug the poor dog.
- Why did Bran walk out of his very first Council meeting? What’s so important about finding that dragon?
Why did Sansa secede from the 7 Kingdoms? And more puzzling, why was she allowed to?
Yara Greyjoy of the Iron Islands has been as fiercely independent and Sansa for the entire series. I was surprised she didn’t also ask to secede—or at least object to letting Sansa do so.
Yara Greyjoy of the Iron Islands has been as fiercely independent and Sansa for the entire series. I was surprised she didn’t also ask to secede—or at least object to letting Sansa do so.
Where is House Reed? We got to see Ned Stark’s friend Howland Reed when Bran Stark discussed them with the Three-Eyed Raven in a dream-scene. What happened to the family? Reed’s children, Jojen and Meera, risked their lives to help Bran on his mystical journey. We haven’t seen or heard from them since.
Varys mentioned briefly before he was killed, that there’s a new prince of Dorne. He was one of several unidentified men who sat on the High Council in the last episode. I thought the Sand Snakes killed all the Dorne royalty, so who is he?
And, while we're on the subject of Varys: he heard a voice in the flames a while back when a sorcerer used his body parts in ritual. We never got to hear what it said.
And, while we're on the subject of Varys: he heard a voice in the flames a while back when a sorcerer used his body parts in ritual. We never got to hear what it said.
- I want to know about Jaqen H’ghar, the Faceless Man who taught Arya much of her craft.
- He had some bad a$$ skills, and was one of my favorite characters, but then he just disappeared.
What’s West of Westeros? Arya wondered this back in Season 6, and now that’s her destination.
- The only known voyage there in the books was led by Elissa Farman. Dany had her to thank for her dragon eggs, which Elissa stole from Dreamfyre to finance her trip. Elissa sailed west and was never seen again, although her ship was spotted many years later.
f Samuel Tarly helped Archmaester Embrose write “A Song of Ice and Fire,” why wouldn’t Tyrion be mentioned?
Game of Thrones became a global phenomenon by upending expectations. The noble patriarch defined by his morals? Beheaded in the first season. His valiant son who led with his heart? Slaughtered along with his wife and dedicated mother. An inquisitive young boy who loved to climb? Thrown to the ground by an uncaring royal in the middle of a tryst with his sister.
We got brutally honest depictions of the worst in human nature, and occasionally also the best.
This was a Shakespearean saga about power, blood, loyalty and magic, eight brilliant seasons of mesmerizing entertainment. Even with its flaws, I can honestly say my life and my imagination are richer for watching.
See you next weekend. Blessed Be.
Game of Thrones became a global phenomenon by upending expectations. The noble patriarch defined by his morals? Beheaded in the first season. His valiant son who led with his heart? Slaughtered along with his wife and dedicated mother. An inquisitive young boy who loved to climb? Thrown to the ground by an uncaring royal in the middle of a tryst with his sister.
We got brutally honest depictions of the worst in human nature, and occasionally also the best.
This was a Shakespearean saga about power, blood, loyalty and magic, eight brilliant seasons of mesmerizing entertainment. Even with its flaws, I can honestly say my life and my imagination are richer for watching.
See you next weekend. Blessed Be.
RSS Feed
