writerSandy
  • home
  • bio
  • events
  • teaser tuesday
  • blog
  • book of shadows
  • potions & herbs
  • contact

Hollow Bones

"In our life there is a time of wonder. Walking with the ancient ones as they share their world. And the dancing voices are carried by the wind. As I walk this sacred ground, I know I'm not alone, and I thank Mother Earth."  ~Alex Davis, Seneca Cayuga

Game of Thrones Unanswered Questions

6/3/2019

0 Comments

 
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. 

Picture
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.

Picture
​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. 
Picture
​ 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.
Picture
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. 
Picture
  • 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?

Picture
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.
Picture
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.
Picture
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.
Picture
  • 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. 
Picture
  • 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. 

Picture
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.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Writer, witch, mother and wife. Order of importance is a continual shuffle.

    Blog Updates

    Yes, I want to become a member of the Blog Updates Mailing List.
    Enter your e-mail address:

    Please confirm your e-mail address:


    Archives

    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    February 2016
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    March 2014
    September 2013
    April 2013
    July 2012

    Categories

    All
    13 Yule Lads
    Beach Wedding
    Beautiful Bride
    Beltane
    Blood Moon Eclipse
    Bucket List
    Caganer Figurine
    Candy Cane Flavors
    Carlton Hill
    Christmas
    Christmas Cat
    Christmas Pickle
    Climate Change
    Corvid Magic
    Crescent Moon Crossing
    Crow Magic
    David Richo
    Deaths In The Desert
    Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival
    Essential Workers
    Free Book
    Holiday
    Hryla
    Human Smuggling
    Iceland
    Informal Marriage Ceremony
    Jarl Jung
    Love
    Love Potion
    Marriage Blessing
    Maypole
    Mexican Border
    Mindfulness
    Mother's Day
    NaNoWriMo
    Nativity Scenes
    Newlyweds
    Northern Arizona Snow
    No Tomorrow
    Pandemic
    Proposed Import Tax
    Psychology
    Raven Magic
    Scotland
    Shadow Dance
    Shadow Self
    Shadow Work
    Sinoloan Cartel
    Snow Days
    Snow Fun
    Super Moon Eclipse
    Suspense Writing
    Tarot
    Travel
    Trump
    Weird Holiday Traditions
    Wendy Rule
    Yule
    Zen

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.