Holy crap game of thrones!!

That was a bit comical having the book brought out by Grand Maester Samwell.

The show outpaced the books and got way ahead of them. GRRM said the books, if and when they are finished, most likely will not follow the series happenings

 

The books have yet to be finished. Author’s had writers block for years.

 

For the most part, the players seemed to end in a happy place. Danarys died happy, totally loved by Jon/Aegon. Jon/Aegon ended up back in the only place where he was ever happy. Arya got her happy adventure. The Unsullied got their own purpose. The only person who didn't seem pleased was Sansa. The look on her face when Tyrion proposed Bran as the "King" showed me that she is the next tyrant in the making.
As far as those who were pissed at Jon/Aegon, if Drogon was good with it, who are they to want more?

 

A big "meh" from me. Wasn't great. Wasn't terrible.

 

Fair point and agreed. Still, the character arcs mainly happened in isolation this season. Arya kicks ass in one episode, does nothing in the next. Jon does nothing in one, then knocks out Dany in the next. Previous seasons seemed to weave the character storylines together better. And while Bran may be worthy to lead, it would have been nice for him to actually contribute something leading up to that point.

Best part to me was Drogon torching the throne and intentionally not doing anything to Jon. That scene showed his intelligence and was pretty damn cool.

Overall - glad the series is over. Previous seasons had me on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next episode. I was just content this morning to cancel HBO and carry on.

 

Most boring episode of the entire series.

My wife made a good point though, it started with the Starks, and it ended with the Starks, so it came full circle.

 

It also started with people going north of the wall and finished with people going north of the wall.

They took a page from LOST.

 

That brings up a really interesting point. Curious how many subscribers this show ending has cost HBO.

 

As far as leaving HBO, I won't be. Having subscribers allowed them to make a show that no major network would do. Even compare this to "The Last Kingdom" on Netflix, which still has GoT being much better produced and shot. If you want another epic series, support the platform that gave you ones in the past.

Now, one other thing about the ending.....Jon Snow's actual background ended up meaning nothing, other than pissing off a chick. He was the ACTUAL heir to the throne, but raised as a bastard, hated by his adopted mom, then that info only got a city leveled, and when the executive board got together for a new king/queen, Sam, Sansa, Arrya, and Bran all decided to not bring up that are bit of info. So, the biggest story line ended up being a "nevermind".

 

For me it wasn't the worst ending for a show, and certainly not the best. Felt like they were running out of time and likely production budget so they worked with what they had. As for HBO, I'm still a fan of Westworld, though I suspect it will suffer the same fate eventually.

 

Danaerys died just having burned the entire capital city to the ground and being confronted by Tyrion and Jon about it. Jon put a knife in her, while holding her. She didn't die "happy" - she died misguided, a little crazy, and feeling betrayed.

Arya's ending was fine and made the most sense. Although "no one knows what's west of Westeros" seems odd, considering Bran is the Three Eyed Raven (and many others came before him). Regardless, I'm good with hers.

Sansa's ending also made sense. She was the most northerner of them all - the red hair, learned mistrust of those outside the north, and she got shit on almost the entire series (some of it of her own doing, but at least she learned from it and learned how to play the game). She, too, got a satisfying ending.

Which brings me to Bran and Jon... Tyrion: "Who has a better story than Bran the Broken?" Jon Aegon Snow Stark Targaryen, Eighth of His Name, (ex)Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Uniter/Saver of Freefolk, Dragon Rider, and elected King in the North, that's who...

Bran becoming king is such a lazy, unnecessary and stupid twist. He knows literally nothing of diplomacy, leading others, AND he has no claim (or fucking ramps in King's Landing, which is entirely non-ADA compliant, I might add).

Bran even says a while back "I am not Lord of Winterfell, I cannot be a father... blah blah..." Tyrion talked to him two episodes ago about being rightful Lord of Winterfell and he says he doesn't want it - that he mostly lives in the past. But, now he's the right king?? That's garbage.

Now, let's discuss Jon... OK, Jon didn't want to be King... That didn't deter anyone from Bran, so let's throw that out the window right now... "Who has a better story than Bran the Broken?" Jon does, and everyone knows it. I submit the following:

• Lied to his entire life to keep his identity safe. He was told and treated like he was a bastard. Lived right under the King's nose.
• Sent to the Wall and rose from lowly steward to Lord Commander of the Night's Watch
• Killed by his own men for establishing peace with the freefolk
• RAISED FROM THE DEAD
• Captured by Wildlings, he lived among them for a time and learned their ways
• Led a rescue party to Hardhome to bring back as many freefolk as he could
• Led an excursion to capture a member of the army of the dead to demonstrate the danger to King's Landing
• Elected King of the North by his own people (who'd known him as a bastard his whole life) - even beyond Bran who was the rightful heir (and didn't want it, which we established is not a good enough reason when its convenient)
• Almost universally loved by everyone under his command (save the few mutineers)
• Demonstrated diplomacy when needed - both with Mance Raider and with Daenerys (who didn't know him at the time)
• The only living person to have ridden a dragon
• The only living person who had a chance of commanding Drogon (when they find him)
• HAS A LEGIT CLAIM TO THE THRONE and at least SEVEN people sitting at the final meeting knew it (maybe all of them knew it - Varys did send out ravens all over Westeros, afterall).

So, what do they do? They send him to the Night's Watch to appease the hired army of geldings (who are depleted, BTW, and have no political power in Westeros, nor money/resources to wage any sort of substantial war, and don't know the territory at all, on their own).... The Night's Watch which is:

• No longer necessary. The Night King is dead. The Wall has a giant fucking hole in it, and the freefolk have been united/saved by the North.
• Gone. The entire place was manned by wildlings and Tormund.

This doesn't get into the logistical issue of either funding or manning the Night's Watch. The North is its own kingdom again. The Night's Watch was manned by people from the SEVEN kingdoms and funded/recognized by the crown in King's Landing. So, how does that even work?

Nor does this get into the fact that Grey Worm and the Unsullied/Dothraki LEFT WESTEROS immediately after...

I get that Jon said he wished he was going North - people say they wish for all sorts of things. Sansa said she wished to marry Joffrey even after he showed he was a duplicitous little shit, but it was ok when we didn't hold her to that anymore.

Even if we accept that sending Jon north is to appease the Unsullied, and it doesn't matter anyway because its giving him what he wants, then why have Tyrion point out to him that he can never marry or father children? Because lazy fucking writing, that's why...

tl;dr - I may have a few thoughts/grievances with how it ended for Bran and Jon specifically...

 

Dart, you are just way too into it. You need help.

 

No, I just pay attention and remember stupid shit writers do to paint themselves into a corner... You'd never accuse Papa of being way too into the Dungeon when he does the same thing there.

 

I'm not satisfied with the ending, but holy shit were there some great scenes in that last episode. Drogon appearing out of the ash and the Iron Throne melting were both amazing.

I still find this season to be a letdown. The ending did not make sense on multiple levels. But at least they finished the fucking thing - which is more than I can say for GRRM.

 

I guess that he, like me, did not think that he needed to complete that sentence. Apparently, he was wrong.

"Who, among the eligible people sitting here (i.e. not currently held as prisoners, and whose selection would not cause another war), has a better story than Bran The Broken?"

Jon and Tyrion were nonstarters after killing Mama Dragon. I actually thought that Tyrion was the second most likely option until this week's episode.

I told a friend on Saturday who was asking me who I thought would be on the throne that it would be Bran. And I don't read fan forums, or anything other than this thread. It wasn't that hard to see it coming.

He said "I came all the way down here, didn't I?" or something to that effect. So obviously, he changed his mind before leaving Winterfell, which means it wasn't Tyrion who convinced him from his jail cell. My guess: he found out what happened at Kings Landing, and became open to the possibility of taking the throne if necessary, to bring peace.

He had to make it sound like a punishment to get Grey Worm to buy in. Who's gonna check once he's up there?

I hope you left enough RAM unused to study for that certification.

 

I have a bunch of logic problems with it... The Unsullied and Dothraki were effectively leaderless. Yeah, Grey Worm can give commands and people follow, but did you ever once see him create a battle plan or motivate anyone? I'm not sure he speaks Dothraki either. Why would they follow him, even if he could?

Then there's the issue of political power and resources. How would they be able to feed themselves and wage any sort of meaningful war? They were surrounded in Kings Landing - a land they knew almost nothing about and had no support in. The only person who spoke out in their defense was Yara, and Arya the Conquistador shut her the fuck up for the rest of the episode.

They were depleted. They'd effectively gone from major battle to long-ass march, to major battle, losing their queen, and now staring down another war? I mean, they're good, but c'mon.

The problem with Tyrion pointing out what Jon can/can't do is that no one else was listening - it was a private conversation. And he was detailing these things out to a guy who was already in the Night's Watch.

And, about that test... I took it last Thursday. I joined the 75% or so who get to take it more than once.

 

Mama Dragon made him boss of the Army before she was killed. They have followed her orders all this way, why would they stop now?

And just to be clear, I'm not saying they would win a war. But the other side seems to be tired of slaughters and want to take a break. Not just from being slaughtered, but from slaughtering as well.

 

In the end, Tyrion won.
He's now the brains behind the kingdom as Bran the 3-Eyed raven will be doing fuck all king stuff.

 

And Sansa won for the Northmen.
Free and Independent.