As Petyr Baelish said, “The past is gone for good. You can sit here mourning its departure, or prepare for the future.” Game of Thrones fans across the globe embraced the finale of the eight year long series with anticipated disappointment. The flak was expected to maximise towards the end, courtesy the change of writers and directors this season. Not to mention that the series ended in the most haphazard manner with only six episodes unlike the standard ten as in the seasons maintained so far.
D.B. Weiss stated in an interview to the press that Martin had long back stepped away from the series in order to keep his books to have a different outcome than the show. Martin didn’t even read the script of the finale. He had said, “I haven’t read the [final-season] scripts and haven’t been able to visit the set because I’ve been working on Winds. I know some of the things. But there’s a lot of minor-character [arcs] they’ll be coming up with on their own. And, of course, they passed me several years ago. There may be important discrepancies.”
Coming to the season finale, there are many unanswered questions that need some sort of explanation in terms of writing. Several character arcs were rushed in the final episode, missing out on major traits with what can be a prospective future in King’s Landing.
Tyrion Lannister had mentioned, “Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.” The character of Tyrion seems to be a fast paced guru reasoning actions in the recent episode. From convincing Jon to kill Daenerys to suggesting the council in electing Bran as their new king, the Imp rather overshadowed other characters.
While we know that there was a theory which suggested the entire show to be the writings of Samwell Tarly who is penning down the Game of Thrones, it was faintly executed in the finale. With him now titled as the Grand Maester, Sam brings in a book titled A Song of Fire and Ice in the episode. And here we thought the show was completely different.
Coming to the new council, which consists of Bron, Brienne, Samwell, Ser Davos and Tyrion, we can only assume that King’s Landing may actually go back to the murk it has always been. Think about it, the people in the council are just smart opportunist who are known to be loyal to only those in power, and have shown their shades of disobedience to suit their convenience. Meanwhile Bran who is now the King states “What do you think I came this far for”. I mean really? The statement itself sounds so twisted and nothing to the wit his character has represented in the previous seasons. And moreover, what exactly are they ruling upon? The Unsullied have left, the Dothraki don’t live under a capital, and the only people remaining are probably the ones traumatised with the fire and blood. The optimism to start afresh is beyond imagination.
Sansa who finally gets to rule the North as the Queen, had once said, “men in her family do not do well down South”. If this can be used to hint Bran’s fate in the coming years, one can only presume that either Bran will be assassinated or won’t last as the King for long.
Jon Snow aka Aegon Targaryen, took the Black and didn’t even stay there. In the end he wanders off among the Wildlings beyond the wall turning himself into free folk. It is indeed saddening that the Targaryen bloodline has nearly diminished (unless Jon accidentally fathers a child).
Overall, it can be fairly concluded that the cardinal rule for any show to run successfully with consistency is to always pay heed to the writer. In this case, the makers may have gone overboard for reasons unknown as to why it ended the way it ended. Summing it up, it was a rushed decision to end the show like a cake that was baked without measurements from the actual recipe- the original writer in this case.
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