And Now Our Watch Has Ended. (Game of Thrones Series Finale)

Spoilers Alert! I go into detail about my thoughts of both the series as a whole and the finale. You have been warned.

So, Game of Thrones has ended. One of my favorite TV dramas has concluded (Probably my third favorite if I think about it critically). And what do they have to show for it? What did I think of this epic conclusion?

Meh. Not angry, but certainly disappointed.

So the major story beats if you haven't seen the show is that Dany threatens world domination - wanting to break her wheel, as it were. Tyrion confronts her after finding Jamie and Cersei's bodies and gets imprisoned. Jon talks to Tyrion, he convinces him to kill Dany and he stabs her in the throne room.

This intro to the episode is fine. I don't have major problems with it - other then it feeling rushed. Then again, it was probably the best time for a rebellion - kill her before she can recover. Again, I'm fine with everything up to this point, more or less. I can forget about how quickly Dany descended for the sake of this opening. Which, Peter Dinklage's acting as Tyrion is phenomenal. I'm gonna miss seeing him portray this character.

Without a doubt one of my major issues with this intro sequence is how many troops Dany has left. It was said that she lost half of her Unsullied and we can assume that nearly all Dothraki died - considering they were the vangaurd in the Battle for Winterfell. But here we see tons of troops. Thousands of Unsullied and Dothraki. She should have, at most, four  thousand Unsullied and a handful of Dothraki. With an army this size, she didn't even need the North's help. She didn't even need a dragon. It's frustrating, to say the least.

So Jon kills Dany. And then Drogon comes, being able to sense his mother was murdered. What could have been built up as a cool battle against an angry dragon results in a perplexing couple of minutes. Now it was emotional to see Drogon bump Dany's corpse with his snout. But when he fully realized what happened, he just... burns the iron throne in anger.

What? Why wouldn't he burn Jon alive? As we've seen previously, Jon can't survive fire - probably since he is only half Targaryen. You mean to tell me that this animal witnesses his mother's death, sees who did the deed, and just leaves? He just picks up Dany and flies away, never to be seen again.

Okay.

So, Grey Worm, who kind of dislikes Jon at this point and hates Tyrion, decides to imprison Jon too. He doesn't kill the two men who betrayed and murdered his Queen immediately. That's not how this character has been presented to us, especially after Missandei's death. He was literally murdering prisoners not moments before.

Time passes and a council of all the high Lords and Ladies is called. We see that the writer's remember Yara exists (seriously, she should have played a bigger role in the sack of King's Landing), as well as Robin Arryn, who has grown up considerably. They all debate on who the next king would be and negotiate Jon's release. Tyrion talks, gets told to be quiet by Grey Worm, and decides to talk some more with no repercussions. They ultimately decide on Bran being the new king, Tyrion claiming he has the best story and that's what people love.

This decision, for some, makes logical sense. For others, like Dorne, the Vale, the common folk - it makes no sense. They have no concept of the three eyed raven. Sure, we and some characters know about Bran's abilities and this does make him an excellent candidate for king. But it's hard to stomach that others would just so eagerly accept him.

Sansa then argues for Jon's release and that the North become independent. She gets both of these things with the condition that Jon takes the black... again... even though the Night's Watch was designed to stop the White Walkers and have no purpose now. Okay.

Furthermore, Grey Worm has no idea what the Night's Watch is or what it's like. I'm not even sure he's seen the Wall. But you're trying to tell me that he lets Jon go after he killed his Queen and savior? Not a chance. But that's how it happens. The Unsullied let Jon go and then they go to Missandei's home island. That's the last we see of them.

From this point on we get a Lord of the Rings style wrap up.

Bran is the new king, elected by the Lords and Ladies, turning the seven kingdoms into something closer to an Oligarchy. I'm fine with him as king, I certainly wasn't expecting or rooting for it. It does make the most logical sense. The last we see of him is during a small council meeting before he leaves to figure out where Drogon is - presumably by warging into him. Which does raise the point, why didn't Bran stop Dany? He could've took control of Drogon and stop the massacre. Dany would know something was up but so? She's gonna be usurped anyways.

Tyrion is still hand of the king. A position he is destined to have, apparently. I have no complaints here, or with any of the new small council members. Sam is a maester, though I don't think Grand Maester. Ser Davos is Master of Ships. Ser Bronn is Master of Coin. Ser Brienne is the Lord Commander. Podrick is King's Guard. I'm fine with all of this.

Now the Starks, the main characters of the show. Sansa becomes Queen in the North, which I love. Her character and her arc has been so satisfying to watch. I used to dislike her, begging her to play the game and take a more active approach to things and she does. She is such a well written character and she deserves this honor.

Arya leaves on a boat to find whatever is West of Westeros. ... What? We never were given even a glimpse of this being something she wants. Sure, she is an adventurer and settling down isn't her style but we weren't exactly hinted at her being an explorer. I don't hate this conclusion but I am a bit confused by it.

And then there's Jon. He arrives at Castle Black to see all the Wildlings still there. He pets Ghost, giving us the best scene in the ending. He then takes the Wildlings north beyond the wall, leading a mass exodus. We are to believe he stays in the true North with them. We see a flower or a bit of greenery poking through the snow, indicating spring is coming. I'm fine with Jon's conclusion though it is funny to think that the Starks, who value family so highly, proceed to get as far away from each other as possible.

So, yes. Overall, I feel pretty meh about the whole ending. I don't hate it. I love very little of it. Perhaps all my anger got sapped out of me with the preceding episode. But it is finally time to say good bye to what was one of the best shows of television. If I was to rate the finale I'd give it a 5/10. It was fine, didn't make me mad and served it's purpose. Now we just gotta wait on the final two books and I have to finish the ones I already have.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to let me know your thoughts and opinions on the finale in the comments below. If you want to stay up to date with the blog remember to hit the follow button. And as always, good night and joy be with you all.