POPLINE

View Original

GOT Series Finale Reaction

GOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

Game of Thrones has finally ended. For most fans, the ending was unsatisfying and seriously underwhelming. The outrage and disgust from the final season was mostly due to a rushed feeling and a lack of creativity to the completion of each of the remaining characters. Did I hate the way the show ended? No, I thought it was okay. Not great, but just okay. I think it could’ve been better, but I’m not signing a dumbass petition to change it because I know that the writers don’t give a shit what I think. Also, it’s a tv show. Grow up.

First off, I want to express my issues with the finale. There were a few. Most of my issues stem more from confusion rather than disappointment. For starters, I was very confused about Drogon in the final episode. What I gathered from his reaction was that he saw his mother was dead, and he didn’t decided to burn the person who killed her, but to burn the iron throne: the symbol that essentially tore Jon and Daenerys apart. I liked the poetic tone to his actions. While everyone was arguing on good vs evil/right vs wrong, Drogon was able to determine that ultimate power was the true evil in this world. That was cool that he was able to draw that conclusion upon seeing the circumstances of Dani’s death; but just one episode prior she burned down an entire city, killing thousands of innocent people in the process. So, the dragon can understand the complex meaning of the dangers that the Iron Throne represents/creates, but he couldn’t determine that killing all of those people in King’s Landing wasn’t okay? It was extremely confusing and left me with a burning question: is the dragon smarter than everyone else, or is he just dumber than fuck?

My next issue with the finale was created from Bran and Arya’s role. First, Bran acquires the ability to see things others cannot and also the power to warg into animals and roam around as he pleases. Next, Arya acquired the ability to steal people’s faces and deceit her enemies. Neither of these massively helpful powers were used in the fights against the Night King or Cersei. The show put so much time and effort into showing us how and why these powers were granted upon our heroes, only to never even use the effectively during the show’s final season. It just feels like such a waste. Adding on to my argument, Arya just decided to sail west at the end? Where did this come from? Some mention of westward adventure should’ve been introduced earlier in the show. It just felt so “last second.”

Here’s what I liked: Jon Snow was finally given the freedom he always wanted. Jon has been the hero of the show for a large majority of it. Tyrion summed it up perfectly during their conversation in his prison cell: “You are the shield that protects the realm.” I loved that. It was beautifully written and poetic. Jon got what he deserved and it was a life far away from the 7 kingdoms (or 6, whatever). Also, he booped Ghost, which made me happy.

Did the final season suck? No. Could it have been better? Absolutely. I still can’t wrap my head around the idea of only 6 episodes in the final season. Why? I know the episodes are expensive to make, but doesn’t more episodes mean more money for HBO? If the reasoning behind 6 episodes was for money, okay I can live with that. But if it was for some other garbage reason like “the actors wanted to move on to other projects,” then I call bs, because they all had very lucrative contracts with the show. They could’ve made 2-4 more episodes, spaced out the episodes a little better, and the actors/actress’s careers would’ve been just fine. That I can promise you.

It will still go down as one of the greatest shows of all time in my book. To me, there was only one of two ways this show could’ve ended: everyone lives or everyone dies. I’m glad they went with the former of the two because I believe the show’s greatest strength was it’s characters. To kill everyone in the end would’ve sucked much worse.

Written By Andrew Silvers

Twitter/Instagram @asilvers55