Game of Thrones - Our Watch Has Ended

"People often claim to hunger for truth, but seldom like the taste when it's served up."

-Geroge R. R. Martin, A Clash of Kings

!!SPOILERS THROUGHOUT!!

Game of Thrones has captured audiences from the beginning. I remember discovering it during "recovery" from my grade 12 grad party and binging the first season to get caught up to the second that was currently airing. It was so addicting that after season two I devoured the books and continued to re-read through them throughout my entire university career. I avoided non-book spoilers for 9 years and could never seem to guess how it would all end. I was forever stumped, shocked, and heart-broken following each new episode or book. That along with all the build-up to the "epic" ending we all thought was coming..... is it any surprise that it was a bit disappointing? We, and the creators of the show, built it up so much that there was no way those expectations could have been met and definitely no way the ending could have pleased everyone. So here's my take on those final scenes.

Everyone is complaining about the poor writing. But is it really poor writing or just different writing? The first seasons were based off of a popular book series written by a man who was made to tell stories. George R.R. Martin could write a character with so many layers you never knew what to think about them. The shows' creators managed to tap into that fountain of resources to make an amazing television show. But when the well dried up and there were no new books to go off of, they were left to fill this gaping hole on their own with nowhere near the same skill as the original author. And then it became ten years later and all these no-name actors that started the series became big names in the business. They needed to grow out of these roles and move on with their lives and careers. The show needed an end before people started to hate it and them. The let down wasn't so much terrible writing as it was a rush to the end with no books to guide them.

I'll start with the disappointments so that maybe we can end this on a positive note and be content with how it all ended.

Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen - Mother of Dragons and Would-be Queen

We fell in love with her from the start. This child bride of a savage horse lord. She survived him, and her brother. She survived the abandonment of her "faithful" Dothraki after her Khal's death. She survived the loss of her child. She survived flames that brought her new children with scales. She survived traitors and murderers. She freed slaves and liberated cities and we loved her for it. But she was a Khaleesi, and they were not soft-hearted or "good".  That madness was always there. We just turned a blind eye to it because the people being slaughtered were slave masters and "evil" men. Because of lack of time, and the fast-paced season compared to the slow build of the previous ones, her burning the city seemed out of character and a far reach from what would "really" have happened in our minds. But that doesn't mean she was not cable of that savagery all along. As we seen from season one. However, good or evil, Daenerys didn't deserve the ending she got. She hit her breaking point but because of that, I expected her to go down like her house words: Fire and Blood. But instead, she became this wide-eyed child who believed she could liberate the world and was killed in the arms of someone she trusted. How quiet an ending to such an outstanding character.

Jon Snow- Lord Commander of the Night's Watch

If Dany didn't win the Game of Thrones, Jon should have. His birth was a mystery from episode one. When he asked Ned about his mother and Ned promised they would discuss it someday, you knew there was more to his story than just being a one-off bastard of the great Ned Stark. It seemed a waste that he'd give up everything to take the Black and live out his days at the Wall. But he fit that role. He was kind and smart and humble and the leader that the North needed. When we discovered his true birthright it wasn't much of a shock. What was a shock was that he was just left to rot in prison and then sent off to the wall, back where he started, even though he's the trueborn heir to the Iron Throne. Didn't make much sense.

Sansa Stark - The Queen in the North

This was probably the most satisfying end to me. I've said it before on this blog and I'll say it again, that girl deserves the world after what she had been through. I think it's unfair people hated her. She was just a child. A stupid, entitled, pre-teen girl who fought with her sister and was crazy about boys. When that innocence ended at the Sept of Baelor with the beheading of her father she became what she needed to become to survive. She survived Cersei, Geoffrey, Littlefinger and the Bolton's. Cersei and Littlefinger shaped her into the cunning person she needed to be to win, Ramsey taught her to never be weak again, but it was the memory of her family that kept her from becoming evil like her teachers. Her speaking up for the North as an independent Kingdom shows she cares for her people and what they want. Her being crowned as Queen in the North was a fitting end to her harrowing journey and was very reminiscent of Mary Queen of Scots.

Tyrion Lannister - Hand of the King

The ending most people anticipated with bated breath.  I knew there was a 99.99% chance that all the characters I'd love would die but no matter what happened, Tyrion needed to survive. This character was one of the only ones that just wanted a better world. He never had power, was always a laughing stock, even as Hand to Geoffrey and Daenerys his opinion was often overlooked. He was betrayed by family and the woman he loved. Yet he survived everything. Seen as a monster to most of the world because of his dwarfism, he was one of the only characters nearly incapable of monstrous acts. His "punishment" was fitting. He had to fix his past mistakes and serve as Hand to Bran. Reminiscent of the episode Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things back in season one. Broken Bran and his Imp Hand fixing the damage previous tyrant's had done to the kingdom. 

Brandon Stark - King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Six Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm

The books set this up nicely. Bran always was a very integral part to the story and I always knew he was meant to be more than the Three-Eyed Raven. But for those that never read the books, this wouldn't have made much sense. For the past 2 seasons, Bran has been this lifeless robot. He lost all characterization after becoming the Three-Eyed Raven and was rarely given lines nor plot so his sudden ascent to the Throne that all these wars were fought over.... it didn't seem right. If the show was given more time to build up that plot instead of having let it simmer in the back and out of sight, people might have been a little more accepting of it. Personally, I'm not sure how to feel. I guess if the new books ever do get released I'll see how it was meant to be resolved and decide then.

The Night's Watch

Some say that this is redundant now that the White Walkers are gone and the Wildlings are now friends of the North.... but this order was built ages ago in the same circumstances. They had already defeated the dead, the Wildings weren't a big threat, but the order was established to WATCH and protect should the darkness ever come back. And guess what? IT DID. So what's to say that in 300 years it won't happen again somehow? Or some bigger threat might come along? There's ancient magic in that land that definitely hasn't been explored in this story. So the Night's Watch will be there again to give warning when that time comes. I was pretty satisfied that it was reestablished with Jon in charge. Seemed like a fitting ending should he not be King. Let's not forget that Ghost reunion. My heart.

Conclusion

And that's it. It's over for good.... until the prequel comes out and we can start all over again. I do admit to it being a disappointing end... but it was also slightly satisfying. Sure some things were frustrating: Arya just taking off?, Cersei not dying the most painful death, Jamie losing all character development to be his sisters' puppy once again. But it was a lot happier than I'd anticipated and made way for an open future. Made room for us to theorize and fantasize and create our own endings on what might happen next now that the living prevailed and new rulers have been set into play. Because as you know: 

"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground."