A Season Finale Observation

Published May 21, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Good afternoon gentlemen,

I have really enjoyed your podcast through the course of the last two seasons of GOT. I was disappointed with the season finale, as well as episode 4, and I’ll tell you why. In the Long Night, episode 3, we witnessed all the Dothraki perish into darkness, with the exception of a couple stragglers who made it back to the defensive line. We also witnessed the Unsullied valiantly cover the retreat to the keep, so that their allies could find safety behind its gates. It was a magnificent scene which forced Grey Worm to collapse the bridge to safety, thereby dooming his troops to be marooned outside the flaming trench with no chance of survival. Each faction lived up to their reputation, with the Dothraki charging fearlessly at a terrifying and seemingly unbeatable enemy, and the Unsullied steadfast to their charged duty, holding strong in the face of certain death. Even Grey Worm put his duty above the lives of his own men, who were really the only family he’s ever known.

These were the components that gave their deaths such gravity. To see the fury of a Dothraki onslaught snuffed out in moments, or the unbreakable Unsullied lines destroyed by the sheer magnitude of an undead army made the viewer honestly believe it would take a miracle for humanity to survive the night. While the viewer didn’t know the names of anyone in either group, the groups themselves were compelling characters, playing a significant role in the story whenever they appeared.

And after seeing all this happen, with our own eyes, somehow in episode 4, it’s announced that half of each faction died in the battle. Half? We saw them all go down. Grey Worm had maybe a dozen troops left to protect the Red Lady while she ignited the trench. The Dothraki were obliterated. And yet we’re supposed to accept 50% losses for each? I’m sorry, but from that moment on, any time I saw either on the screen, it diminished the emotions I’d felt in losing them from the story during the course of that amazing battle. It’s lazy, sloppy writing. Also, completely unnecessary. Kings Landing was going to burn to the ground anyway. I feel like Kathy Bates in Misery screaming, “he didn’t jump out of the cockadoody car!!”

Additionally, at least half of the lords present at the king’s moot had no idea what Tyrion was talking about when he was referring to Bran’s gifts. Not one of them seemed to need any clarification as to what the hell he was saying. I would have liked, at least the Dornish prince, to speak up and say, “Is the guy in the wheel chair Bran? Can someone please fill me in on what that guy in handcuffs is talking about?” And don’t get me started on Sam just popping up in full maester’s garb, even though he only spent a couple weeks at the Citadel, mostly cleaning bedpans. Ugh.

Best wishes to you my friends. I’ve enjoyed the journey with you regardless of the show’s outcome.

Steve R.

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