And So We Are Done.

Published May 20, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Guys,

So we are done with GOT – more of a stumble over the finish line than anything else. My expectations for the finale were not high and they were met in that regard.

A few observations/comments on the episode:

1. Peter Dinklage was the only redeeming part of the whole episode. The non-verbal scene at the start as he walked through Kings Landing was classic Tyrion! Shame we did not get more of this for the last couple of seasons.

2. The non-progeny based succession method can work – one just needs to look at the period of ancient Roman history knows for the “Five Good Emperors” (96-180 CE) when 5 capable emperors ruled and none were the offspring of their predecessor. This is acknowledged as being the high point period of the empire. This zenith period only ended with the succession of Commodus (the guy in Gladiator) from his father Marius Aurelius. One should note, Commodus is widely seen as one of the worst emperors of the Western Roman Empire.

3. A lot of very illogical things happened:

a. Why would the other 6 Kingdoms let the North secede (50% of the land area of Westeros), as well as having the brother of the Queen of the seceded kingdom as their king??

b. We went from Kings Landings looking like it was hit by a nuclear bomb to back to normal is a couple of weeks/months??? They must have contracted the Winterfell clean-up crew to do the King Landing job.

c. Drogon not burning Jon?? Jon killed his “Mother” yes his “Mother”! This action would have been a great way to close out Jon”s story.

4. Confirmation that D & B are better adapters of stories than original writers. Since going “off book” the storylines have become very typical in structure and nature – nonconformity to these rules was why people liked the book based seasons.

5. The scene with the presentation of the book “The Song of Ice and Fire” made me cringe plus wow they were able to get that book written very quickly!

Overall a disappointing way to end an already disappointing season, where HBO and the showrunners got to feel the negative side of the double-edged sword of over-hyping a show.

Thanks for all your great analysis and hard work on the last couple of GOT seasons – I can’t wait for WW to come back! Let”s hope WW can keep doing what they have been doing for 2 seasons and give us an
an intelligent non-traditional linear story that challenges us aka early GOT seasons.

Best.
Tom from Chicago.

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