GOT – 806 Fate Throughout the Series

Published May 21, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey guys,

So sad to think this is the last weekly submission for GoT! I love your podcast and want to continue to follow you guys so I think I’m going to try and jump on the Westworld bandwagon.

Let me just say that overall, I absolutely love this ending to the story. We can all moan about how things were rushed, but at the end of the day, this is the bittersweet ending that I think we will get when/if the books are ever finished.

Overall, I feel a major theme in the Game of Thrones is fate. Throughout the show, we see terrible things happening. Things that shake us to our core and make us question morals and boundaries. In retrospect, it seems that these terrible things happen for what ultimately appears to be for the better good. Along these same lines is the butterfly effect; the ripple that people create in the world around them, even in their death. I especially think that this is the seen in the plot lines dealing with Dany, Jon, Melisandre, and Varys for good measure. If you believe in the Lord of Light, then you believe he has some hand in transforming and shaping the world. To do this, he influences people”s lives so that they are where they need to be when they need to be there. This seems to happen repeatedly throughout the series.

While I don’t think the Lord of Light played as large a part in the show, I do thing that in GRRM”s overall plot line in the books, the Lord of Light is the true chess player in the Game of Thrones. If you think about the concept of God, he (or she) is supposedly this really benevolent sort of being. Yet, the Christian God burned cities and rained fire and brimstone. The story of Noah”s Ark is really pretty horrible if you actually stop and think about it. Throughout GoT, we hear references of how the gods are cruel and perhaps in some ways even evil. Indeed, GoT seems to suggest not only that people are gray, but so are God”s.

Think about it like this: if you are the Lord of Light and need to somehow get the most qualified person (the Raven) to rule Westeros and truly achieve peace, how does one do this? The Raven is trapped in the North because of the malevolent force that is the White Walkers. So, you need to get rid of the White Walkers. But how? Thus Bran is pushed from a window and given greensight. Eventually, Bran is forced north (by Theon after his horrific acts) to become the Raven and later retreats back south once he is marked. However, he had to be marked to be used as bait to lure the White Walkers in for the Raven”s sister and another key player (Arya) to eliminate. But how could you possibly defend against the White Walkers and their army? Along comes Dany, the girl who took every obstacle she encountered and overcame it with fire and blood. But how the hell do you get her to go and fight the White Walkers? Jon Snow aka Aegon Targaryen aka her nephew had to be a bastard so that he would join the Night”s Watch and know exactly who the White Walkers are, and would also later fall in love with Dany. How do you get Jon and Dany to meet though? Well, hello Red Priestess, I’m going to need you to sacrifice this child (Shireen) so that Jon Snow will banish you south and you can intercept the Dragon Queen. So why wouldn’t Jon or Dany be the king and/or queen once the raven is free? Well, Cersei had to be in power, and thus the Red Wedding had to happen so that the Lannister”s would not lose King”s Landing, and all of Cersei”s children had to die. Had Cersei not been in power, then Dany might end up ruling on the iron throne, but as we can see, she is not truly fit to rule anymore because of the treacherous road that led her to be where she needed to be to fulfill her part in eliminating the White Walkers. Yet, as the Lord of Light can obviously see, Jon Snow makes really stupid decisions at times and is not really fit to rule either (I mean, he had to bring Jon back to life because Jon”s dumb ass didn’t send Thorne away as suggested). He was brought back because he would be the only person Dany would allow herself to be vulnerable around and he would then be able to stab Dany in the heart. Boom and bam, suddenly the Raven is free to attend a meeting in King”s Landing after all the unfit rulers are eliminated and the right people (aka the surviving members) from each house are present to agree to elect him as their ruler.

Terrible, just TERRIBLE, things had to happen so that the right person could rule over Westeros. Many people suffered, half the continent was lost, but now, a ruler who has the ability to be truly fair and just rules in Westeros. Also, one powerful implication about the Raven is that he can potentially rule for hundreds of years since the Raven is superhuman. Imagine the good that could be done over the course of his rule. Do the means justify the ends for the Lord of Light? I believe it does.

I think what I love most about Bran aka the Raven ending up as the ruler of Westeros is that it feels so genuinely GoT to me: it was unexpected, but in retrospect, I realize that it has been steering this way the whole time. The series started with him, and it ends with him. And I love it!

Thanks again for all your hard work guys! Looking forward to the Thronies!

Best,
Courtney K. from PA

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