Well I found myself pretty happy with it by the end, probably more so than I expected considering where we had reached in the season and what we had to get through in one episode.
There were some pretty saccharine moments towards the end, but to be honest that was probably required if we wanted to reach "bittersweet" after how grim and depressing the first half and previous episode were
Maybe if we'd been at the end of a perfectly executed final season arc that I felt could stand absolutely alone as a flawless capstone to the series, I would have said we could do without Samwell plopping down "A Song Of Ice And Fire" on the table and a comedic scene of the small council made up of good main characters. But since I think we needed more than just the last climax of the final season's storyline to give a satisfying finale to the whole series, I was happy enough with the latter half of the episode.
The grim, ominous atmosphere after the destruction was good. I loved Tyrion removing and throwing away his Hand pin (when the first shot of him looking around the city showed the pin prominently it struck me that it'd be reminiscent of Ned Stark if he did that). Tyrion and Jon's conversation in captivity was great. And I think Daenerys' death scene was very well done. I liked that Drogon chose to let Jon past to see her, since it was obviously a bit questionable why she would ever be unguarded after what happened.
Although I was ready for him to die in this episode, I was glad in the end that Tyrion survived. He had a lot of moving scenes. Even though it became a quite funny scene, I thought the shot of him looking at the chair for the Hand of the King, which felt like he was looking at Tywin's spot, was a quite subtle moving moment for him.
The very ending for the Stark children (Queen in the North, Beyond the Wall with Ghost, West of Westeros) was nice. Jon's and Sansa's ends felt a bit better built up to and sort of inevitable conclusions, where as Arya's felt a bit more of an abrupt turn (although she mentioned wondering what was West of Westeros before, unless I'm mixing that up with something that was in the books only). I suppose it works well for her though, being something that's neither just going around killing people (which episode 4-5 showed was pretty hollow for her although she felt like it was all she could do, until the Hound steered her away) but also is true to "that's not me" and doesn't have her become a more traditional lady of Westeros. Either way, that Stark ship was just really cool, so I'm fine with it for that unexpected bit of design.
Looking back on the whole season, obviously there are areas where the storyline could have used a bit more room to breathe and some things that could have been executed a bit better, but I think if I were to make one major change or improvement (something that helps the story we got, not "go away and do a completely different season!") it would be to get more of Bran's ability and how he can use it. I actually liked the portrayal of Bran, but we just didn't get that much of him. Either there should have been lots more opportunity for him to use his knowledge to affect other people, or we should have got some sequences of him actually using his sight this season. That would have made both his role as Night King bait and the decision for him to end up as King in Westeros more convincing. As it stands, in theory choosing the emotionless being who is capable of knowing or viewing anything to be the ruler makes some sense as an idea, but it felt like a big leap for the Lords to decide that without there being a more convincing reason than Tyrion's speech.
Oh, and damnit, Grey Worm didn't die! The event that I said before the episode would give me some cheap satisfcation
But I do like Drogon's fate. I was in two minds before the episode, on one hand it felt as though Drogon would have to be killed for a good ending and I'd be pretty fine with him dying, but it would be pretty sad that it means the series ends with all the dragons (and the return of magic and wonder that they represent) being dead once again. Having him be left still out there but somewhat of a mystery was a good balance. It fits Drogon well to fly away like that, reminiscent of him being out in the wilds in season 5. Also reminds me of Balerion (Aegon the Conqueror's original dragon, the largest and oldest ever in Westeros), who at one point in Fire and Blood, after his riders were dead, flew off and disappeared for many years. It turned out he had disappeared back to Valyria, his original home. I wouldn't be surprised if that's where Drogon went with Daenerys - either that or out into the Dothraki sea where they were at the end of Season 5.
Topic: Game of Thrones (TV, fantasy) Thread (Read 633721 times)
