GoT finale

[beer_good_foamy]

Very quick and disordered thoughts for now, will probably have more to say in a few days.

JON: It doesn't feel right.

The eerie silence as Tyrion walks through the city. Tyrion digging out his dead family. That's good stuff. If I ever rewatch the series, I think I might hit "STOP" right there and call it a wrap.

Dany is given the full Nürnberg rally treatment. Including speaking in a foreign language with subtitles so we don't miss that this is a Mad FOREIGN Queen. Her death feels so empty because it doesn't feel like Dany. When we're supposed to believe she's gone MAD, we don't get her POV. When she's allowed to talk, we only get platitudes. When other characters try to justify her actions, they sound like fans desperately trying to patch plot holes. After eight seasons of buildup, Dany gets sidelined even quicker than she was villainified and is barely even mentioned again. Fuck this shit. (Drogon's scene is nice, though. Nice of him to realise that the throne was the villain all along.)

Wait, fucking TULLY gets to brag about his skill in statesmanship? ...OK, no. Haha.

Wait, they're seriously going to hold a referendum on... OK, no. Haha.

"Who has a better story than Bran?" You mean the guy the SHOW ITSELF ignored for a whole season? The guy who has no opinions or desires on anything whatsoever? Um... Who has a better story... EVERYONE?! Fuck, the New Prince Of Dorne has a better claim. Did they just pull his name out of a hat to get the fucking I Am Logical And Smart Reddit people to like this ending?

And Arya suddenly wants to be Columbus for no reason? Well, I wouldn't want to stick around in Westeros either.

BRAN: You were exactly where you were supposed to be.
Fucking BSG God Wills It ending.

"A Song of Ice and Fire." ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME WITH THIS FUCKING HOBBIT BULLSHIT

So basically, Westeros will now be ruled by the small council while the king spends his days watching dragons. There's a metaphor for the show in here. Well, at least we can be sure that all future king elections will be held by fair and wise lords who hold the people's best interests at heart, right? I mean, Robin Arryn looked pretty healthy here, he should be around for another 50 years or so to guarantee the sanity of the election.

And everyone rides off in a very cinematic but completely meaningless way. Well, at least Ghost finally got his ear scritched. ETA: Pretty much this:

In the end, what did any of it mean? Arya with the face-swapping assassin skills, or Jon coming back from the dead, or Tyrion’s scheming, or Daenerys’s time in Meereen? Look beyond even that. What about the Children of the Forest, or the battle with the Night King? What about the ice dragon? What was the point of any of it? Did any of those things add anything to the story beyond, “Well... that happened”?

JON: It doesn't feel right.

Comments

[elisi]

The Vox review was very interesting, thank you.

However, this was the first review I read, and it was somehow perfectly pitched to my level of investment. (Also anything that incorporates both Buffy & Monty Python is automatically great in my book!)

And from what I gather, in choosing Bran, it's sort of choosing the story of the land as the king? Which is lovely on a metaphorical level.

[beer_good_foamy]

Thanks. I mean, it wasn't a terrible episode, and nowhere near the WTF levels of the previous one. Everything got tied up, people who deserved a happy ending got one, most of the endings made some kind of sense... It just feels so damn perfunctory. Like I got to listen to someone sum up three seasons' worth of story in three episodes.

I kind of like Chuck Wendig's post: Endings are not stoppings. I don't agree with all of it, and I do have some other thoughts, but overall, it felt like they just... got bored, wrapped it up and walked away. So much that D&D themselves, not GRRM, set up and never paid off. So many characters that just got an express pass to The End. I mean, if we're going to drop pop culture references, Bran's election reminds me of that Simpsons episode where all the kids are trapped on a deserted island and the ending narration says "...and eventually they were all rescued by... oh, let's say Moe."

And from what I gather, in choosing Bran, it's sort of choosing the story of the land as the king? Which is lovely on a metaphorical level.

It is, and if they'd actually bothered setting that up rather than just telling us that, I might have loved it. But as with so many character developments over the last two mini-seasons, it feels like we just have to take their word for it. Honestly, if we're supposed to believe the sort of powers Bran claims to have, the whole thing feels like Bran is a supervillain who let everyone else take each other out and just surfed right through to the throne.

[elisi]

I mean, if we're going to drop pop culture references, Bran's election reminds me of that Simpsons episode where all the kids are trapped on a deserted island and the ending narration says "...and eventually they were all rescued by... oh, let's say Moe."
LOL. Oh that's beautiful. And thanks for the link.

Honestly, if we're supposed to believe the sort of powers Bran claims to have, the whole thing feels like Bran is a supervillain who let everyone else take each other out and just surfed right through to the throne.
Ah yes, I've seen people liking him to Palpatine, Google and AI.

[beer_good_foamy]

Ah yes, I've seen people liking him to Palpatine, Google and AI.

So the ending here is basically the ending of "Kerblam!".

[elisi]

This tweet was probably the most interesting:

So let me break it down:

Westeros put someone on the throne who: can live for over 1000 years; control animals (dragons) & people with his mind; see past, present, and future events, so he can prevent himself from being assassinated. Congrats on your God King, Game of Thrones!

— Elizabeth May (@_ElizabethMay) May 21, 2019

However, only being a bystander, with knowledge from the books, this is really all I care about:

Ned Stark promised Sansa he would find her someone who was strong, brave and gentle. So she grew up and found herself. pic.twitter.com/y2lXOK20tM

— queen in the north (@sansaslady) May 21, 2019

And then I don't know if you have seen this article? It makes me terribly happy. Like, nevermind all the rest, but Sansa = Elizabeth I is what I am here for!

[beer_good_foamy]

That Elizabeth parallel is really good, thanks!

Also, did you see this?

[elisi]

That Elizabeth parallel is really good, thanks!
I am VERY pleased. :)

Also, did you see this?
... I did not! But my flist brought me this. VERY much NSFW.

[beer_good_foamy]

Heh.

"There are qualified women sitting up there yet they elect a baby goth psychic?"

Yeah, pretty much.

[elisi]

Arya will now always be 'Baby Kill Bill' for me. :)