Game of Thrones Recap Spectacular! Season 8 Episode 6 - "The Iron Throne"
Well, gang, the Game of Thrones era of television has now come and gone. The biggest cinematic spectacle to come to the small screen (and I don’t even think that’s open for debate) has aired its final episode, and we got an ending I’m sure a ton of people will deride and dismiss, while other people will profess fan-goggled love for.
With all that being the case, ones and ones of readers, I’d like to do a bit of a different thing with this episode’s recap. Since there will be very little conjecturing about where the story is going next, I will pepper in questions to our esteemed geektastic panel that talk about the entirety of the show to close this bish down the right way.
Ready for our final recap, ones and ones? Well, away we go…
Essie: The finale starts out with Tyrion, followed by Jon and Davos, silently making their way through the horrible aftermath of what their queen has rained down upon the innocent people of King’s Landing (well, as much as anyone is an innocent). There are very few words spoken in the first 10 minutes or so of this episode, and I think that it works rather well. This is especially so because this whole episode, in my opinion, is a tour de force performance by one Peter Dinklage, so, although the scene cuts away to Jon confronting Grey Worm as he’s about to slaughter a bunch of prisoners, let’s stay with our favorite Halfman for now.
Tyrion makes his way through the destroyed Red Keep and finds his siblings crushed and wrapped around each other much like they would have been together in the womb just before they came into this world. And now Tyrion is crying and I may or may not be tearing up a bit. So...
Questions:
Does this scene of Tyrion finding Jaime and Cersei, and the wonderful acting here, make you feel any better about the way the Lannister twins went out?
Because Tyrion let him go, he essentially killed Jaime. With hindsight being 20/20, was this still the right thing to do… to give his brother at least a chance to save himself and his sister… or should he have kept Jaime away from their sister to save him from himself? What is the thing you do if you’re Tyrion for one of the people you love most in the world (if not THE most in the world)?
Do you think that if Jaime and Cersei had escaped, or even if Tyrion didn’t know for sure and didn’t find their bodies, that he still would have done the same thing later in the episode when he basically tells Dany to go f herself ‘cuz he’s out? Do you think his siblings’ (and mostly his brother’s) death was the thing that flung him over that edge, or was he already steppin’ away from the Queen of the Ashes?
Lastly here… throughout the course of the series, what to you was the saddest or most-affecting death or reaction to a death? Which hit you the hardest? I have two that stick with me, but I’ll give one that I think had me in the most tears. And I can sum it up with one word and five letters: H O D O R. Let’s see if either of you touch on the other one I’m thinking of, but either way, I’m very curious as to your answers.
Jim: While it probably would have been more satisfying to have one Dany/Cersei scene together before she bit the dust, I’m not sure the “Nothing else matters, only us”/Tyrion’s Lannister Twins Unboxing combo could be topped in terms of emotion. Peter Dinklage probably won himself an Emmy these past few episodes and it would be well-deserved. Huzzah, Halfman!
I think what Lacey touched on last week about Cersei being entirely incapable of starting a new life somewhere else is entirely accurate because I don’t believe she likes pina coladas, nor getting caught in the rain, so Escape was never on her playlist. I think Tyrion freeing Jaime was more about avoiding a mass slaughter than allowing his siblings to be reunited so I think it was the right move. Tyrion was going down for treason even he’d never found them and his pin toss was pretty epic so I’m happy he went for the big show.
Damn, your question about the saddest or most-affecting death sent me on an hour-long spiral into the interwebz to seek out every GOT death, so thank you for that. I wound up writing down 14 deaths that had some impact on me and I can tell you up front that Lommy Greenhands was in consideration, but you didn’t ask about the funniest death. [Essie Note: What the fuck’s a Lommy?]
Hodor was definitely up there in the feels department. Was terribly sad to see my girls Margaery, Ros, and Miss Andi leave the stage. Theon and Jorah the Andal were tremendously sad but I kinda figured they was coming for quite some time so I had a chance to prepare for it. There were two that I felt just sick afterwards and those were the amazing Red Viper getting his eyes gouged out & skull crushed like an egg by the Mountain, and Stannis (one of my favorite characters) burning alive poor, sweet Princess Shireen at the stake.
I could write another six pages about the death topic so I will stop here and you can catch the rest of my thoughts on this subject on my upcoming podcast “GOT Murder Boner?”
Lacey: Firstly, if there was any doubt about Peter Dinklage as one of the great actors working today, he quashed them all with this season. Just, like, mountains of emotional labor carried on his back. I also discovered that his brother is the lead violinist for Hamilton and that said brother’s wife plays Angelica Schuyler in the touring production that I saw. These things are neither here nor there, but fun facts that I thought I’d share with the class.
Secondly, no, his emotion during this scene did not make their deaths better to me. I get it, symbolism galore, good job Weiss, Benioff & production monkeys. The castle that Cersei spent so much time *literally* killing her. The twins dying together, as they came into this world. Its a neato-cool-beans-burrito, but it pretty much came at the cost of all of Jaime’s character development and his redemption arc. Just because Brienne of Tarth can forgive him doesn’t mean I can. That’s right, I’m your friend that will hold the grudge against your shitty boyfriend, even when you can’t.
Yes, freeing his brother was the right thing to do, even if it ultimately led to his death, because there’s no way the Kingslayer would have survived being visible during Dany’s Murder Boner, so at least he went out on his own terms, instead of being fricasseed by Drogon.
I also do firmly believe that Tyrion was done with Dany’s roasty-toasty reign as soon as he stepped through the gates of the city and saw what she’d done. He just needed to know about his siblings first. His fuck-yo-hand-pin move was also probably a little more grandiose because of the emotions he was feeling. It takes some stern stuff to do that in front of the assembled Unsullied & Dothraki hoards, so kudos, there was every chance he gets roasted on the spot for that and the Imp did it anyway.
I’m trying real hard to some up with a more emotional death than Hodor’s and having a hard time. I was not okay for several days after that episode aired. Ned having to kill Lady was might be a close second, but I’m the person that yelled “not the younglings” at the screen, in the theater, as Anakin slaughtered them, so I have a lot of feels for the babies & puppies among us.
Should’ve been in last week’s recap but too good to never use.
Essie: We get a shot of Arya making her way through the carnage, a lot more cleaned up and sans horse (my first thought when I saw her was, “Where’s your horse?”, much like Rocky’s first question to Adrian after the first Apollo Creed fight was “Where’s your hat?”). She watches as Jon makes his way through the remaining Dothraki, of which, there are still a lot left, and then climbs stairs manned by Unsullied. There also sure seems to be a ton of these folks left after the Loot Train attack, Winterfell, and even King’s Landing.
Dany goes into Full Dictator Mode, complete with a MASSIVE Targaryen banner, where she starts talking about how the war is not over… even though girlfriend literally called this war “The Last War”... and about how all the world now needs to be “liberated”, specifically calling out Winterfell and Lannisport, while her army cheers and Arya stares murdery looks at her.
Tyrion approaches her.
“You freed your brother.”
“I freed my brother and you slaughtered a city.”
Tou-fucking-ché.
Arya sidles up to Jon and tells him that Sansa will never bend the knee to Dany and that Dany is a killer, which basically means that Dany will sooner or later march her army north to burn Winterfell to the ground and kill ALL the Starks and their bannermen. And, she has a point, because (I can’t believe I’m going to cite this guy) Daaaaariiiiooo way back when told Dany as much when he said she’s a conqueror and not a ruler.
How much do you think this conversation affected Jon? You know he wants to look out for his family, so how much of what he’s about to do can be traced back to that, or is it a combination of everything that happens? Is he still on Team Dany at this point?
Do you have any other assorted observations about this scene, specifically about how it was shot? It was certainly epic.
My end-of-series question here… Dany gives a speech to her troops that echoes the speech Drogo gave in Season 1, and that Dany herself echoed previously while addressing the Dothraki on dragonback. So, what is your favorite speech or monologue from the series? Not single line, mind you, as we’ll get to that later, but monologue. There are so many great ones to choose from, and I would say Jaime’s speech to Brienne when they’re in the bath and he explains how he became the Kingslayer, if only because it sheds a WHOLE new light on his character. BUT… his character assassination in Season 8 seems to go back on much of this, so I’ll choose another scene with him in it… The Queen of Thorns after drinking the poison, which is the greatest “peace, out” in the show. She even tells him in that conversation that Cersei will be the end of him. Too true. Too true. What say you?
Jim: I’m so glad our recaps are ending with Essie FINALLY admitting how much she loves Daario Naharis! [Essie Note: You lie!... when you cry? No, wait, that’s Joe. Joe lies when he cries, while Jim just lies.]
Jon was desperately looking for any reason he could find to still be on Team Dany but the Arya/Tyrion convos pushed him over the edge. Not that Jon knew what Dany was saying during her speech but he did perk up when he heard Winterfell and yeah, her tone was not one that said let’s send them a fruit basket.
I think it interesting that Dany finally got herself the throne that she so strongly believed she deserved but then immediately was on to “liberating” the whole world. She became the wheel she vowed to break.
Outstanding scene visually, from the giant Targaryen flag to dragon wings Dany, to Jon shoving his way through the mounted Dothraki, to Tyrion chucking his pin, to the blunt ends of the Unsullied spears digging holes into the ground as they pounded their approval, signifying they were no longer simply liberators but zealots who bought into Dany’s message of conquer.
Outstanding monologue? I believe that discussion begins and ends with Tormund Giantsbane’s epic Giantess Teat Milk story, no? This show was jam-packed with excellent monologues but I am going to go with dearly departed Littlefinger’s “Chaos is a Ladder” speech. Expertly delivered and mixed with building music and intercut scenes...plus right beforehand we get Varys’s amazing “Lysa Arryn of chairs” line. [Essie Note: I find both SOLID choices, and was also strongly considering “Chaos is a ladder”.]
Lacey: Very, very epic. The dragon wings bit was a cool visual trick, the banner was interesting, although, when’d they have the time to whip up that big thing? It was Lady Hitler + Drogo on horseback + all of Dany’s liberator bloviating tied up in a neat bow. The Iron Throne was never going to be enough for her. In the end, Westeros didn’t actually mean anything to Dany. Daario was right, she was a conqueror, Tyrion will be right in a few minutes, we cheered her conquering as liberating because we liked her, and found those she was conquering distasteful.
I’m going to admit that I didn’t think Arya & Tyrion were swaying Jon from his support for Dany. He was clearly terrified at what he was seeing, but he was playing his role real good to my eyes. I was seeing someone that was able to justify his Queen’s actions. I did not like it.
As for monologues, I wanted to find something different from what the two of y’all had mentioned, because there are just so many amazing scenes in this series. So, after an hour spent watching monologues, it came down to two. One, Tyrion’s speech in Season 4, Episode 6, where he’s defending his life, after being accused of Joffrey’s murder, in which he tells the whole city he should have let them die, and best line, “Watching your vicious bastard son die gave me more relief than a thousand lying whores.” And two, Varys in Season 3, Episode 4, which is chilling and interesting and such an insight on his character. In it, Varys tells Tyrion how he came to be a eunuch and talks to him about the value of patience, “Influence grows like a weed. I tended mine until its tendrils reached all the way from the Red Keep to the far side of the world.” The reveal of the sorcerer in a box is just *chef’s kiss* brilliant, and that’s why it wins out of the two for me. With that said, Queen of Thorns forever. [Essie note: Tyrion’s trial speech was second for me… and a close second at that.]
Essie: Jon goes to see Tyrion, and the first thing he’s asked is if he brought any wine. I really can’t say this enough, but Peter Dinklage should win ALL the awards, just for this episode alone. He asks Jon, the one man alive who knows about where he’s going, if there’s life after death, and after Jon replies that there’s basically nothing, Tyrion states, “Oblivion is the best I could hope for.”
I don’t know about you two, but I loved this entire scene. Tyrion confessing to what he did, trying to convince Jon that Dany is worse than Tywin and Cersei combined, and Jon STILL trying to defend her… and I’m trying to think if that’s a Ned Stark thing on Jon’s part or the complete opposite of it. Regardless, this is a great conversation and a couple superb character moments that reminded me of how amazing this show can be when it’s on point and gives these interactions some time to be breathe and for some words and looks to be bandied about.
They discuss how they love Dany (25 points to Hufflepuff for Lacey correctly pointing out Tyrion’s love for her weeks ago), and Jon quotes Maester Aemon by saying “Love is the death of duty.” To which Tyrion counters, “Sometimes duty is the death of love,” which I think is the last great line this show gives us. And then Tyrion tells Jon, “You are the shield that guards the realms of men,” and I get ALL the goosebumps. Can you tell I love this scene just a little?
Jon ends the conversation by saying that whatever Dany decides to do, it’s her decision because she is the queen, but then Tyrion brings up Jon’s family… which is now the second time this happened.
What did you think at this point? Did you think that Jon was going to go and stab his aunt-queen-lover?
What did you think of this scene in general and the conversation?
Was Jon channeling Ned Stark in being loyal or in doing what needed to be done… that is, killing the woman whose death his “father” so adamantly protested against?
And since we’re onto great quotes now… what is your favorite one- or two-liner in the series? Again, SO many to choose from. I’m sure that Jim thinks mine is something like this Cersei quote: “The more people you love, the weaker you are.” However, I think I’ll go with this Tyrion quote, “Death is so terribly final, while life is full of possibilities,” (which I try to remind myself of on the daily). Though it’s my favorite only because my favorite quote from the books didn’t make it to the series: “Fear cuts deeper than swords.” Your thoughts, Lacey and James?
Jim: We knew going in to this episode that there was no way Dany was gonna make it out alive, it was just a matter of who got to kill her. I thought maybe Arya but Jon doing it makes more sense, makes it more tragic cuz as he has been doing this entire series and is alluded to in the above quote about being the shield that guards the realms of men, Jon had to take one for the team. I particularly loved the line about your house words not being stamped on your body. Great interaction with these two and I truly felt the weight of the world on Jon’s shoulders.
The great lines in this series are way too many to mention but I’ll list a couple Honorable Mentions:
"Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armour, and it can never be used to hurt you." - Tyrion
"I've seen wet shits I like better than Walder Frey." - Brynden Tully
"A lion does not concern himself with the opinion of sheep." - Tywin
"If you ever call me sister again, I'll have you strangled in your sleep." - Cersei
Runner-Up: “A girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell. And I’m going home.” - Arya
Winner: "The day will come when you think you are safe and happy, and your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth." - Tyrion
Lacey: Like I said, I did not believe Jon was going to do it, and GRRM’s whole “If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.” schtick made me think we might end on Dany sitting on the throne, Drogon curled up like a cocker spaniel. Grey Worm bringing her an evening cocktail.
Peter Dinklage is going to fuck around and be the first person to win an Oscar for television acting. That’s how good he was this episode. The Academy will just be like, “It’s not TV, it’s HBO. He’s the best actor.” and everyone will accept it, because it’s the truth.
I’m not sure I can pick just one, so here are a bunch:
“There is only one thing we say to death. Not today” - Syrio Forel
“Never forget who you are, the rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor and it can never be used to hurt you.” - Tyrion
“Power resides where men think it resides. It’s a trick; a shadow on the wall.” - Varys
“Oh, monster? Perhaps you should speak more softly then. Monsters are dangerous and just now kings are dying like flies.” - Tyrion
“When people ask you what happened here, tell them the North remembers. Tell them winter came for House Frey.” - Arya [Ed. Note: YAAAASSSS… this was my second choice! Or maybe third behind the “Never forget who you are” from Tyrion.]
“I don’t plan on knitting by the fire while men fight for me. I might be small, Lord Glover, and I might be a girl, but I am every bit as much a Northroner as you. I don’t need your permission.” - Lyanna Mormont
“There’s no cure for being a cunt.” - Bronn
“No need to seize the last word, Lord Baelish, I’ll assume it was something clever.” - Sansa
“No one mind me. All I’ve ever done was live to a ripe, old age.” - Davos
“You’re not interesting enough to be offensive.” - Brienne of Tarth
“Tell Cersei. I want her to know it was me.” - Olenna Tyrell, Queen of Thorns & Shade
“My mother wasn’t a great beauty, or any other kind of beauty. She was a great warrior, though.” - Lyanna Mormont
I’ll stop now. Surprised I couldn’t find any for Tormund, but what I realized it that he’s basically a human reaction gif, or asking about the Big Woman.
Essie: Jon leaves Tyrion and goes to see Dany, who is finally standing in front of the Iron Throne. He talks to her and can tell that she’s completely over the edge and there’s no coming back, even while he’s imploring her to find reason. He stabs her in the middle of a kiss, and that is it for Little Ms. Titles. Jon’s upset, Drogon is really upset, does some sad nudging of his mama, brings a tear or two to my eye, and then he proceeds to melt the Iron Throne once he realizes his mother is no more. He then he scoops up Dany and flies off with her.
Was this a satisfying ending to her storyline?
If yes, why do you think, if no, what would you rather have happened?
Where do you think Drogon was going and where was he taking her? What is he doing back there? I never know what he’s doing.
In this scene we get a sad animal moment in a show splattered with more than a few of them. Which to you is the saddest animal moment in the series? For mine I’ll go back to early Season 1 where Ned has to (very unfairly) kill Lady. That shit still upsets me… and the killing doesn’t even happen on screen.
Jim: Hmm...satisfying? That’s an interesting question. I think most of us were probably rooting for Dany from the beginning to be not just a ruler but a great ruler. So I suppose it’s not satisfying that she turned out to be someone that thought nothing of murdering children so long as she got what she wanted. All of the hand-wringing that has been going on about Dany this season was I think, in part, spurred by just how likable Emilia Clarke was in this role. She was badass and sometimes uncompromising and brutal but she was easy to fall in love with, like almost everyone she met on the show. Her storyline was tragic in that she couldn’t overcome her lust for her birthright to be what she claimed to be, so in that storytelling sense I guess it was satisfying.
In other words - maybe?
I have no idea what Drogon was doing back there, I never know what he’s doing...and since this is our last recap, I wonder, is that Wedding Crashers shout out our most-repeated pop culture reference? Or is it Kevin Smith’s “who are you to make assessments?” Tough to say. [Essie note: Definitely one of those or The Lonely Island’s boat-based references. I also wonder how many of the ones and ones got the Wedding Crashers reference; I assume no one at all would ever get the Kevin Smith one just because it’s such a small, minor line that we blew up into a whole thing (that I love).]
Animal killing, you ask? I always think back to Tywin Lannister expertly skinning the shit out of a deer while he mocks/inspires Jaime but we didn’t see Tywin kill it. I guess I’ll go with Robb’s direwolf Grey Wind, who even though we only heard his killing, did wind up up decapitated and sewn onto Robb’s headless corpse. Yikes.
Also, Essie, you might enjoy this nugget: Showrunner David Benioff confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that Ser Pounce had met his demise at the hands of the Queen Cersei Lannister, in the aftermath of her son's suicide.
Cersei hated the name 'Ser Pounce' so much she could not allow him to survive," he explained. "So she came up with her most diabolical [execution]. Ser Pounce's death was so horrible we couldn't even put it on the air." [Essie Note: NOOOOOO…..not Ser Pounce…. NOT SER POUNCE!!!]
Lacey: Satisfying? Eh? But I will say that when Jon went in for the kiss, I think I actually said, “Ugh, gross.” aloud. Then she made the gaspy sound of death and I was like, “YAAAASSSS”. So, good job on that show. Emilia Clarke is the only real winner here, she was masterful, and acted the hell out of anything they gave Dany to do. I hope she’s not playing a plucky lawyer on a CBS drama in 3 years.
Drogon was doing one of two things, he was either flying the Blood of the Dragon off to Old Valyria. Or, he was going off to eat his mom’s body in private. Those are the only two answers.
Aren’t we going to talk about Drogon suddenly gaining the ability to think critically and destroying a the Iron Throne, a metaphor for all that he’d lost? Because that was an incredible/weird moment.
Most upsetting animal death could go to any of the Stark direwolves. RIP Lady, Grey Wind & Shaggydog. Speaking of Shaggydog, no mention of little, um, I seriously just had to Google Rickon’s name, which I guess is why none of his surviving siblings mention him, ever. Shout out to Nymeria, presumably still roaming the Riverlands, building her own hybrid pack.
Essie: After some time passes, Tyrion is brought to the dragon pit, where all of the most prominent lords and ladies of Westeros have gathered… along with Edmure Tully. They all discuss what to do with Jon, and in the middle of that Arya tells Yara that if she says another word about killing her brother, she’ll cut her throat. And I almost thought these two were gonna go at it, and that would have been interesting for sure, but my money would have definitely been on the Wolf Girl, because f the f’n Greyjoys (amirite, James, in how lame their house is in the show?).
Tyrion tells Mr. Worm that what happens to Jon is not for the Unsullied to decide, and just about gets his head ripped off for it. He says that those gathered have to decide on a king or a queen, Sam invents representation, gets laughed at soundly, Edmure Tully volunteers to be king, but in the middle of it gets told to shaddap and sit down by Sansa (and when Robin Arryn is laughing at you, you know you’re a MASSIVE fuck up), and then Tyrion puts forth Bran as the new king (Peter Dinklage doing more great work), to which they all agree… except Bran’s sister, who then says all nonchalantly that the North is going to remain an independent kingdom, and no one even balks at the notion. Questions:
Why didn’t any of the other people, specifically Yara and New Dude from Dorne, just say, “Yeah, we out too!” and start their own separate kingdoms? I mean, that seems logical considering the history of the Iron Islands and Dorne.
I’m assuming that Bronn doesn’t fully have Highgarden given to him yet, otherwise he’d be in on this. Not really a question, but I just wanted to bring him up.
Are you okay with Bran being the decision? I didn’t think it was going to be Bran at all, but I’m good with them going down this path, though didn’t this stoner say before that he can’t be a lord or rule over anything?
If not Bran, who would you have picked?
Did the lords and ladies of Westeros have a point in laughing down Sam’s idea to give everyone a vote? I mean… living in the U.S. in 2019 really can really skew your perception of who gets to pick the leaders, am I right??
Jim: How dare you say “F the Greyjoys”?? In a world that needed more Damphair we got more Euron...but hey, at least we did get to see Theon try to fingerbang his sister Yara on a horse, so we’ve got that going for us…
Yeah, I would’ve enjoyed maybe a longer version of that scene cuz I really have no answer as to why Yara had nothing to say after her original complaint. The guy from Dorne just looked bored overall. Tyrion’s story was convincing though I don’t know if it was THAT convincing.
I am ok with the Bran choice, though I was fully expecting Sansa to be named Queen. I guess I’m ok with it because of what Tyrion said after Sansa called out Bran’s defective three-eyed raven - that the sons of Kings cause problems for everybody. You’d think there is value in having the collective history of man contained within one person and that person learning from it and then making decisions on what is best for everyone...if that’s what is going to happen.
The more I think about Sansa...while I love her character, what right does she have to the throne, really? Other than she wants it? She went through some terrible shit but so did almost everyone sitting there. And I’ve seen lots of mockery about Tyrion’s statement that no one has a better story than Bran the Broken...yes, obviously Sansa and Arya have amazing stories as well but I think Tyrion meant a better story to sell the public. A broken, beaten down person who survived a tragedy to become something bigger than himself, reminiscent of the people of King’s Landing who have been broken and need to survive.
Sure, Sansa survived bad things to become a strong person but this is still Game of Thrones times where the girls aren’t thought of as highly...Varys just last episode said something about men being the true power whether they know it or not. And Arya training to become a vengeful assassin might not sit great with the general populace I guess...so while their stories are good, I guess I can see the logic in choosing Bran the Broken to inspire...maybe?
Also, Bran’s first order of business is a public health initiative with growns up smokeshow Robin Arryn, who along with Tormund will be the spokesmodels for the new Milk - it Does a Body Good campaign.
Lacey: I was a little surprised that we came out with Six Kingdoms, Dorne & the Iron Islands might as well be lands unto themselves. But, I guess Yara swearing fealty to the realm meant something to her, or Arya is just that fucking terrifying. She did bake some dudes into pies and serve them to their dad, after all.
So, we have a Queen in the North, which is legit. The Northmen were always going to bristle at kneeling, and Sansa showed herself to be a good, loyal ruler to her Northroners. Bran knows all of that. What was her little brother going to do? Tell her no? He wasn’t going to start telling Sansa no at this point.
I’m assuming that Bronn didn’t get Highgarden until Tyrion had some power back, that was a deal made between them. We did sort of have Bronn-lite sitting between Sam & the terminally unable to do anything right Edmure Tully, whoever that guy was.
I get it, Bran’s story can inspire the people, whereas Arya’s would inspire fear, and Sansa’s would either get you pity or contempt in most of this world, she is a woman after all, what right would she have to kill her murderous, rape-y, flaying husband? So Bran it is. I think Tyrion is also on Varys’s the best ruler shouldn’t want it wavelength, and Bran doesn’t want or need it, he just wants to stare into the middle distance and warg into ravens and shit.
Speaking of the assembled lords & ladies, has anyone Neville Longbottomed harder than Robin Arryn? I think he might have surpassed Neville himself.
“Did Sam just bring democracy to Westeros?” an actual sentence said by my friend before the nobility started laughing at him. Sam did not bring democracy to Westeros, Westeros is being honest about who has the power in the country, and it’s not the proletariat.
Essie: Before I get to our last question evur!!!, here are a few other random full-series questions for you:
In a series full of great shots and amazing cinematography, what was your favorite shot? Mine was the long shot that followed everyone during the Battle at the Wall. I thought it was just brilliant.
Speaking of battles, now that this battle, and ALL the battles on the show, are over, which was your favorite? There are so many amazing ones to choose from, but I’m going to go with Hardhome for a few reasons. The first is that it came out of nowhere… I was not expecting it, specifically the sheer scope of it, at ALL. The way it built was also spine-tinglingly ominous, AND it showed just what the living were up against and left us feeling shattered and defeated at the end of it. (Which is generally how I feel anyway, so it just sort of centered me in my despair…. Anyhoo…)
What character do you think had the best story arc? In a shocking note, especially to Jim, I considered Theon to be my answer for this, but I’m going to go with another shocking answer and say Sansa. It took her awhile to truly emerge as the bad ass that she is, but when she did, I became a fan. I also love the fact that she did remind me of Catelyn Stark in a certain sense, specifically when it came to her inner strength and strength of conviction, but Sansa is much smarter and far more of a baller than her momz.
Who wound up as your favorite character? Do I even need to say who mine is?
What storyline do you wish there was a do-over for? I would say Jaime, but the more I think about it, the more running back to Cersei is who he always was and who he always will be, so I’m going to go with Dorne… just the whole mess that was Dorne.
What was the best/biggest surprise for you that you were most delighted with (even if it was a horrifying shock)? For me, I’ll go with Arya being the one to kill the Night King… but we all know how much of a Wolf Girl fangirl I am, so that is very obviously biased.
Jim: Excellent choice, Essie, with that shot from the Battle at the Wall. If i have to pick just one, I think I’d go with the single shot of Jon Snow facing down a wall of charging cavalry alone during the Battle of the Bastards. This is easily the most technically ambitious TV show ever created and that shot...while simple, was so elegant and poetic and terrifying, that it will stick with me as an example of stellar cinematography.
Hardhome was awesome but I am going back to the Battle of the Bastards once again. The aforementioned shot plus Ramsay toying with Rickon, Jon narrowly missing the chance to save his brother, Jon almost being crushed to death during the battle, the above shot of him breaking through the bodies so he can finally breathe, the army of the Vale sweeping in to turn the tide, Wun Wun crashing through the gate and ultimately dying, Jon advancing on Ramsay while taking arrows to the shield, to Ramsay finally getting his comeuppance. Fuck. yes.
Best story arc? Loved Theon’s and Sansa’s and Arya’s...but I think I’ll go with Tyrion’s. He started as a foul-mouthed smartass who liked to whore around and drink wine and was the embarrassment of his family and wound up outliving them all and becoming the second-most(perhaps first) powerful man in the six kingdoms. Wait...six kingdoms...that means six flags...have we been watchin a Great Adventure origin story the whole time??
Favorite character is Tyrion, hands down. Special mentions go to Stannis, Margaery, Theon, The Hound, Cersei, The Red Viper, and Jon.
Storyline Do-Over would probably be Dorne. We certainly didn’t get to see enough of it and what we did, outside of Oberyn, was just meh.
Arya’s Night King kill was epic and it’s tough to argue with it. As a book reader it’s tough to pick something from the show that came directly from the source material cuz it wasn’t super shocking if we knew it was coming. I have to go with Hodor holding the door and the history behind that...shocking, poignant, and epic.
Lacey: I am not a film expert, but I do love me an aesthetic and a mood, and for that, there is A LOT to wade through in all 8 seasons of this show. However, for my money, Ned Stark’s execution, that ends with the sword dripping blood with the out of focus crowd behind it, is pretty solid. It’s the impetus for so much that comes after.
As for battles, The Battle of the Bastards is kind of the undisputed winner, it’s hard to argue with something that ends in Ramsay Bolton getting his face eaten. So, what about runners up? I found the Battle of Blackwater pretty visually arresting, ditto on the Loot Train Attack. Blackwater is so important for Tyrion’s character development, that I think I’ll choose it. A solid number two to Jim’ Battle of the Bastards.
As for favorite character, it’s a tough call, but Tyrion. Special mentions go to Sansa, Theon & Arya. Jaime should have died in the Battle of Winterfell, then his arc would have been wonderful, and we would have had better impact as far as death goes there.
Storyline do-over, yes Dorne, but actually, Catelyn Stark. Lady Stoneheart was made for TV and I would have loved to see that storyline play out here.
Arya & the Night King wins for me. For absolute delight and badass points.
Essie: For our last ever Game of Thrones question in our last ever Game of Thrones recap, let’s start with Tyrion telling Jon he’s going back to the Wall, Jon questioning if what they did was right, and then they say their goodbyes. Jon takes a good hard look at the motherfucking boats that are shuttling the Dothraki and Unsullied back across the sea and gets his last look at Grey Worm… and I kind of wish these two would have fought. Mr. Worm turned out to be a mudery fucker just like his queen, didn’t he? (I mean, I get why and all, to a degree, but…)
Jon meets with his siblings and they all express their sadness at Jon going to the Wall and they say their goodbyes. Arya says she’s going all Christopher Columbus by finding what’s out past where the maps end… though, you know, hopefully without the brutalization of any indigenous people she happens across.
Cut to Brienne, who finishes Jaime’s story in the Big Book of Kingsguard Stuffs (official title), and she doesn’t throw any shade at all at the idiot who broke her heart. She’s now commander of the Kingsguard, Pod’s now a knight, Davos is (naturally) Master of Ships (and apparently Master of Grammar), Bronn’s found his way to be Master of Coin, and somehow Sam, who isn’t even a maester, is now Grand Maester? Does that make sense in any real way? Am I missing something?
Sam gives Tyrion a copy of the newly penned A Song of Ice and Fire, and as a cheap joke, Sam tells Tyrion he’s not mentioned, which automatically negates the whole history, because if you think Tyrion didn’t play a part… and a major one at that… you haven’t been paying attention. So this book is BUNK.
In the closing of the episode, we see a Stark montage with Sansa getting coronated as Queen in the North, Arya sailing west of Westeros on a motherfucking boat (flippy floppies), and Jon, after FINALLY petting Ghost, riding north of the Wall with the remaining free folk…. I’m assuming to join them and get his ass out of Castle Black.
Do you think that’s what was happening with Jon, as in he’s just going to go live with the free folk? It seemed at one point that he was Lord Commander again… maybe? Did I read that wrong?
Do you like how this ended? (Personally, I’m good with it, maybe particularly because Jon got a bit of a bittersweet ending, but do you agree with my assessments?)
If you didn’t like any of this, what would you have liked to have seen happen?
Now that the show is over, where does it rank for you? I know the past two seasons were sketchy in spots, but does that undo the epic storytelling we witnessed over the better part of the last decade? I answer this question with a hearty NO… though I do wish they didn’t rush as much as they did through the last couple/few seasons. It’s the biggest television spectacle ever, and my hat (if I had a hat) is off to everyone who brought it to the screen. No show was, is, or ever will be perfect, but if you look past the imperfections, what you have left is the most amazing piece of entertainment I have ever witnessed, and the sadness that there’s no more of this show to look forward to hasn’t fully hit me yet.
For the last time ever, your thoughts, my friends?
Jim: Before I dive into my answers, a hearty thank you to whoever took the time to read our thoughts on this epic show over the years. And to my co-writers, here’s hoping we can find something else pop-culture related to commiserate about, but in podcast form cuz this typing shit is for the birds.
Yeah, I’m fairly certain when Jon turns back to look at the gate closing on the wall it pretty much sealed the deal that he wasn’t going back. Perhaps he winds up the new Mance Rayder beyond the wall, perhaps he finds some peace. It was a tough ending for Jon...he had his world rocked when he found out he wasn’t Eddard’s son, fell in love with then had to kill his Auntie Dany, and he gets a life of no love, no house as his reward. But I suppose that is what happens to the shield that guards the realms of men.
I did like how it ended...overall would have loved 2 or 3 more episodes to really play things out, but hey, we got 8 seasons of beautiful, brutal television, so I’m not complaining. Plus, in my heart, (yes, it seems I still have one) I enjoyed the somewhat ray of positivity at the end of the show. Jon got boned but I think he’ll be happy among the free folk, Sansa got the power that she wanted, Tyrion survived and is having a positive effect on the kingdom, the people should at least have a ruler in Bran who won’t butcher them for his own gain. Plus that little bit of green plant poking up through the snow...things are looking up for Westeros.
Probably not how any of them wanted it, but maybe the best they could have hoped for.
As for where GOT ranks in the history of the TV...easily the most ambitious show ever attempted and it completely nailed it’s ambitions the vast majority of the time. Maybe not the best ending but it’s super tough, even for great shows, to stick the landing (e.g - Seinfeld). Definitely in my Top 5 Dramas of All Time...Breaking Bad is still my #1 and perhaps that is because that show had a perfect finale. But Game of Thrones sits somewhere comfortably along with The Wire, Deadwood, and The Americans. Ok, I won’t cop out, I’ll give it a number…#3...no, #2...no, #3...no, damnit, I can’t decide, I’m such a failure!
Shame, shame, shame...
Lacey: Yes, friends, our time for this, our Game of Thrones, has come to an end. Perhaps Jim & I can talk about the Deadwood movie, it’s not too late for anyone to catch up, this gift, a decade in the making, is being delivered unto us May 31st. Thank you to my friends for sticking with me through some of the most tumultuous years of my life where I wasn’t always able to make a recap, y’all the bomb.com, as the kids are definitely still saying. And to you, dear reader, thanks for reading, as Tyrion said, there’s nothing so important as a good story.
I got a text last night from a friend that simply said, “I’m still sad about Jon.” I’m not, but I understand why people are, he went through so much, to end up back where he started. But, I think it’s the beginning of a different kind of Night’s Watch. I mean, literally all of the Night’s Watchmen are dead, so Jon’s starting from scratch. I think he’ll float back and forth from Castle Black to the Free Folk and make a good life for himself, with his bestie and his very good dog. What more could one really want out of life?
Of the show end overall, I was merely whelmed. Not over or under, just the right amount of whelming. As Jim says, I think another 2 or 3 episodes would have given the show the opportunity to stretch its legs a little bit, but it’s fine. Everything’s fine. Stop signing your petitions, you butthurt fanboys and girls, life goes on. And, as my #1 homie Neil Gaiman once said, “George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.” so, suck on that. Go watch Six Feet Under if you want perfection from the end of a show, it’s so rare, that it’s the only example I can think of.
As far as ranking this show in the great pantheon of all the shows I have ever watched? I don’t know, I’d have to rewatch to really say. As my other greats, such as, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Wire, Veronica Mars, Parks & Rec, etc. survive for me on my ability to enjoy them again and again. I’m not emotionally prepared for a GoT rewatch right now, and maybe I never will be, the world has changed so much in the last few years, I have trouble watching dark shit for entertainment, everything is dark enough out here in reality.
Finally, anyone who loved Arya and likes magic, I recommend starting V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series, the anti-heroine, Delilah Bard is basically Arya Stark with powers. You’re welcome.
Always end on a positive note.
Essie: As a final note here from me, I want to thank Jim and Lacey for being amazing writing partners throughout the course of this project we began oh so many years ago, and want them to know I deeply appreciate them, their creativity, their insight, and, of course, ALL the funny they brought. Doing these recaps is actually a LOT of work, but (without speaking for my partners) I think we found it all worth it so that the ones and ones of you reading got some joy out of it and found something to look forward to. I have been humbled over the years with hearing how many people were not only reading these silly recaps, but actually harassing me because the recap wasn’t coming out fast enough and they wanted to read it. I can think of no better compliment as a writer. So, a big THANK YOU to you all. And if you’re ever feeling down or low, just remember the most important lesson we learned throughout the show and these recaps… YES WE KEVAN!!
