What is Dead May Never Die

The nationwide phenomenon of GOT has finally come to an end after about 8 years

of air time. Here are our initial reactions to the ending of what has been 73 episodes to remember…

Jimmy

I am a huge fan of the show and forever will be, but I am MAJORLY disappointed

with this finale. Bottom line, it felt rushed. I predicted the basics of the ending, but

somehow it still felt underwhelming. Sure was it beautiful to watch, yes, the cinematography

has ALWAYS been amazing. However, the writing for the 8th season has felt drastically

different than in previous seasons. And unfortunately, it’s been for the worse.

Alright, time to vent! I still can’t get over that Dany went full Mad Queen mode. Now

I’m not saying that I hate the idea of Dany going down this road, I just hate that they

didn’t build it up better. Game of Thrones is known for building character arcs (at

least they did before this season), and it just seemed like a switch was thrown forcing

Dany to become the Mad Queen. And of course seeing all your friends die would make

you mad/sad, but this is WAR! It should be expected that people will DIE! But I need to

calm down and talk about the finale and save this for another review. Going into the

specifics, I did not enjoy seeing so many Dothraki and Unsullied still alive after the Battle

of Winterfell. Literally only a HAND FEW should be left! The Night King was more of an

annoying thorn in the ass, than a legit problem. Also they never explained where the

Dothraki went at the conclusion. Back to rape and pillage across the Narrow Sea? Plus,

what’s up with Grey Worm? First he changes his name and acts like Missandei never

existed then at the end he’s traveling back to Naath to fulfill his promise to her. So fellas, if you

ever watch your girlfriend’s head get chopped off, know that it’s ok to become evil for a little

while before returning back to normal. And here’s another tip for ya, if you’re trapped

underground and the ceiling starts to collapse just simply move 10 yards to your right and

both of you will be fine! Easy Peasy!

Bran… Bran… Bran. He’s like the kid in the group project who does NOTHING and still gets

an A. I was totally taken aback when Tyrion suggested him for the throne. All he’s ever said

was “I’m the 3 Eyed Raven”, and “I’m not the Lord of Winterfell”. But he’s totally ok with

being KING/PRESIDENT OF THE SEVEN FREAKING KINGDOMS! I call BULLTUCKEY!

It would have been different if he EARNED it, but he didn’t. Sure he acted as bait for the

Night King, but other than that he was useless in battle. Couldn’t even warg into a dragon

or Ghost? Nope I’ll just fly around with my ravens and shit on people. Jon had a better story. Period.

Before I end my reaction, there were a FEW scenes I really enjoyed. And they were; Tyrion

finding Jaime and Cersei, Jon killing Dany (acting was superb), Drogon torching the Iron

Throne, Brienne finishing Jaime’s knight accomplishments, Jon’s farewell to Arya, and Jon

joining the Free Folk. Other than that it was boring and infuriating. I still love you Game of

Thrones. I just wish we had more time...

Aaron

The best way to sum up the ending of season 8 of GOT is that Daenerys blew a 3-1

lead… along with the show overall as its ending was underwhelming to me.

The episode started to pick up some pace when Jon killed Daenerys, which was something that

I did not think that he was capable of doing. Jon chose the love for his sisters and country over

his love for Daenerys and this is one of those GOT moments that you just love…. And then the

rest of the episode happened, beginning with Drogon flying away with Dany’s body. Poor

Drogon was heartbroken that his mom was dead, but where did he go?? I understand it was

easiest for the screenwriters to just have him fly away, but it was very underwhelming and

leaves a lot to be desired.

Jon kills Danny, and all of the sudden there is an unexplained time jump and there is a meeting

of all of the houses of Westeros, where I could not name half of the people by name. Here

comes Grey Worm with Tyrion as his prisoner that is sentenced to death.. And then all of

the sudden, Tyrion is calling all of the shots and creating the new Westeros??? That was like

letting O.J Simpson out of jail and having him create traffic safety laws. Next, the big

moment happened that we all have been waiting for and expecting, BRAN BECOMES KING!

WE ALL KNEW IT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. Oh wait, that’s right, absolutely

no one predicted that. The only positive of Bran being the new king is the symbolism

of someone with a disability being a King, but that is about where the positives end.

Lastly, I think the show writers did a good job of wrapping up the storylines of Tyrion,

Sansa, Brienne, Sam, Davos, and Bronn. I really loved the image of all of them gathered

around the table as they now go to rule Westeros. However, the endings for Jon and Arya

were very poor. Jon Snow, the man reborn who was the hero of the Battle of the Bastards,

united the Night’s Watch and Wildlings, and killed a tyrant, is last seen riding off away from

the land he protected and sacrificed so much for? LAME. As for Arya, where the heck are

you going Christopher Columbus? What kind of ending was that? As you can see I am

disappointed, but at least the good boy Ghost finally got some nice pets!

Ryan

If you like this finale let me be your levity, not only am I a big fan of this season, I LOVED this

finale. It’s a top 10 episode of GoT. Do I have issues with it? Of course but having not slept

on it yet I only have one issue and I’ll get to that later.

Starting off post obliteration of Kings Landing, seeing all of the devastation through Tyrion,

Jon, Arya, and Dovos’ POV made it all the tougher. These were the final nail in the coffin for

what came next - the Queen of Ashes herself Daenerys. Pausing there for a moment to

appreciate the SPECTACULAR cinematography in this episode as this whole first half was

shot deserving the awards immediately. The shot combining Dany standing at the top of the

steps with Drogon’s wings symbolizing the Angel of Death was a piece of art, I want that

poster! Back to her speech, bad vibes all around to the point where the last of her

audience apologists are gone. Jon has always been noble and loyal to a fault as long as

we’ve known him which made his talks with Arya and Tyrion even more stressful and powerful

in the moment. Say what you will about Tyrion’s recent decisions, when he’s at his best he

knows how to persuade using reason and the heart. Give Dinklage another Emmy.

Love blinds everyone. Love is the death of duty. In the end Jon proved he was losing his love

for Dany over his love for his family and his duty to do the right thing. I can’t blame Dany for

thinking she was doing “good” for all and bringing justice for the world, Tyrion explained

her justification to a tee in the previous scene. Nor can I blame John for hesitating with this

decision but he saw the truth and realizes how consumed by her manifest destiny she

really is. There was a chance for them, we all rooted for them, but alas a tragic ending.

Drogon and Jon’s interaction had my head spinning; part of me wanted the dragon to join

the last Targaryen (get to that later) but ultimately it wouldn’t have made sense. Here we

learned more about the intelligence of dragons than in the other seasons as Drogon decided

to destroy the throne, knowing it was power that killed his mother, not Jon. As for where he

flew off to? Right now we don’t have a definitive answer, my guess is back to Old Valyria

(as Drogon has been spotted many times before). By the way, notice Dany never sat on

the Iron Throne.

In the second half, I’m even more in the minority enjoying much of what happens and

where characters end up. Nice seeing a ‘Council of Living Characters’ of the lords of the

seven kingdoms. I’ll toot my own horn as my predictions of no capital, Iron Throne,

and a democracy mostly came true. But I also thought the oligarchy would end up in seven

separate kingdoms, as before Aegon’s Conquest, not Six + the North. Nonetheless, thank

you Sansa for not only shutting up your uncle and for being a true northerner to the bone

but growing into one of the best characters on TV - truly deserving to be “Queen of the North.”

As for Bran being the new king; I have a long history of HATING Bran Stark that I will go into

another time (he’s stopped being a character seasons ago, he’s been a breathing plot device)

but I didn’t mind him in S8 and I can accept him as king because he’s not a king as much as

an elected leader. This title means more as a legacy position than the one holding the crown.

Tyrion being redeemed as Hand is great being a favorite of everyone. If you’re complaining

about the new small council then you need a sense of humor. Plus Sir Tri-Pod finally got

the promotion! As for Arya, she was always destined for more, a true adventurer we can

only hope to find out what she learns in inevitable sequel series. Finally for the last Stark,

Jon Snow; he was never really a Targaryen or a lord making his ending so satisfying. He

grew up wanting to be a ranger of the Night’s Watch and is back to just that. Creating a

new as the Night’s Watch no longer with a clear purpose so, as a great leader, will make

one by finding the Wildlings a new home. A huge thank you for petting Ghost.

May be forgetting some but I will be writing a full review later. We should all thank the full

cast and crew for putting their heart and souls into GoT. The last shout out I will give and

refuse to get cut is composer Ramin Djawadi. From day one Djawadi has creating gorgeous

music and he only gets more iconic by the season. The finale is no exception, to him I toast.