Game of Thrones: The Final Review

Game of Thrones has ended. There will be no more episodes. It would have been impossible for the writers to wrap up every single plot thread in Season 8, especially because this past season had fewer episodes (6 instead of usual 10). The final episode, “The Iron Throne,” did manage to provide a sense of closure for most of the character arcs and had some incredible visual moments. However, in its rush to the end, the final episode lost sight of some of the political commentary and themes that made Game of Thrones so compelling in the first place. The raison d’être for this story is question “what makes for a good king?” The finale barely engaged with that question, which is a missed opportunity.

*** SPOILERS for Season 8 of Game of Thrones BELOW ***

“The Long Night” (Game of Thrones S8, E3)

I hadn’t planned to write reviews of individual episodes of Game of Thrones this season. I had planned to wait until the series finale to see how the entire story plays out. However, “The Long Night” (Season 8, Episode 3) feels like an important pop culture event. In addition to being the largest battle filmed for television, it also concluded a story that has been unfolding since April 17, 2011 (or even longer if you started reading George R.R. Martin’s books in August 1996). To be clear, I don’t plan to discuss every single plot twist, character arc, or the cinematography (and, no, the episode isn’t too dark). Instead, I want to focus on one overarching question: did this provide a satisfactory resolution to the central conflict between the living and the dead?

So, for posterity’s sake, here are my thoughts on the episode:

*** SPOILERS for Season 8 of Game of Thrones BELOW ***

“You Win or You Die: The Ancient World of Game of Thrones” by Ayelet Haimson Lushkov

Season 7 of HBO’s Game of Thrones just wrapped up, but the speculation and commentary still rages on. A few weeks ago, I reviewed a book about medieval warfare in Game of Thrones. This time, I take a look at You Win or You Die: The Ancient World of Game of Thrones by Ayelet Haimson Lushkov, Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Texas at Austin. This book analyzes Game of Thrones from the perspective of Greco-Roman literature, showing how ancient epics from our own world can help us better understand Westeros.

“Game of Thrones and the Medieval Art of War” by Ken Mondschein

Like Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings mythology, George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones is set in a world that looks like – and is clearly inspired by – our Middle Ages, but isn’t actually set in Europe between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance. Instead, Game of Thrones takes place in a fantastical world in which winters last a generation and magic is real. However, given the similarities between our Westeros and Medieval Europe, it’s natural to wonder how much Game of Thrones accurately reflects our own history. In Game of Thrones and the Medieval Art of War, Ken Mondschein, an expert on medieval warfare, looks at how Martin’s books – and, to a lesser extent, HBO’s adaptation – depict medieval warfare.

Game of Thrones, “The Winds of Winter” (Season 6, Episode 10)

With only 13 episodes left for the show, Game of Thrones needed to wrap a lot of subplots in order to have enough time to deal with the impending White Walker invasion. “The Winds of Winter” did that, and then some. The episode killed off most supporting characters in a few dramatic scenes. As I’ve argued elsewhere, this downsizing was absolutely necessary. Game of Thrones had gotten too unwieldy; Season 5 seemed so intent on tracking the various subplots that it forgot to tell a story. “The Winds of Winter” violently confirmed that, at its core, Game of Thrones is, has been, and always will be about the three primary factions we met back in Season 1: the Starks, Lannisters, and Targaryens.

Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season 6, Episode 9)

Game of Thrones has become infamous for its unpredictability. Beheading Ned Stark in Season 1 shocked viewers because it defied everything we thought we knew about fantasy stories (namely, that the hero always wins). Over the past season, the plot of Game of Thrones has become increasingly predictable; the show is no longer willing or able to subvert audience expectations (Hodor’s death in “The Door” being a major exception). Instead, how the characters respond to predictable plot developments has become less predictable. This is what makes “Battle of the Bastards” so effective. The plot is about as straightforward as Game of Thrones gets, yet the episode contains moments that subvert what we knew – or thought we knew – about these characters.

Game of Thrones, “No One” (Season 6, Episode 8)

Season 6 of Game of Thrones has been an improvement over the previous season in all ways but one: Meereen. To be fair, Meereen is far from becoming the new Dorne, but the plot thread isn’t quite working as effectively as I’d hoped. Tyrion’s time in Meereen had the potential to be a fascinating story about political compromise, but the writers seem unsure how to adapt such a story to the show’s format.

At the end of Season 5, the Sons of the Harpy forced Daenerys to flee Meereen. It seemed like a firm rejection of Daenerys’ heavy-handed reliance on military force to impose a social and political revolution. Daenerys abolished slavery overnight and left many dispossessed elites bitter and angry. She proved unable to govern effectively without the support – or at least acquiescence – of those elites.

Game of Thrones, “The Broken Man” (Season 6, Episode 7)

Before Season 6 aired, I talked with friends about my predictions for the story.  As Game of Thrones fans are wont to do, I focused on who would die and which characters might return after a long hiatus. I thought my friend’s prediction that Sandor Clegane (a.k.a., “The Hound”) would return was absolutely inane. As much as I’d enjoyed the Hound-Arya buddy comedy in Season 4, I wasn’t sad to see the character go because I thought he’d already had a satisfying arc. Moreover, Arya left him at the bottom of a cliff after he’d suffered fatal wounds in a battle against Brienne. Surely, he was dead.

Game of Thrones: “Blood of My Blood” (S6, E6)

For fans of George R.R. Martin’s novels, the biggest revelation in “Blood of My Blood” concerns the identity of a certain “Coldhands.” In the books, the mysterious Coldhands helps Bran and Meera reach the cave of the thee-eyed raven. His identity was never revealed, but fans had long speculated that it was Bran’s uncle Benjen, who in the first book (Season 1 of the show) had disappeared north of the Wall.

SPOILER WARNING for Season 6, Episode 6: “Blood of My Blood”

Game of Thrones: “The Door” (S6, E5)

It seems like the general consensus is that “The Door” is not only the best episode of Season 6 so far, but also the best episode of Game of Thrones since last year’s “Hardhome.” There’s a lot to like, from the earth-shattering revelation about the White Walkers to the wonderful skit in Braavos that reenacted Season 1. It also helped that the episode didn’t waste time with Ramsay Bolton or Dorne. Yet, I think one reason the episode worked so well is that we didn’t expect the big revelation about Hodor.