Game of Thrones spoilers within!

Hey people, we did it! I mean, I can’t pretend that I have joined you all on an epic eight year long journey to find out who would finally be sitting on the Iron Throne, but it has been a pretty intense ride for me too. I think the fact that I binge watched all eight series in about six weeks means that I’ve a slightly different perspective than the ardent fans who have waited and wondered and sat patiently and theorised and loved and let this show take over their lives. However, I do still have thoughts to share and here are some of them.

1. You’re never going to please everyone with the ending. Seriously. A show this huge, this global, people are going to be annoyed. But I was just so glad that it made sense. Okay, some of the characters might have gone a bit rogue, and it might not have ended the way you wanted it to, but as a story, it made sense. And as an ending, it had a sort of poetry to it that was nice. Neither of those things can be said of LOST, which continues to scar many of us to this very day.
2. Ah, poor Daenerys. To have made it so far and fallen at the final hurdle. I can totally understand why people were mad at her being made the villain in the final hour, and very much agree that the arc of the character was rushed. But I also think she wasn’t really acting all that out of character. From what I’ve seen, she has spent her time freeing slaves of course, but only because she needed an army. And she’s never shown that much compassion to those that are her enemies. Then pile on the grief, loneliness, abuse, heartbreak, and a rivalry/love with a long-lost brother all whilst sitting on a dragon with the power to essentially wreck and ruin the world… it’s never going to add up to good things.
3. I feel like the pacing of this final series is what has really let the side down. Some of the episodes were jam packed with action, others were seriously just minutes of Tyrion walking through some rubble looking grim. There was so much staring around looking morose and not enough debating for my tastes. (Although I am liking the Cersai obsessed with windows memes.) Also, I feel like the battles should have been the other way round. Cersai was not a big enough foe to be the big boss at the end, particularly given how she finally succumbed. Although geography probably makes it difficult, I feel like the Night King should have been the final boss level… even though he didn’t put up that much more of a fight. Hmm.
4. Right up until the last episode was over, I couldn’t really say I liked this show. I was desperate to see what happened and I was obviously enjoying the journey to have stuck with it in such a condensed fashion. But like it? I don’t know. However, I do think the characters grew on me. They get under your skin and I can imagine the week by week fear of who is going to make it out alive at the end of each episode. I was very sad to see Eddison go, and very glad Brienne made it to the end.
5. So yea, we do need to talk about Bran being king. Because whilst I said that the story made sense in point 1, what a weird choice! I was never on board with Bran’s story, to be honest, and all the bits about his visions and ravens and stuff, I didn’t really follow it as closely as I might have. The only bit I thought interesting in Bran’s journey was the insight into how Hodor became the man he was/is. But, Bran is who they have decided should be king, and that’s not great because he’s a bit creepy and weird and admitted not that long ago that he doesn’t feel anything anymore. However, maybe that means they can make a sequel when a whole new bunch of wars start because they have a useless king.

So now the question is, do I want to start reading the books? I can guarantee that if I do, I won’t be binge-reading them within the space of a few weeks. Just like pretty much everyone else out there, I need a bit of a break from Westeros. A bit of space, time and distance, and then we can all look back and laugh. Remember that time Edmure thought he might be king? Ha!