Game of Thrones Season 8 Review Part 7: "The Iron Throne"

Warning: This series contains spoilers for the final season of Game of Thrones

When I watched this for the first time, my expectations were practically rock-bottom after the previous few episodes, so I wasn't too disappointed by the last episode, the fourth Rotten episode of the series and the third consecutive Rotten one. But does that mean it isn't bad?

The opening credits play one last time, and King's Landing is shown to be in ruins. In many cases, not showing the opening credits is best for a momentous occasion like the last episode, but it's nice to see the credits update.

The episode begins with Jon and Tyrion walking through the ruins of King's Landing. Grey Worm sentences Lannister prisoners to die, declaring that the war is not over until his queen's enemies are dead, since Daenerys ordered him to kill Cersei's followers. A tense standoff ensues, but Davos defuses it by asking Jon to speak with Daenerys, but Grey Worm starts slicing the prisoners' throats as Jon walks away.

Tyrion, while investigating the ruins of the Red Keep, finds his siblings' corpses and breaks down weeping.

Arya arrives at the Dothraki camp without her horse, directly contradicting the end of the previous episode. Daenerys' army assembles, and she walks out to address them, with Drogon landing and spreading his wings to make Daenerys look like a winged demon.

Daenerys thanks her men for keeping their promises to her- killing her enemies, destroying their homes and giving her the Seven Kingdoms. She then names Grey Worm commander of her forces and Master of War. She declares the Unsullied, who used to be slaves, are now liberators, and they will fight until they liberate everyone, all in the name of "breaking the wheel."

As the speech ends, Tyrion approaches Daenerys, who accuses him of committing treason by freeing his brother.  He calmly fires back that Daenerys slaughtered the people of King's Landing, then tosses his Hand badge down the steps. Daenerys then has him taken into custody.

Jon is shocked to see Arya there, and Arya warns him about Daenerys, noting that she knows a killer when she sees one. In theory, the line isn't so bad, since Arya has spent time around people with blood on their hands, from murderous thugs to assassins, but it comes off as rather obvious after Daenerys has committed mass murder.

Jon visits Tyrion in his cell, and Tyrion is resigned to dying by dragon fire, just like Varys did. He asks if there's life after death, and when Jon says no, Tyrion's relieved, implying he believes he's going to hell after everything he did. Out of everything he did, he'd betray Daenerys again, after seeing what he's seen. Jon refuses to justify what Daenerys did, but believes the war is over. Tyrion points out that Daenerys won't stop until the people of the world are liberated and she rules them all.

Tyrion bitterly regrets helping Daenerys under the belief that he could keep her worst impulses in check, since she's "fire and blood." Jon Snow, who, as a Targaryen raised among Starks, is a good example of nature vs. nurture, points out that Tyrion isn't like his father Tywin. This is ironic, since in the books, people have said that out of all of Tywin's children, Tyrion is the most like him, a sentiment Tyrion echoes just after Tywin disowns him with his dying breaths. Tyrion remarks that Daenerys racked up a larger death toll than Tywin and Cersei did in all their lives in a single day.

An argument ensues over how justified Daenerys was in burning King's Landing, but then Tyrion asks Jon, "Would you have done it?" Tyrion believes that despite riding on a dragon, Jon wouldn't have used that power against the people of King's Landing, and the only reason he claims otherwise that because he doesn't want to betray Daenerys.

Tyrion recalls all the times when Daenerys killed evil people died and people cheered for Daenerys, a blatantly obvious shot against the people who eagerly watched Daenerys' rise to power. The end result is that Daenerys sees building a better world as her destiny and will kill anyone in her way.

After a long pause, Jon sits down. Tyrion observes that Jon loves her, as does he, since Tyrion once believed in Daenerys. He observes that love overpowers reason, citing Jaime as an example. Jon echoes how Maester Aemon said "love is the death of duty." Tyrion makes a call back to how Jon has protected the realms of men and asks who the greatest threat is now. Jon goes silent again, immediately understanding, but Tyrion remarks that it's also right. Daenerys won't stop at executing Tyrion but may go after Jon for being a threat to her. Jon refuses to betray Daenerys even to protect himself, but Tyrion asks if Jon will do it to protect Arya and Sansa, neither of whom trust Daenerys, and points out he must make his choice now.

Daenerys stands in the throne room, which is ruined and covered in snow, like in one of the visions she had in the House of the Undying, and touches the Iron Throne. As Jon comes in, Daenerys recalls seeing it as a girl, and hearing about how it was made from 1,000 swords, a number she couldn't imagine when she couldn't even count to twenty. This is perhaps a reference to how the Iron Throne has far fewer swords than it does in the books or House of the Dragon, not to mention being less dangerous to sit on.

Jon interrupts Daenerys to inform her that he saw her men executing Lannister prisoners on her orders. Daenerys claims it was necessary, and Jon angrily says that children died in her attack on King's Landing, only for Daenerys to blame Cersei. Daenerys denounces Tyrion as a traitor and reminds that Jon has showed no mercy to traitors, from beheading Janos Slynt for insubordination to hanging the men who murdered him. Jon begs Daenerys to forgive Tyrion and the others, but she refuses to hide behind "small mercies." Daenerys insists that she knows what's good and that everyone else's opinions don't matter and asks Jon to help her make the new world.

Jon gives one last "You are my queen," and kisses Daenerys one last time, but if you look closely, you can see him reaching for his hip with his right hand.... to get his dagger and stab Daenerys. She gives him a look of shock and then dies. Jon is reduced to tears over killing the woman he loved.

A few critics have considered Jon's decision to kill Daenerys to be overly rushed, but I disagree. After seeing what he did, it's natural Jon would conclude that Daenerys would need to be dealt with sooner rather than later. In fact, after seeing the razing of King's Landing, he'd probably conclude he waited too long.

Drogon flies in, and while it seems as though he's going to incinerate Jon for killing his mother, he instead roars, melts the Iron Throne with his breath and flies away with Daenerys' body to parts unknown. Since he can't speak or explain himself, fans have come up with a variety of theories for his actions, both joking and serious.

Sometime later, after the snow has melted(while winters last years in Westeros, only months seem to have passed), Tyrion is brought to a meeting of the surviving lords in the same spot where he met with Cersei at the end of the previous season. Sansa asks where Jon is, and Grey Worm informs her that he's their prisoner. Basically, thousands of Northerners will not take kindly to Jon being executed, and thousands of Unsullied will object to him being freed, even though the latter should have suffered massive casualties. Yara, who's loyal to Daenerys, wants the Unsullied to punish Jon, whereupon Arya threatens to cut Yara's throat.

Davos tries to play peacemaker. He tries to appease Grey Worm(whom he calls by the less obviously insulting Valyrian version of his name) by offering him land in the Reach to start his own house.... forgetting that he's a eunuch. Grey Worm refuses to accept payment and still wants Jon's head. Tyrion tries to interject that it's not Grey Worm's decision, but Grey Worm angrily yells for him to shut up, saying they don't need to listen to him. Tyrion somberly agrees that he hasn't been much help but reiterates that the king or queen must decide Jon's fate. When Lord Yohn Royce of the Vale points out that there isn't one, Tyrion asks the most powerful people in Westeros to choose one, and Grey Worm reluctantly concurs.

Edmure Tully, who's head of House Tully, gets up and introduces himself, but his niece Sansa(his older sister's daughter) politely asks him to sit down and shut up. Sam proposes a democratic government but gets laughed at. It's obviously proof that a society like Westeros, in which few besides the maesters are literate, isn't ready for democracy, but perhaps Westeros would be well-served by a parliamentary body that serves as a check on the king's power..

Tyrion notes that he'd be a terrible king due to Daenerys' followers and foes hating him, but adds that he's thought about Westeros' bloody history while imprisoned. He wonders what unites people and concludes that it's stories. He then asks who has a better story than Bran the Broken.

Unsurprisingly, this ended up being one of the most unintentionally hilarious moments of the finale. In theory, Bran's story is the most interesting for the reasons Tyrion lives- falling out of a tower and being crippled, only to learn how to warg into ravens and fly, traveling north of the wall and becoming the Three-Eyed Raven- but in practice, Bran is one of the least interesting character and never even appeared in Season 5. As such, people have pointed out that practically anyone else would have a more

In all fairness, Tyrion points out that Bran has all the knowledge of the world. Sansa mentions that Bran can't father children and has no interest in ruling, but Tyrion remarks that he'll never give birth to any awful children like Joffrey. He then turns to Grey Worm and declares that Daenerys wanted to break this wheel. Turning back to the other lords and ladies, Tyrion decides that rulers won't inherit their positions but be chosen. He asks if Bran will be king, and Bran says yes, asking, "Why do you think I came all this way?" The lords vote in Bran's favor, meaning that Tyrion somehow convinced them to choose Bran while imprisoned for treason and wearing manacles to the meeting.

While Sansa supports Bran for king, she refuses to let the North be part of the Seven Kingdoms, and Bran tacitly accepts her request. This seems rather unwise considering that other places like Dorne and the Iron Islands might want independence, too, and could lead to them breaking off later.

Tyrion declares Bran king, and after everyone else cheers, Bran declares Tyrion his Hand. Bran notes that neither of them wants their position- in fact, Grey Worm doesn't want Tyrion to be Hand, either- but Bran declares that this is Tyrion's punishment. Grey Worm sullenly declares it's not enough.

Tyrion visits Jon in his cell, informing him that sending him to the Wall is the only compromise that won't start a war, even though no one's happy- Sansa wants Jon freed, while Grey Worm wants hm executed. Jon's incredulous that the Watch still exists, but Tyrion remarks that it's a good place to send bastards and criminals.

Jon asks if he did the right thing, since it doesn't feel that way. Tyrion shares responsibility for killing Daenerys, but replies, "Ask me again in ten years." Jon suspects they won't see each other again, but Tyrion believes he'll want to "piss off the edge of the world" after a few years as Hand of the King. I actually liked this scene, as it effectively gives the ending a sense of ambiguity as to whether the peace will last and whether the reforms will be for the best..

Jon goes to the harbor and glances at Grey Worm as he passes by. Grey Worm prepares to sail to Naath, possibly unaware of the poisonous butterflies there that kill non-natives.

Sansa laments that there's no way to help Jon, but Jon replies that the North is free thanks to her, and she can replace him as their ruler. Arya decides to go to parts unknown, rather than return home. Jon kneels before Bran and apologizes for not being there for him, but Bran replies that Jon was where he needed to be.

Brienne, now head of the Kingsguard, opens the Book of Brothers. She opens Jaime's entry and adds his accomplishments- seizing Riverrun, sacrificing Casterly Rock to trick Tyrion and take Highgarden, fighting against the Army of the Dead and dying trying to protect his queen.

A Small Council meeting begins with Tyrion as Hand, Davos as Master of Ships, Bronn as Master of Coin and Sam as Grand Maester. Tyrion proposes fulfilling the missing positions- Master of Whispers, Master of Laws and Master of War- within weeks. As for Drogon, he's still missing, something Bronn(who nearly got killed by him last season) is happy about, but Bran suggests he can find Drogon, although it's unclear why he's looking for Drogon or what he intends to do with the last known dragon. The Small Council then discusses their respective projects.

A montage shows where the other Starks are. Arya is sailing west of Westeros, Sansa is now Queen in the North and Jon is going north of the wall again, which bookends the start of the series.

Review

To answer my first question, no; it's bad. That being said, this episode has more than its share of problems, but it's about what we expected.

Part of the problem is that it's difficult to end a series like Game of Thrones. A completely happy ending is unrealistic, but a downer ending would make everything that happened seem pointless, and it would be difficult to find an ending that purists believe captures Martin's vision.

I'll concede that the ending succeeds at being bittersweet. For example, Jon kills Daenerys, likely preventing many massacres like the razing of King's Landing and saving many lives, but is unable to see his surviving siblings again. Unfortunately, it's all too easy to see the ending as being less hopeful than the writers intended, from the poisonous butterflies awaiting Grey Worm in Naath to the possibilities of other kingdoms following the North's example and seceding. Perhaps every ending leaves some room for the audience to imagine how things miight play out in the future, but in this case, it comes off as the writers not fully thinking things through.

As such, I give this episode four melted Iron Thrones out of five.