Let’s talk about that Game of Thrones Ending…
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD
Game of Thrones is one of my favorite shows of all time. The story, the world building, the cast (many of whom were relatively unknown before the show), the cinematography; all of these elements kept me watching and re-watching episodes and scenes until I knew some of the most minute details in the show. And like many other fans, I was extremely disappointed by season 8.
The internet is asking for the heads of D&D, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, the co-creators of the show. Many people are saying the entire plot made no sense and should have completely different. In fact, there’s a video on YouTube that has gone viral that suggests a completely different, yet quite satisfying ending to the show.
However, George R.R. Martin, the writer of the book series off which the show is based, has confirmed that the show follows the main plot points of the ending he envisioned. So, without changing the larger plot too much, I wanted to outline some things the show runners could have done differently to make the events of the last season seem far more believable. I honestly feel that these two changes could have more or less salvaged season 8 in the eyes of the show’s loyal fanbase.
1. The Night King should have won the battle of Winterfell for at least an episode
One of the most disappointing parts of season 8 is how underwhelming the Night King was as a threat to our heroes. After building up the white walkers for nearly 10 years, we do not see any of them, let alone the Night King, fight in the Battle of Winterfell. Instead, the heroes mostly just held off the wights, and despite having completely ridiculous strategies like having the Dothraki charge head-first into the enemy, somehow nearly all of the main characters survive (Sam was the most egregious considering he was piled on by wights over and over and has zero aptitude for combat). Theon was probably the only character who got a fitting ending, especially considering Jorah died fighting for a queen who massacres innocents a few episodes later (but more on that below).
I believe this battle would have been far more satisfying if the battle was split into two shorter episodes instead of one long episode. After the first episode, the Night King would “win”. A couple more main characters (some combination of Sam, Brienne, Davos, Tormund) would be dead, and the episode would end with the shot of the Night King reviving all the humans his soldiers had just killed in order to strengthen his army ever further. Then, in the second episode, the plot would mostly proceed the same, with Arya killing the Night King. Although I’m not the biggest fan of this decision, as I said above, I’m trying to keep the major plot points the same. However, there would be a far-more satisfying payoff if Arya did so by taking the face of a white walker. That would explain how she was able to sneak up on the Night King in the first place, and if they showed Arya fighting said white walker in a prior scene, we’d also get to see at least some human vs white walker action.
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The main effect of splitting up this fight into two shorter episodes is what I like to call the “wall clock” effect. Even though the battle would still be one night in the Games of Thrones world, viewers would have to go a whole week in the real world wondering how the heroes are going to eventually get out of this seemingly hopeless situation. People would share theories with their friends and co-workers about how the big bad Night King would eventually be defeated. All of this buildup would make the Night King feel like a far bigger threat to our heroes than he actually did in the end given he came and went in just one real-world 80 minute span. And given how much hype he’s had, he deserved at least that much.
2. Daenerys’ descent into madness should have been far more spontaneous
Many fans, including me, found it hard to believe that Daenerys would decide to burn all of King’s Landing and kill millions of innocent people after the Lannister soldiers had already surrendered. The reason this was so hard to accept was because Daenerys’ character change happened so quickly. In the span of two episodes after the battle of winterfell, Emilia Clarke is tasked with convincing the viewers that Daenerys’ jealousy of Jon’s popularity, the deaths of Rhaegal and Missandei, and Varys’ betrayal drove her to madness. I can understand how Daenerys felt extremely alone in the world, given her lover’s refusal to be intimate with her and everyone she trusted either dying or betraying her. However, given how Daenerys’ spent the vast part of the show helping and freeing innocent people, it’s still a hard pill to swallow.
What would have made it a bit easier to digest though is if D&D had added a bit more spontaneity to her murderous rampage. My idea would be to keep Rhaegal alive until the invasion of King’s Landing (let’s be honest, his death was super underwhelming anyway). Daenerys would use both Drogon and Rhaegal to easily overwhelm the Lannister forces (as she did with just Drogon in actuality). Then, once the Lannister soldiers surrendered and rang the bells, Daenerys would ground her two dragons to celebrate. At this moment, one of the Lannister soldiers would fire a surprise Scorpion arrow at a stationary Rhaegal’s head, killing him instantly in a shock twist. This would reveal that Cersei had instructed her soldiers to feign surrender, only to strike a surprise blow. Enraged at this deceit and the death of her child, Dany would likely come to the conclusion that Cersei, and by extension, the city, would never surrender. She would have to take extreme measures to win the Iron Throne.
This version of events would have made Dany’s reaction and subsequent horrific actions feel a lot more natural. It would have been understable (but still not forgivable in the eyes of someone like Jon) that in the adrenaline-filled moment, she was unable to reign in her emotions. What I can’t accept is the version illustrated by the show, where Dany chooses to do this even after having time to weigh the situation before the invasion.
The scenario I suggested also would have made it clear to the viewers that Cersei did indeed have a plan (feigning surrender to kill Rhaegal) even if it wouldn’t be enough in the end. Given Cersei has been the mastermind of so many schemes in the show, she would have come up with something at least this conniving if not far worse.
Final Thoughts
There are so many more things about the show’s final season that left a bad taste in my mouth: Jon’s heritage and Varys’ message revealing the secret leading to nothing, Bran becoming the king out of nowhere, Jaime’s character arc quite ironically being thrown out the window, and how the Dothraki and Unsullied don’t seem to be more upset at the murder of their queen. Many of these could have been handled differently or at least explained to the viewers better if D&D had been willing to make more episodes (and it seems HBO was more than willing to let them do so). Having said that, Game of Thrones is still one of the greatest shows ever aired. It had some of the most captivating dialogue and acting I’d ever seen in a tv show, and even though some moments were so hard to watch (Oberyn’s death takes the cake easily), I kept coming back for more. And all is not lost now that we have a new King in the North:
