Game of Thrones: 8.06 The Iron Throne

[svalbard]

The ending to the Sopranos was genius. Quite possibly the Greatest Ending Of All Time. It was perfect.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Let's remember that just because you've watched a show to the end, doesn't mean to say that everyone else has - so when talking about endings in other shows, let's have spoiler tags, please!

 

[Koopa]

The more time passes, the more certain i am off how hard done the show and series was by it's final (and penultimate) season.
As harsh as that petition was, the sentiment behind it was not wrong. The writing for the last 2 seasons was appaling.

 

[picklematrix]

The ending to the Sopranos was genius. Quite possibly the Greatest Ending Of All Time. It was perfect.

Agreed. I Can't think of a better way to top of a story.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Finally watched this on DVD (which came out a shockingly long time after airing on TV). On Sansa: her father got executed in King's Landing and her oldest brother died fighting as the King of the North, so that's understandable, I think.

Sad that there weren't more seasons to flesh out some important points. Daenerys going rather brutal seemed forced (or, at least, too quick).

Likewise, Winter could've been rather longer.

All that said, I've enjoyed the show an awful lot as a whole.

Oh, and I really liked the Mountain versus the Hound.

 

[Ursa major]

which came out a shockingly long time after airing on TV

For the first few seasons, the DVDs didn't arrive until February (so almost a year after transmission, given that the first show in a season used to be broadcast in April). Thankfully, we've had the last few of them in time for Christmas, so I watched the first three episodes on Christmas Day, and the last three yesterday.

Now I knew what was going to happen before I loaded the first disc -- I thought it pointless not to follow what was happening (so read the Grauniad's weekly episode summaries, as I've done every season), as I prefer to find** out things in the correct order rather than randomly and out of context -- but still fully enjoyed this season.

But perhaps that "but" should be an "and": knowing what was coming allowed me to recognise lots (perhaps even all?) of the signposts pointing to what was going to happen. Because of this, I felt in no way cheated... although, of course, I'd have preferred the season to have been longer because, well, I enjoyed watching it and would have gladly watched more if they'd made more.


** - I saw this as no more than an extension of having read the books before watching the show: knowing what was in the books (and in far, far greater detail than could be in an article per episode in a newspaper) didn't spoil my enjoyment at all, even when the show was being more or less faithful to the source material.

 

[Ursa major]

it looks like he's going to be rubbish, off warging all the time whilst his small council rules

This is what happens here in the UK and (with a slightly different arrangement of personnel) in your own country: a separation between the head of state and the head of government, the former being the protector of the memory of the state (i.e. tradition) and the latter making the present-day decisions. As we saw in the meeting of the Small Council, there's even the genesis of cabinet government in the Six Kingdoms (something of which we see less today in the UK, but as that's trespassing on politics, I won't pursue that here...).

There are also real world precedents for elective monarchy, current examples including Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Point of order: we had elective monarchy here too, over a thousand years ago. The witan (unsure if that needs to be capitalised) selected the kings of Wessex and, later, England.

 

[Ursa major]

If you follow the link I provided, you'll find that the Witenaġemot (witena ġemōt) is mentioned, the Witan being the members of the Witenaġemot.

 

[svalbard]

Point of order: we had elective monarchy here too, over a thousand years ago. The witan (unsure if that needs to be capitalised) selected the kings of Wessex and, later, England.

Great point and something that is largely forgotten.

Here in Ireland we had the old system of the Tainiste, where an heir was elected from the ruling heads of the clan families. This lead to an almost perpetual state of warfare. It survives today in that in our government as the No 2 is still called The Tainiste, without the bloody strife. We are so civilised these days.

 

[Foxbat]

In Scotland, people just kept on murdering each other until the king/queen was the only one left. We call it Malky

 

[Ursa major]

We call it Malky

Was that Malky I, Malky II, Malky III or Malky IV...?

 

[BT Jones]

I loved how they showed Drogon's intelligence. Rather than blaming Jon for Dany's death, Drogon understood that it was the fighting over the iron throne that ruined Dany. Drogon melting the throne was a great statement.

Yes, Lotte and @REBerg, I think this was one of the most poignant moments in the entire show; that a dragon could recognise that it's 'mother's' obsession with the throne was what ultimately killed her (and its two siblings). Brilliant.

I am obviously a very latecomer with respect to Game of Thrones. Only started watching it a couple of years ago (I was never one for hype).

Overall, I was reasonably happy with the show, and pleasantly surprised Season 8 wasn't the bomb (obsessive) people seemed to be accusing it of being. I would give S8 a solid 7/10 overall, although I felt it peaked in episode 2 and went slightly downhill thereafter, culminating in episode 6 which was probably the least enjoyable episode of the entire series for me; not so much for the writers' choices (which I was generally fine with apart from the strange choice to have Jon captured by Greyworm rather than killed - they could have had a more plausible scene where he sought to flee the capital and there was a fight between the Unsullied and the Northmen, although this would likely have led to a civil war), but more for the general flatness of the episode's second half. I thought it tied all the loose ends up rather well (and I was happy to see democracy win out), but was just a little bit dull, and didn't have an air or feel befitting the end of one of the most watched TV shows of all time.

I think season 7 might have been my favourite overall.

Looking forward to House of the Dragon.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Interesting to read a counter-perspective. I do think things would've been far better if the eager-to-leave showrunners had just left and new people had taken a few more seasons.

 

[svalbard]

Interesting to read a counter-perspective. I do think things would've been far better if the eager-to-leave showrunners had just left and new people had taken a few more seasons.

I agree. Not too sure of the politics in HBO but I would have thought they would have wanted 10 seasons. Did the showrunners have some rights to the production?

 

[thaddeus6th]

I think George RR Martin wanted even more than that.

No idea about rights but that might explain why they couldn't/wouldn't just leave and new people could've taken over. In a way, it's remarkable that some notion of character and writing didn't rub off on them during the first four seasons. The following three were not as good, but not dreadful, yet the conclusion was a masterclass in how not to do it.