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Game of Throne season 8, episode 6: Jon Snow’s fitting end in the war for the Iron Throne

Last week, after Daenerys completed her transition from a doe-eyed chain breaker to a fire-eyed mad queen, I asked a few questions. The most important question regarding Jon Snow and his relationship with Daenerys since the events of “The Bells”.

The Question:
Is Jon now going to be compelled to get closer to Daenerys so that he can calm her down or will he be compelled to overthrow her because he’s seen her destructive capabilities?

Spoilers ahead

Jon Snow, Daenerys, Game of Thrones season 8

It turns out, my theory of Jon having the power to change Daenerys was not completely incorrect. I stated that due to his inability to provide a physical representation of his love to her, she decided to choose fear instead of opting to use love to gain power.

Daenerys burned down King’s Landing and destroyed Cersei and Jamie Lannister in the process and also murdering women and children. But, that wasn’t enough for her.

In the opening moments of the episode, “The Iron Throne”, Daenerys promises both the Dothraki and Unsullied that the war is not over and that they will break the wheel of the world.

This prompted Tyrion denounced his hand of the throne title and having already betrayed Daenerys by freeing Jamie, he was taken prisoner. During his imprisonment, he told Jon that Daenerys had to be killed because she turned into a tyrant.

It was Tyrion’s words that compelled Jon to approach Daenerys and ask her to change her approach to world domination. Unfortunately, Daenerys’ words made it all too apparent that she would continue to kill innocent people on her climb to victory.

Jon once again professed that she was his queen and with a passionate kiss, he stabbed her in the heart.

Shame.

While Jon’s hesitation to be with Daenerys may have contributed to her going mad, he used that “power of love” to comfort her to her death. She was literally begging him AGAIN to be with her and he believed that things would only get worse so he ended her life.

Drogan, Daenerys’ remaining dragon, senses her death and flies to her aide. Instead of attacking Jon who is holding her dead body, he burns down the Iron Throne symbolizing how futile the fight over the throne really was.

I did not see this coming. It came so early in the episode and it was so unexpected. Plus you find out later in the episode that Jon doesn’t flee the country. He’s imprisoned by Grey Worm and the Unsullied for killing their queen.

I usually try not to criticize creative decisions. However, I’m surprised Grey Worm didn’t kill Jon on the spot. Jon killed Daenerys and Grey Worm has been mourning the loss of Missandei. I would think that alone would be enough to take Jon out on site. They didn’t even fight. But he stayed a prisoner until the ladies and lords of the seven kingdoms were called to a meeting.

Grey Worm actually played a huge role at the end of the story. He brought Tyrion to the meeting where Tyrion was able to suggest a form of democracy to determine a new king or queen for the seven kingdoms.

The group ended up choosing Bran the Broken as the new king because he holds the stories of their history. And judging by Brans comments that he only came to King’s Landing to be king, I’m thinking he saw this coming.

Even Sansa reluctantly gave her approval, though she and the North will stay an independent nation because we all know Sansa was not about to let the story end without being some sort of queen.

Another thing I did not see coming was Tyrion making it through Daenerys’ rather and becoming the hand to Bran the Broken. So Tyrion Lannister is now going to be an aide to the king once again. He’s the only Lannister that made it through the Game of Thrones.

The real victors of the Game of Thrones turned out to be the Starks. Sansa ends the series as Queen of the North because she won’t bend the knee even to her brother. Arya opts to head west of Westeros and discover the world. Bran is the king and he rules that Jon will go back to the Knights Watch as punishment for his crimes.

I guess it was fitting that Jon ends up where he’s most comfortable, back in the North. He’s reunited with Tormund and Ghost. To be honest, sending him to the Night’s Watch does not seem like much of a punishment because technically if the whole Night King situation hadn’t happened he would still be there anyway.

Honorable mention to Brienne of Tarth. She went out of her way to finish documenting Jamie Lannisters life in the White book of Names. The final words she wrote about him were that he died fighting for his queen. Grey Worm also took the Unsullied to Naath like he promised Missandei. I thought that was sweet.

And that’s it. Game of Thrones is over.

Catch up with all the previous recaps using this link.

Game of Thrones season 8, episode 5: The real reason Daenerys goes mad

Last night I watched my suspicions about Danerys come true. Usually, when she does something so destructive there is a clear reason. It just seemed so out of character. In fact, everyone seemed out of character during ‘The Bells’ episode and it left me, Jon Snow, and a lot of other viewers confused.

As always, I suggest you watch the episode in full because spoilers are below.

Spoilers ahead

Let’s start at the beginning of the episode. Lord Varys made it known last week that he planned to put Jon in position to be king of the Seven Kingdoms. He has a rightful claim to the throne, but more specifically because he has the better temperament to lead and people like him so they will follow.

Okay, that makes sense. Daenerys’ actions have been questionable lately and based on the trauma she’s dealt with (losing her dragon, Jorah, and Missandre and Jon not returning her affections), she is a bit unstable. She hasn’t given herself time to mourn and she isn’t making decisions with a sound mind.

But here is where I get lost.

Tyrion sees Varys confront Jon about being king and instead of going to Daenerys and saying some people know and advising to take actions that give confidence that she is better for the throne, he goes to her and says Varys betrayed you.

Tyrion at this point knew Daenerys was on her breaking point. Yet he actually gave her a reason to kill Varys. He’s been handling his duties all wrong causing her not to trust his judgment, which she tells him in episode 2 of this season. Tyrion made another bad call which acted as her stepping stool to burn Kings Landing to the ground later in the episode.

That being said, I really think Jon could have stopped all of this from happening. How? We all know how. Daenerys has been trying to be intimate with Jon for the last two weeks since she found out they were relatives.

Incest clearly makes Jon uncomfortable which is why he’s backed off of her that way. But, a man knows when his woman is about to go off the deep end.

Jon clearly knew or had assumptions that she was unstable and instead of trying to talk her off the ledge, he reaffirmed his loyalty to her. He also told her he loved her. But, once she tries to get close he shoves her away.

Which made it worse because in Daenerys’ mind if you love me then you should be intimate with me.

Jon’s inability to show her affection based on reasons (she’s his aunt) is the real reason why she burned Kingslanding to the ground.

Jon, it’s all your fault. Your inability to return her love is the reason she’s gone mad.

In Daenerys mind, she knows the people will follow Jon because they love him and she thinks that she is only feared. She tells Jon this and even though he doesn’t want the throne, it’s inevitable.

What if Daenerys decided, once she heard the bells of surrender ring from the castle, to burn it all down so that there is nothing left to rule.

It’s clear that at this point she’s lost the ability to reason, she doesn’t trust her advisors, and without Jon’s affections, she doesn’t feel loved. So now, burn the kingdom down, let the pieces fall where they may, and start fresh.

Other notes:

I can’t believe Arya is not dead! She literally was trampled by horses, smashed by a falling building, and engulfed in Daenerys’ fire while trying to escape Kings Landing. But, she is still alive.

I was not expecting Cersi and Jamie to go out like that. I thought Cersei had more of a plan, but I guess not. She went out like a mouse. It was a little sad though once the end came for her and Jamie.

Also, Sandor ‘the Hound’ Clegane and Gregor ‘the Mountain’ Clegane finally settled their odds going out in dragon fire. They had a cool exchange before it was all over with during Clegane Bowl.

My questions:

Is Jon now going to be compelled to get closer to Daenerys so that he can calm her down or will he be compelled to overthrow her because he’s seen her destructive capabilities?

What happens now that Kings Landing is destroyed?

What role will Sansa and Bran play in the story now that Kings Landing is destroyed?

Is Arya going to kill Daenerys for her actions?

Arya claimed that she was going to kill the queen. Maybe now her attention is drawn to Daenerys. Also, apparently in the television series Daenerys has green eyes, but George R.R Martin’s books explain that she has purple eyes. Hopefully, that’s not used as a workaround to let Arya kill her.

I guess we’ll see in the final episode next week.

Game of Thrones season 8, episode 4: Is Sansa right about Daenerys? (last weeks episode)

Game of Thrones season 8 episode 3: Winterfell for the win (spoilers)

I watched 98% of Game of Thrones season 8 episode 3, The Long Night with my mouth slightly ajar because there were so many moments of anticipation, frustration, unbelief, and brilliance.

Last week, I was able to point out specific things that stuck out to me in my blog Game of Thrones season 8 episode 2: Daenerys we have a problem. This week I was pretty much stunned the entire episode. With that being said as always, I advise you watch the episode for yourself before reading. I won’t hit everything, but I will talk about most things.

Spoilers ahead

Initially, when the episode began I was filled with dread. In my head, everyone was going to bite the big one and then as soon as I saw Sam that pretty much confirmed he was going down first.

BUT THEN…

Melisandre showed up with her lord of light chants and lite the Dothraki swords on fire. Honestly, Melisandre played a huge roll in this war. I figured out that with her help it would be Winterfell for the win.

The Red Woman with the assist.

However, the episode actually started to ramp up and of course the Dothraki got run over by the Night King’s army of the undead and that’s all folks.

The Night King made me so mad the entire episode! In theory, Daenerys and Jon’s plan should have worked. Two dragons should be able to overwhelm one dragon dead or alive. But, the Night King decided he was going to bring a huge snow storm with him which made it easier for him to thrive on his dragon in the fight.

Did we know that he could conjure snow storms?

Eventually, the Night King fell off his dragon and hit the ground and Daenerys called out “Dracarys”!

I knew it wasn’t over but she was convincing.

Mind you the war is raging on and Sam, Jorah, Brienne, Jamie, Tormund, the Hound, Gendry, Beric, Grey Worm, and Arya are just stabbing and scratching to stay alive. I started to swell up with tears. But the best part of the fight was when Beric realized Arya was better than all of them.

Let’s stay with Arya for a moment. She shined like the beautiful butterfly assassin that she is. There’s a moment when the Hound is frozen and hopeless and Arya is tearing through the zombies. Eventually that does catch up with her though.

Okay, back to the Night King.

Jon Snow’s only mission is to kill the Night King. When he finally gets a chance the Night King initiates the biggest cheat code ever! He just raises a whole new dead army.

A WHOLE NEW ARMY!

He raised so many dead people that they started falling out of the sky. But he was too smug and that was his down fall. He finally got to Bran in the garden.

Bigger spoilers ahead

Sadly Theon Greyjoy didn’t make it. He fought brave though and I think he really redeemed himself. Jorah Mormont and Lyanna Mormont both went out in a blaze of glory. Edd died being a protector. Beric and Melisandre both played a crucial part in setting up the final act before they died.

Here’s where the Night King messed up. He was so blood thirsty to kill Bran that he missed an important another Stark.

ARYA! Arya for the win!

Arya legit blind sided the Night King and stabbed him in the heart! He broke into a million snow flakes and his army just dropped dead again! It was amazing!

I did not see that coming.

This episode was so good. I didn’t even talk about everything. I’m still trying to wrap my head around half of what I saw. I am surprised the Bran didn’t keel over after Arya stabbed the Night King. I guess that theory about them being connected is on the shelf for now.

Is the Night King really dead?

Probably.

Serious Questions:

Bran is still alive, so Cersei is next at least in Daenerys’ eyes. So will Bran be this huge cheat code to help them take Kings Landing?

Jamie is still alive, so will he flip back to Cersei’s side now that the Night King is dead? Or will he bend the knee to Daenerys?

What other threats can Bran see coming?

What about Jon and Daenerys? Does that even matter at this point

What happens next?

4 shocking events in Game of Thrones season 8, episode 1

This episode set up a lot of stuff. With only 6 episodes, I’m glad we got the ball running early.

I am not going to spoil the whole episode of Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 1. However, I will say that a few spoils. Please make sure you’ve watched it before you read this.

This entire episode was a shock fest, but I’m going to list a few instances that blew me away the most and caused me the most questions.

spoilers ahead

  1. Cersei Lannister drinking wine
    • Aren’t you pregnant? That’s what you told me last season, Cersei! I get needing to wine up before getting physical with Euron Greyjoy, but let’s be consistent. Cersei is at least known for loving her children, as weird as the relationship might be. So, why would she willing to chance something happening to her unborn child.
    • Unless she said that last season in an effort to gain Tyrion’s sympathy and she’s not really pregnant.
    • I think she probably is. It felt a little too ironic when Euron said, ” I’m going to put a prince in your belly”. Cersei smerked like… too late bro!
  2. Sansa Stark vs, Daenerys Targaryen
    • I know I’m not the only one expecting Daenerys and Sansa to exchange words this season! The tension was so thick. And I’m pretty sure Sansa’s feelings about Daenerys are echoed by the citizens of the North. When she and Jon road in on their horses the crowd had a collective stank face side eye for everyone in the parade.
    • I don’t know what Daenerys thought was going to happen. You’re not from the North, and you’re not married to the King of the North so…. who are you again? At least that’s what everyone but Jon Snow is feeling right now.
    • Also, I can’t forget to mention that she told Jon that Sansa has to respect her… or. If I’m Jon then my next question is … or what?
    • Plus, she already killed Sam’s brother and father. Was she trying to threaten the same to Jon’s sister?
  3. Hinting Marriage
    • Tyrion, Davos, and Lord Varys where pretty much trying to figure out how to get the people of the North to accept Daenerys and they suggested marriage. But then, Jon and Daenerys flew off on her dragons. I think that is a hint that they will join in union of marriage. I also think that this image was a foreshadowing of how they will ride into battle verses the Night King.
  4. Samwell Tarley is blunt with Jon Snow
    • When Bran told Sam to tell Jon about his lineage, I thought we were going to have to wait as long as we did for winter to come. Surprising Sam told Jon with 5 minutes left in the episode. I think he didn’t hesitate because he is definitely pissed that Daenerys didn’t have mercy on his father and brother when they didn’t bend the knee.
    • He basically approached Jon saying, I know you wouldn’t have done that. You deserve to be King. Of course Jon is still reluctant for that title. But, Sam is over it and just tells him the truth.
    • So now the marriage situation is even more awkward. How will Jon tell her? Will she mirror Cersei and kill him for threatening her throne, even though he bent the knee to her already?

Honorable mention to Jamie Lannister on his crusade for redemption. Now he’s got to face Daenerys because he killed her dad. But, he’s only here to help so next week we’ll see if Daenerys is able to contain her rage. She’s been a little wrath-y lately.

Game of Thrones airs Sunday nights at 9 pm on HBO! I’ll be doing the same thing next week. Check back here for more thoughts.

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