Just watched season 8 of GoT for the first time, here are my thoughts

Welcome back to part 8 of my series (part 7 is here) that has documented my journey through my first watch of GoT. I just finished season 8, so let's go through my likes and dislikes.

Before I delve into the negatives that this season has, I'd like to touch on the few positives a bit, so let's do that first:

1. I think Varys had a believable, compelling conclusion to his story. I think it's very poetic that the Spider, Varys, was able to stay true to himself until his inevitable death. I've made this comparison a few times, but I love that Varys and Littlefinger seem to be the same person, but on completely opposite sides of the spectrum. LF was a power-hungry manipulator that capitalized on chaos, and he remained like that until his plot to destroy the Starks and take the North caught up to him. Varys, on the other hand, worked in the shadows as the one that would spread the news (and not so much write the letters), shying away from chaos, as chaos often led to a lack of honor, something Varys held in high regard. I love that the reason Varys ended up opposing Dany was bc her desire for chaos left her unpredictable and dishonorable. The line where he says that he doesn't know which side of the coin Dany will land on, but he knows which side Jon already did land on, perfectly described Varys as a character. He supported the man that was predictable and honorable, which eventually led to his demise. I think that was great.
2. I actually think that the whole Jaime/Brienne thing was great (I'll get to Jaime's decision to re-join Cersei in a little bit, don't worry). Was I rooting for the homie Tormund to end up with the 'Big Woman?' Absolutely. But that woulda only made sense for Tormund, not so much for Brienne. Brienne is a woman of honor, a woman that treats others with the same respect that they treat her with. To Tormund, Brienne was nothing but a trophy. Brienne didn't want that. She wanted to be with someone that she respected, and to a certain extent, looked up to. Also, her and Jaime's story together was incredible. The fact that she basically despised him and viewed him only as a mission, to then respect him for protecting her against the men that were planning on taking advantage of her was beautifully done, and I think the payoff was satisfying when they eventually played together. The same goes for Jaime as well. Brienne was one of the very few people in the world that didn't see Jaime as a culmination of his accolades, but as a person that had to deal with the repercussions of his actions. She also realized that even tho he shouldn't have, Jaime did care deeply about what others thought of him. S even tho she knew how great Jaime was, she knew that he would've wanted his achievements kept in the book that tells the story of all the great leaders of the Kingsguard, which goes to show how well the two knew each other. I do still feel bad for Tormund tho, the twinkle in dude's eye when he saw the Big Woman was always hilarious.
3. The Clegane ending was an absolute thing of beauty. I give a lot of credit to the score and camera work during the Hound and the Mountain's fight, cuz even tho Gregor didn't speak, the viewer could tell what he was thinking and how it was affecting Sandor in both the music choice and the parallel editing that worked alongside Arya's departure from the chaos in the Red Keep.
4. Speaking of Arya, to me, her driving force throughout the story has been her search for a purpose. All the way back in season 1, she had something of an identity crisis when she did not want to be what everyone else expected her to be, a Lady of Winterfell. Arya's search for her own sense of self drove her for the following seasons to come. She jumped around from Tywin's cupbearer, to the Hound's bargaining piece, and to one of Jaqen's faceless students (notice that she always found herself surrounded by men, as the life she desired was one that a man would normally have). The one constant for Arya is that she was always preoccupied and driven by the names on her list. This list is what gave Arya's life purpose, and once all the names on her list had been checked off by the end of the series, she needed to find a new purpose, that purpose hopefully to be found "West of Westeros." That's why I like that she didn't go back to Winterfell with Sansa at the end of the finale, bc even though Arya might be a Stark by name, she is lone wolf (like Nymeria) by heart.
5. I love that Theon's story actually came to a very satisfying close. I was so anti-Theon after season 2 it's crazy, so I couldn't be more overjoyed that he was able to redeem himself and sacrifice himself as a way to apologize for his past actions. A truly heartbreaking ending to one of the most heart-wrenching characters in the show. It's even more satisfying when you realize Theon actually got an ending, as opposed to so many others in this series getting their stories cut short by the desires of others (Robb, Ned, Robert, Renly).

Okay, that's just about all the positives that specifically stuck out to me enough that I wanted to write about them. Now, let's get into the many, many, many negatives that this season had:

1. I thought that the first two episodes of this season were actually pretty good. The scene in front of the fire before the Long Night with Tyrion, Davos, Brienne etc. was great. I loved seeing characters that hadn't interacted much in the series so far have the opportunity to just be themselves a bit before the approaching battle began. The issue with these first two episodes of the season being the good, slow burn that we've come to know GoT can be, is that the remaining four episodes in the season were so incredibly rushed it made my head spin. I have absolutely no issue with Dany having a Mad Queen storyline (if anything, I like it), but that storyline shoulda been like four seasons, not four episodes. I'm sure that there was a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff that went into the decision to rush the final season (I know about D.B. and David rushing GoT for Star Wars), but if you know that you're not gonna be able to tell your story in the best way you can, then why tell it at all? The last four episodes were so jam-packed with story story story, that there was no time to pump the brakes for a second and actually give the characters a chance to show why they were making the decisions they were making, rather than just making them.
2. Imma tangent here for like two seconds, so bear with me: The reason that final boss villains in ATLA and Star Wars work so well is bc they have other villains to build them up. On their own, Ozai and Sidious are pretty cookie-cutter as far as villains go, but they are propelled by their less powerful, more charismatic underlings (Azula and Vader). I think that's the reason why the White Walkers fell so flat for me. I was just as scared of the AotD as the next guy when they were introduced, but with no substance or explanation for their evil, I realized that I was forcing myself to care about them, rather than just naturally caring about them. I mean, not one of them said a single word. Not one! How am I supposed to care about and fear such a seemingly terrifying army if I have no idea why they're doing what they're doing? And if there isn't any reason for them to attack humanity other than 'world domination,' then that isn't a great motive either.
3. So, ummm, why was Arya the one that killed the Night King? Arya's my favorite character in the entire show, so I def was hyped for her, but it doesn't really make any sense, nor does it fit the narrative the show had been hinting at for seasons and seasons. To me, there were only two people that it woulda made sense if they killed the Night King: Jon and/or Bran. It was drilled so far into our skulls that Jon was basically humanity's expert on WWs. He had fought them at Hardhome, he had captured one in an all-or-nothing attempt to get Cersei to see the beasts that threatened mankind, and he is one of the most technically gifted swordsman in the world. So why didn't he kill the Night King if he was talked up so much as the direct counter to the WWs, especially since he had his Valeryian steel sword? And why wasn't it Bran either? Bran's character definitely took a major dip post season 4 (as did many others), but his one constant ever since then was his connection to the WWs as the Three-Eyed Raven. Just as Cersei was Dany's direct enemy, it really looked like the Night King was Bran's direct enemy ever since he marked Bran before the WWs attacked the tree and the Children of the Forest Bran and co were hiding out with. Signs were definitely pointing toward Bran being the one to have the sort of mystical power that could kill the Night King, yet for some reason he wasn't the one to do it.
4. I did some brief research on the whole 'Euron and the Iron fleet somehow sneak-attacking Dany and her fleet even tho Dany was flying' and I saw that plenty of people have complained about it, so I see no need to add any fuel to the already monster-sized fire. But bruh c'mon that was goofy.
5. Jaimeee. Dude, if you love something, let it go. Jaime's whole arc in this show was incredible. The snarky daddy's boy with more money than he knew what to do with, to the Stark captive, then up to Brienne's captive and eventual savior, then back down to Cersei's right-hand-man, and eventually back up when he joined in the fight for Winterfell (I simplified his story a bit, but you get the idea), it was remarkable. His redemption arc was phenomenally done, so then why was it all thrown away in the end? Why did he seem so in love with Brienne if he was just gonna go back to Cersei anyway? If he still loves Cersei, fine, it makes sense that he wouldn't be able to immediately drop his feelings for the person he's been with since day one, but that doesn't mean it makes sense for him to climb back into his sister's arms in her final moments. I truly felt that his night with Brienne was meant to signify him moving on from Cersei, being the opposite of Cersei laying with Euron yet still not moving on from Jaime. But no. Instead, Jaime was knocked right back down to Cersei's level right before they died, completely throwing away all the hard work the story had done in giving the audience a convincing redemption arc on such a troubled character.
6. The Mad Queen mini-arc infuriates me so much. Dany's story has been, albeit not my favorite in the series, one of the most compelling for sure. She went from an in over her head girl, to an immature Khalessi, to the freaking breaker of chains. Dany had slowly but surely grown throughout the series. Her triumphs were glorious and her pitfalls were devastating. She wasn't an all-knowing, only-makes-the-right-decision character, and I love that. I love that she was imperfect. I love that the reason she was young and immature is why she surrounded herself by such trusted advisors. I hate, however, that she just stopped listening to her advisors toward the end of season 7 for no reason. She didn't think things through, and her impulsive actions did not seem to be justified in any way, shape, or form. She took everything so personally, and worst of all, she didn't learn from her mistakes. The Sons of the Harpy and the wisemen of Meereen went against her bc of how hastily she took over their land, which led to Civil War. So what changes did Dany make when taking over King's Landing? None. She walked into the capital, reeked havoc, again, faced adversity, again, mercilessly killed the opposition, again, and got pushback from her own people, again. Good characters learn from, and grow from their mistakes, they grow into more complete versions of themselves, they don't simply cower back into their shell and resort to the same thoughts and ideas that had given them trouble before.
7. You mean to actually tell me that Jon really did love Dany this whole time? I'm sorry if this comes off as stubborn, but I REFUSE to believe that. Throughout this whole series Jon has been nothing but reasonable. He reasoned with Ygritte to allow him into Wildling country, he reasoned with the Wildlings to try and make peace with the Night's Watch, he reasoned with the men of the NW to consider the Wildlings allies in the eventual war against the AotD, he reasoned with Stannis to keep the NW uninvolved in his quest to take Winterfell, and he reasoned with Dany in his plea to mine Dragonstone for Dragonglass. So why in God's green earth did the reasonable Jon Snow that we've all come to know and love suddenly have the an IQ equivalent to that of a chicken tender? He couldn't see that Dany was starting to slip off the deep end? You mean to tell me he was so blinded by his love for the woman that despised his family that he couldn't see past her craziness? No. Jon did not love Dany. I refuse to believe it. My head canon is that he viewed Dany as a lesser of two evils. Like they say, it's better to work with the devil you know than the devil you don't. Maybe it wasn't until Jon really saw Dany's evil side that he realized his 'love' for her was not actually for Dany, but a necessary evil love for the protection of his people in the North. Oh, and I don't wanna forget this, TYRION LOVED DANY TOO? Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
8. So I just watched about 73 hours of some of the most insanely impressive storytelling in existence and you mean to tell me BRAN is the one he becomes King at the end of it? Look, I don't think that Bran would be a bad king. If anything, I actually think he'd make a pretty good one. He's impartial as the Three-Eyed Raven, willing to accept the help from his advisors, and did not seek out the power, but had it gifted to him. Those are great attributes for a ruler to have. But there are plenty of others that have those attributes as well. Jon, Davos, Tyrion, Sam, and Sansa, to name a few. But does that mean that all of them should be King/Queen? NO! It makes no sense for the story to conclude with Bran of all people being the one left in charge. And look, I actually really like Bran. Early on, he was one of my favorite characters, right behind Arya and Tyrion. But cmon. Him being King is so silly. I can't even call it lazy writing, cuz I'm sure D.B. and David really had to scratch their heads to make this work in their minds, but it did not pan out at all. Jon is so obviously the right choice to rule it's not even funny. "But the Unsullied would never listen to Jon bc he killed Dany." Ok, and? The Unsullied are now obsolete. There is no need for soldiers like them anymore now that the world is enjoying a temporary peace. Jon is a hero. He saved the world from the Mad Queen and he gets repaid by being sent to the NW and joining the Wildlings. The only positive that comes from that is that Jon and Tormund can bro out now. BUT THAT DOES NOT take away from how blasphemous it is that BRAN ends up as King.

For the last time, here are my favorite characters from this season. I'm not gonna give a whole spiel since I already talked about them above, but here goes: Varys, Tormund, Theon

And my least favorite characters from this season: Danaerys, the Night King

I truly appreciate all of you that have read my updates and followed along with my journey through this show. I'm gonna take some time to think about my thoughts on the overall series and come back soon to write my full-show review. I would do it now, but those last three episodes really rubbed me the wrong way, so I just need a bit of a break.

If you have any Qs please feel free to ask away in the comments. I'd be more than happy to give as well-thought-out of a response as I can. Thanks for reading this monster of a post. And lastly, all hail the Queen in the North!

Submitted April 08, 2023 at 02:48AM by joesica7 https://ift.tt/5OcQVPm