A Year of Thrones: Game of Thrones, Season 8

In 2018 I resolved to read George R.R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire and watch HBO’s Game of Thrones, both series. It only seemed right, then, that I finish off my “Year of Thrones” with Season 8, even though it is well after my year ended.

Why I Chose it: I had tried watching the series a few times and only ever reached the half-way point of the first season. Then I was in Calgary visiting my friend, and she wanted to watch Game of Thrones. I was curious to see it, and it was fantastic. I had to know everything that happened. But I’m not just satisfied with the TV show. I love to know all the details from the books too. I expect this is going to be a momentous task, and I hope I’m up for the challenge.

If you haven’t seen the series, there will be spoilers as we go along. If you have seen it, I’d love to hear what you think in the comments.

Episode 1 – Winterfell

This was a decent set-up for what’s to come. Bran is just weird and cryptic, which is annoying but fine. I thought too much time was spent with Jon and Danaerys flying the dragons. I know the point was to emphasize to us that Jon is a Targaryen because only Targaryens can fly dragons. Given there are only six episodes in this season, every second counts and this could have been shortened. However, I did enjoy that when Jon and Dany are kissing, Drogon (I think? I could never keep them straight) growls like a dog protecting his mama.

Two other points on this episode. That bit with Lord Umber at the end, when he’s been killed and then he wakes up as a wight and screams, was amazing and horrifying. I really want to know what the symbols mean! The other is that I liked the encounter between Bran and Jaime. It just kind of brought them full circle, though there really wasn’t anywhere it could go.

Episode 2 – A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Apparently obsidian can be melted and reformed into weapons. That’s a fun thing to know. Magic, I guess? A preparation episode was inevitable when you’re gearing up for a battle with the undead. I kind of liked the reminiscing. I felt their anxiety, their anticipation that they may not make it through. I would love to know what Bran and Tyrion talked about, though given what happens in future episodes, it appears they didn’t talk at all.

I was most disappointed that Arya and Gendry slept together. I saw it coming, but I’m still disappointed. Arya’s warrior-ness, her disinterest in sex, set her apart from everyone, and now she’s no different from anyone else.

Episode 3 – The Long Night

I don’t even know where to begin with this one. I wish I had something new to say, but I’m pretty sure my complaints are the same as everyone else’s. And there is a lot to complain about. My biggest problem is with Bran. I totally blame the writers for this. He separates himself from everyone else and goes to the Godswood to lure the Night King. There are two dragons in Winterfell, but Bran wargs up into a raven, basically to say “hey” to the Night King, and that’s it. The rest of the episode, he’s in the Godswood while everyone around him dies trying to protect him. He didn’t lure the Night King anywhere. Instead of using his magic to be useful, the writers chose to do nothing with it.

The whole episode was reminiscent, or maybe more of a rip-off, of the Battle of Helms Deep in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Right down to the women and children huddling below while the terror of battle happens above. Though, really, was putting them in the crypts with the bones of the deceased really the best idea when Jon knew the Night King had the ability to raise them?

All of that aside, I did like that the Hound overcame his fear of fire to save Arya. Those two have an interesting dynamic. I did like that Arya killed the Night King. She did serve the god of death for some time, so maybe it was fitting. I didn’t expect it, and I don’t agree with them killing the Night King in Episode 3. But I did like that it was Arya who killed him.

Episode 4 – The Last of the Starks

I could go on about all the bad decisions made in this episode, but my overwhelming thought was: Fuck the Patriarchy! I absolutely hate that Dany is now being portrayed as unstable, unsuitable, irrational, that she shouldn’t be Queen. Tyrion, Jorah, and Varys have all stood by her, believing her to be the best leader for the Seven Kingdoms. But oh no, now there’s a male, so let’s make the woman crazy.

You could justify this decision by saying that it’s because they’ve been saying all along that she isn’t like her father that of course they would inevitably make her the “Mad Queen,” or you could say that there is something in the water in Westeros that makes Targaryens mad. I think they just didn’t know what to do with her and so they decided to make her go crazy so they wouldn’t have to have a woman on the throne. The writers had already done it with Cersei, who, by the way, has done nothing a male leader hadn’t done before her and been praised for it.

I will say that I found it amusing that when Jon tells Dany that he’s really Aegon Targaryen, I found it interesting that her only concern is that he has a better claim to the throne, not that he’s her nephew. Given that Targaryens marry family, I’m not as surprised by her lack of concern in this, though she has been away from her family culture for several years by this point, so it ought to seem a little off. But given that Jon grew up a Stark, I’d have thought this would have weighed a little more on him. Maybe not. Maybe knowing he’s a Targaryen he’s like, “Ah, well, it’s all right that I’m in love with my aunt. I’m not a Stark any more.”

Episode 5 – The Bells

This episode really should have been titled “Dracarys.”

I know everyone is upset that Dany burned the entirety of King’s Landing. I’m not. It was what the writers were leading up to, and since they already threw everything off and have gone the easiest route with the storytelling, it was inevitable. And given that I’m still very much thinking Fuck the Patriarchy, given what they’re doing to Dany, and the current political situation in real life, I kind of feel like all of us women are ready to burn everything down too.

The thing is, it was an easy way for the writers to justify getting rid of Dany, removing any remaining fans who wanted to see her on the throne because they thought she belonged on it. You can’t cheer for anyone who commits genocide. It was just a cheap way of doing it. Had they taken a season or two to get us there, to slowly show her character change into madness, even a few more episodes of the impact of having lost everything and everyone she loved could have brought the audience along to at least saying she did it because…

I did like that the Hound finally convinced Arya to not be so filled with hatred, so we got to see a little softness, a little bit of humanity, return to her. But again, it happened so fast. And I’m kind of disappointed she didn’t get to finish her kill list. And what the fuck was up with the white horse?

Episode 6 – The Iron Throne

I was surprised, and not surprised, at this. In talking to some co-workers about Game of Thrones a few weeks before this episode aired, I said that Jon was going to go North and be with Ghost. There was no way Dany could sit on the throne, but at least she got to see it. I liked the dragon melting the Iron Throne, though given Jon’s proximity to it at the time, how did he not get incinerated at the same time?

Sansa as Queen of the North made sense. One of my co-workers wanted Sansa to be made Queen of Westeros, so I guess this was a good compromise. But Bran as King? Are you fucking kidding me? He may be all-knowing now, but he doesn’t tell anyone anything! At best he should be a Maester in the Citadel. Tyrion as Hand makes sense. I thought he should be made king, and he kind of is, because let’s face it, Bran isn’t going to make any decisions. In fact, he gets wheeled into the Small Council, asks about the whereabouts of Drogon, then leaves to go warging to find him. Why? Why is he concerning himself with the dragon, when he should be rebuilding the kingdom?

General Thoughts

This was the first time I was watching the series with everyone else. I was as excited as everyone else to watch it. I’d read the books, I’d watched every episode. I’d taken a university class on Game of Thrones. I had co-workers I could talk to about the show. We seem to have formed a bit of a lunch-club around our discussions. I’ll admit, it was weird not to be able to binge an entire season in a weekend. I think that made it easier to recover, but I also think it gave me too much time to analyze.

Season 8 was a season of missed opportunities and lazy writing. I don’t think David Benioff or D.B. Weiss, or any of the other writers, knew what to do with the elements of magic, as few and far between as they already are, and so for the last few seasons have done their best to eliminate them, and in doing so, couldn’t see what could have been. Instead, they opted for action and epic battle scenes with extra blood and gore, just because.

I couldn’t cover everything, and I think I’m still processing. Did I miss something you loved, or hated? Let’s talk season 8!