GoT ReWatch: Another Look and New Insights

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, if you celebrate, and one that wasn't impacted too terribly by any of the early winter weather that swept through the country. I'd also like to offer my sincere sympathy to anyone affected by the senseless attacks over this long weekend.

I'm going to stray from my usual SFR topic this week to give a few thoughts on the conclusion of Game of Thrones, now that I've had many months to process the ending. When the original finale for the series was aired earlier this year, I was one of the millions of fans who felt absolutely let down and depressed by how it all concluded. I was also one of those fans who said I'd never watch the series again, because what was the point?

If you want a recap of my angst, I poured it into these blogs:

My Watch Has Ended...Badly

Storyteller's Fail: Here Lies a Great Epic

Well, as I mentioned, I did end up watching it again. And even once more, after more time had lapsed.

And I think I may have found the point I originally missed. Several of them, actually.

But let's backtrack. In my recent marathon RE-rewatch of most of the episodes (some weren't available), it was enthralling to take another look at this world and relive the long journey from beginning to end. There was SO much I missed in the first viewing/s. Foreshadowing abounded. There were hints galore. Important prophecies ran rampant. And with them there were a few key "looking back scenes" to help connect the dots. It was all there, had I been paying attention to the details and subtle clues and not the drama unfolding on the screen.

Everything up until the Battle of Winterfell (2 or 3 episodes from the end) was, and probably always will be, one of the greatest fiction stories that I've ever experienced. And now that I've viewed it in it's entirety again, I had a chance to look at the closing events in a different way.

Here are my thoughts.

DANGER: SPOILERS AHEAD

If you're that person on the planet who never saw the end of Game of Thrones that aired earlier this year, and still plan to --- STOP READING HERE!

So what disappointed me the first time around?

And what was the point that I probably missed?

The Disappointment:

After all his struggles, trials revelations and prophecies, Jon Snow did not ascend to the Iron Throne to rule the Seven Kingdoms.

The Missed Point:

The Starks rule the world!

Jon's younger brother, Bran, is the new king of the seven six kingdoms based at King's Landing in the South. His sister, Sansa, is Queen of the North--now again a separate and independent kingdom--er, queendom--as it had been "for thousands of years" and she's at home in Winterfell, where this story began many years before.

And Jon has become the King of the Far North as well as King of the Wildlings in the huge, frozen land beyond the broken Wall after stating--multiple times--that's where he truly wanted to be. He's reunited with Ghost, his great white direwolf and will reign without threat of the White Walker Army of the Dead, who have been annihilated by a force that Jon was instrumental in raising. He has forever earned the gratitude and respect of the Wildings and probably all of Westeros (though perhaps not the Unsullied), and as both an honorable Stark and sane Targaryen, and he'll have no challengers to this throne.

And as for his other surviving sibling, his younger sister Arya the Night King Slayer (see what I did there), is off on a voyage to discover new lands.

The Starks went from being hunted, destitute and homeless to practically ruling the entire planet. I guess I can live with that.

The Disappointment:

Jon didn't have his HEA with dragon-riding Daenerys Targaryen. In fact, he murdered her.

The Missed Point:

Repeatedly throughout the series it was stated that every time a Targaryen was born it was a coin toss if they'd be mad or sane. Dany's father was insane and horribly cruel, and though she always professed that she wasn't like him, in the end the acorn didn't fall far from the oak tree. The story didn't just foreshadow Daenerys turn to madness, it turned huge spotlights on the inevitability. Daenerys flipped out and Jon had no choice but to act to end her reign of terror before it truly began so he could spare the entire world the fate of being ruled by a terrible tyrant. Of course this also conveniently took care of the small issues (*ahem*) that Jon was, in fact, a Targaryen and a fairy tale ending with Dany would means that he'd be having a love affair with and most probably marrying his aunt. (Oh sure, the audience was fine with it BEFORE his true identity was revealed. *coughcough*) I now have to concede that I'm not sure this could have worked with any other outcome after Dany went off the deep end.

The Disappointment:

After a shot at happiness with Brienne of Tarth (make that Ser Brienne of Tarth, since being knighted before the Battle of Winterfell by Jaime) he did an about face and returned to his evil, wicked, mean & nasty sister Cersei. In his attempt to protect and rescue her from the aftermath of her own prideful, deadly decisions that brought down her monarchy, they were both killed. Not by an enemy, but squashed by the collapsing Red Keep--flattened like the beetles their mentally-challenged cousin would smash with rocks. (That was some distant foreshadowing from one of the very first episodes!)

The Missed Point:

Jaime probably wouldn't have survived in this new world for long. He was the brother of the hated Queen Cersei and a Lannister to boot. Since his legendary skill as a sword master was lost when he lost his hand (for defending Brienne of Tarth, no less), he would have had a very short life expectancy. Maybe only a few days. This way he died being "valiant" and Brienne had the opportunity to finish his record of heroic deeds in the Book of Knights (officially titled The Book of Brothers) for all posterity. Probably a better end than being dropped in the mud--and his legend with him--by the first Kingslayer-hater who happened along. And the completion of his record of honor was a final act of love on the part of Brienne.

I'll leave it at those three main points for now. When GoT originally aired the finale, I felt pretty crushed and heartsick at the outcome. But with time, I've been able to see things in a new light. Though it wasn't the perfect ending fans hoped for, I think most will also agree there could be no "perfect" ending for this vastly complex, multi-generational tale. 

I will admit there is one aspect to the story that will always haunt me, and it's that Catelyn Stark never learned that Jon Snow was not her spouse's bastard. She died believing that Jon was Ned's son, the product of a liaison between her spouse and some unknown woman. She could never know of Ned's promise to his dying sister, Lyanna, to protect the identity of her newborn son--the true heir to the Iron Throne. I like to think that somehow Cat learned the truth from the great beyond and also realized why Ned could never reveal the secret of Jon's true identity.

Have a great week.

The images associated with Game of Thrones used in this blog were purchased from DepositPhotos and are intended for editorial use only.