Is There Life After Game of Thrones?
As the final episode of Game of Thrones is now airing this weekend, I thought it would be a great time to reflect on how far we've come, where we are today, and where (I think) we're going to end up.
Filming for the first season of the show began right around the time I started a new relationship, and when the TV premiere finally aired, the two of us had just gotten married. We followed the development of the show through the internet, and my subscription to Entertainment Weekly, and I was SO excited about it. I hadn’t read any of the books at the time, but I managed to read all 4 of them (A Dance of Dragons hadn’t been published yet) before the show came off hiatus to begin airing Season 2.
I have to confess - I’ve been a Jon Snow fan from Day 1, and I immediately understood that he was going to be absolutely vital to the story - I just had no idea at the time what that would mean.
When Game of Thrones began airing in 2011, I was 27 years old. My husband was 31. I had a 7 year old daughter, some betta fish, and a fiddler crab.
Today, she is now 15, and has just watched the previous seasons of the show to catch up within the past 2 months. We’re going to watch the finale together. I’m now 35 years old, and my husband is 40. We’ve been through several job changes, got some different pets, and I went back to school and finished my college degree in English. 8 years down the road, we are still passionate about this show...but there are a lot of loose ends that are leaving me with questions, and I want to talk about them in case they aren’t addressed in the final episode.
I have an odd sinking feeling that an hour and 20 minutes is not enough to tie up all of the loose ends that currently exist, and I’m worried about it.
1. Varys was writing a note in the beginning of Season 8, Episode 5. Who was he sending it to? He burned a note in the candle fire later - was it the same note? Were we supposed to believe he didn’t get to send the one he wrote initially? Varys has long been described as the Master of Whispers - I’m not sure he would’ve spent that time knowing he was about to be snuffed out of existence by his queen without spreading his message to someone else first. Varys’ work could continue to haunt Daenerys Targaryen long after he is gone. After all, who are his little birds going to report now that he has met his demise?
2. For a long time now, I have felt like Daenerys isn’t going to make it to the end. Recent developments have shown me that my assumptions are likely correct. I don’t believe the book series is called ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ because it’s about Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen ruling together. I think it’s called ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ because it’s about Jon Snow’s discovery about who he is and who he needs to become in order to protect his people. My biggest issue is wondering how the people who know and believe the story are going to be able to convince everyone else - there are people that are not going to believe it.
3. Jaime and Cersei Lannister may not be dead. We don’t yet have proof.
We have major plot points still in play
4. Why are Sam and Gilly leaving? Jon is going to need a Maester. Sam can’t just spend all that time in the Citadel and decide he’s going back home - that’s not how being a Maester works. Also, I’m pretty sure Maesters don’t have children--will they even allow him to be one knowing that he has a family now? Maesters have always kind of been presented as ‘supposed to be’ monk-like figures.
5. What’s going to happen with the wall? Is the Night’s Watch even necessary at this point, now that the threat of the undead has been eliminated?
6. What is Bran’s role going to be in the realm now that the Night King has been defeated? I’m not sure what purpose remains for the Three-Eyed Raven.
7. Are there any Children of the Forest left? If so, what is their purpose in the larger picture, and what does it mean for Westeros?
8. Is Tyrion going to accept the seat of command at Casterly Rock, if he is the only member of Tywin Lannister’s immediate family left alive to do so? Or will he remain by the side of whoever comes out on top as the ruler of Westeros?
9. I’m fairly confident at this point that Sansa Stark will rule on as the Lady of Winterfell, but what is Arya’s place in the kingdom? Does she even have one?
10. Do we care about Robin Arryn at this point? I mean, I’m pretty sure he’s still up in The Eyrie, but what I’m not sure on is if he’s important to the rest of the story anymore.
11. Who gets the dragon in the great Targaryen divorce? Will the dragon’s loyalty shift to Jon?
12. Someone’s probably going to have to kill Daenerys Targaryen in the final episode. My question is NOT whether or not this is going to happen, but WHO is going to be the one to strike the final blow?
13. Will we get to know who is in line to rule after the Targaryen line finally ends? The current prospects have no living heirs to carry on their names, and I want to know what’s going to happen down the line.
14. How does the Lord of Light fit into all of this? Does the end of the show have a religious message?
My theory for the finale?
Daenerys will be sentenced to execution for her destruction of King’s Landing and thousands of innocent people by Jon and Sansa, and the sentence will either be carried out by Arya or Drogon. Jon Snow becomes Aegon Targaryen, 11th of his name, 998th Commander of the Night’s Watch, The Last Targaryen, and he may very well rule until the end of time, because I’m not sure he can die anymore. Melisandre may well have rendered him immortal. About what happens to the rest of these characters, I have no idea at all...but I can’t wait to find out.
