On the end of Game of Thrones...

I finally published this journal that I wrote last year...

The Game of Thrones (GoT) series on HBO, with its series finale, was finally over. After all the ups and downs in eight years, the ending was bittersweet. I usually like to read the books first before watching the adaptions on big screens or small. But since it's taking George R.R. Martin forever to come out with the books, the HBO TV series is running ahead of it, I'll have to make do. And with screenplay of the HBO show at times diverges quite significantly from the book, perhaps it shouldn't even matter since it's like two parallel universe.

A lot of people are angry about the finale, particularly of how Daenerys the Dragon Queen has devolved from being a slave-liberator to mass murderer, but I don't find it that farfetched, particularly given how the House of Targaryen seems plagued with insanity (all the inbreeding might have something to do with it). It might have been nice, to see Jon Snow joining force with Daenerys and rule the Seven Kingdom as the wise king/queen, though knowing their Aunt/Nephew relationship, it still feels rather problematic. Yes, Daenerys is probably better off dead.

And then there is the issue of her dragon which is never meant to be tamed. Even Daenerys had stayed and ruled in King's Landing, what would happen to Drogo (her most powerful and surviving dragon)? It'll probably end up in chains, living in dungeons, I'd think, which is not a very pleasant prospect. Yes, Drogo is better off living in some faraway land, taking Daenerys' body and memory with it.

It's a bittersweet but fitting ending for Jon Snow too, that he still ends up going back to The Wall and the north. Sansa has grown to becoming Queen of the North, Arya going off to her own adventure as No One, Bran The Broken ends up being the King of the Six Kingdoms, and the the kingdom becoming a republic (!!). Come to think of it, it can't get more liberal than that, though I much doubt that George R.R. Martin would wrap up his book with such a politically correct ending.

Everyone and everything seems to tie up quite neatly, though there are always some unsatisfying loose ends to me. Of all the Stark children, how could Rickon be so inconsequential? Of all their respective direwolf, how could they just disappear (Nymeria, in particular) so readily? One would have hoped that if Arya is going off, Nymeria should come back to her side. The only one that seems to have stayed true, is Ghost. I would really have loved to see Nymeria going by Arya's side, as Ghost does to Jon.

As to the others, the death of Cersei and Jaime Lannister is rather expected. The cunning of Tyrion has sustained him through good times and bad. But it's a bit politically correct to have almost all the good guys left in the finale to rise to the top. It's also a bit jarring, to see Jaime deflowering Brienne (as if he's doing her a favor) before going back to Cersei.

And then there is the Night King. There's been so much talking up of the Night King, his menace to the kingdom of man for thousands of years, yet the finale is like hurrying it all up before the curtain falls which is a bit of letdown.

It's been a long journey, and GoT is a fun ride. Development of the characters is great, particularly the evolving and growing of the numerous strong female characters which is rare, even in today's climate. I can only wish that there are more magical fantasy world like those from GRRM.