Review of 'Game of Thrones' Finale

In the penultimate scene of the Game of Thrones finale, Sam proposes democracy for the Seven Kingdoms: Their King or Queen should be chosen by the people. The gathered noble men and women laugh at him. Someone remarks, why not let dogs also choose who rules us (taking a line from Socrates, who said something about jackasses, the animals, ruling—come to think of it, Tyrion talked about a jackass in a brothel, too). Tyrion, ever the smartest person in the group, proposes that these gathered nobility choose the ruler. They, of course, like that. And Tyrion proposes Bran, who is ratified as King by the group.

So democracy almost comes to the Seven Kingdoms. Instead, they get a kind of plutocracy. Probably the best that could be done, under the circumstances. And Bran will not rule over seven kingdoms. Sansa wants to be Queen of Winterfell.

That, I would say, is the kernel of excellence in the finale. As for the rest, well, it had its moments. I liked Arya sailing off to whatever is America in this fantasy world. I like the interaction between Drogon and Jon after Jon kills Daenerys (presumably Drogon didn't know that). I also liked Drogon incinerating the Throne—the pursuit of which killed its beloved mother.

As for the killing of Dany, it was inevitable. Everything we saw last week, and tonight before she was killed, required that. I think a lot of discontent with last week's episode stems from fans of Daenerys who didn't want to see her behave so badly. But she did. (And as my wife pointed out, Daenerys promised to do even more and worse in that last conversation with Jon.) And, therefore, she deserved to die.

There were also parts of the finale that were downright trite. Tyrion and the cabinet jabbering away as the last scene of Westeros was way too obvious. It was good to see Jon reunited with his dire wolf, but the walk beyond the Wall was also just as expected. And there were scenes that were missing—such as how everyone came to know that Jon killed Dany, after Drogon carried away her body? And who stopped Grey Worm from then killing Jon, which he surely would have done? Presumably the council that chose Bran, but it would have been good to see that, rather than having to figure it out.

But most things were wrapped up okay in this series. I still would've loved to see Arya's dire wolf on that ship with her, though.