Hey guys, Pete here. today will pick up on the problems in Game of Thrones Season
eight series. last time we talked about the problems with the night king story
and today we'll talk about the Iron Throne I decided to do this problem
series because the ending is difficult to figure out for a number of different
reasons. focusing on problems as a way to work through it it's not a series saying
that Game of Thrones Season 8 will be bad because of this and this and this -
actually I'm rooting for the end of the series to be good and I think it will be
but when trying to sift through all the textual evidence in the books and what
we've seen in the show so far I find it hard to see what that good ending
actually looks like. a big part of why I keep running into problems is because we
don't expect the ending to be predictable the bar has been set pretty
high with strong character development that has us all plugged in but there's
also quite a lot that fits into common recurring literary devices for instance
one of the main characters grew up as a bastard boy who didn't know who his real
parents were he's gone off to live a life of service protecting mankind
against the threat that they forgot actually exists turns out said bastard
is actually the heir to the throne with an impressive bloodline and that threat
that had disappeared for thousands of years is actually on humanity's doorstep
trying to get in now he's primed for a hero's journey and that has problems
that we'll discuss in a different video sometime this week but you get the
picture we have a story that isn't supposed to be that same fantasy story
but happens to have all the elements of that fantasy story this presents
problems and let's jump into looking at the ones that the iron throne itself
presents as we all know the iron throne is the seat of the king or currently the
queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros the political intrigue and jockeying for
power around the throne is where we get the name Game of Thrones for the series
one of the first aha moments you get reading the books is that wait a minute
everyone is focused on the iron but the story is really about the threat
of the White Walkers who is the king isn't really going to
matter when everyone is fighting to survive this is sort of true but then
you realize that as I said in my last video the living will triumph over the
dead that means that life has to go on after the war for the dawn and that
means that the Iron Throne is a factor in the end of the story as we near the
end of the TV series it's clear that the throne might not be the most important
thing at the beginning of season 8 but it is still very important this is the
first problem with the Iron Throne that it isn't a point of focus for the
characters who are most likely to sit on it right now the battle what's the night
King and the White Walkers is and should be the only thing Jon and Daenerys are
thinking about as far as they know Cersei is on their side in this battle
which means the whole idea of the crown of the throne is out of the picture when
Jaime arrives in the north they'll find out about her double-cross but at that
point it's gonna be too late to really change anything this really hit me as a
problem when I watched the trailer for the first time the season 8 trailer we
have this existential threat of the White Walkers and the army of the Dead
and the power of the throne is still so compelling that Cersei is basically
double-crossing Humanity in order to hold on to her seat in a way it's hard
to imagine but at the same time you can kind of see where she's coming from she
really has nothing left if she doesn't have the Iron Throne
this leads into the second major problem and that is the power of the throne and
the system itself obviously watching this series are reading the books or
however you came across the story you realize that it's not a pro monarchy
kind of piece it isn't saying like look at this great system of government they
have place in this world you know it's definitely got problems as long as there
is a throne there will always be people who are trying to get ahead in that
system and there are always be struggles for power you could see that in the
history of Westeros and with all the secession problems that have happened
and all the war and pain and suffering that's been taking place since this
series started I'm not sure if the show really points it out as much
it's definitely there it's hinted at but the small folk have been suffering
tremendously since the war of the five kings so just to make sure we're on the
same page here this is definitely not a pro war kind of story
and it's definitely not a pro absolute monarchy kind of story
so on the one hand we agree that the throne is important but on the other
hand we can also agree that what it represents is not a good system of
government when I first really got into reading theories and you know just sort
of engaging in the fandom around the Song of Ice and Fire
there was a theory that was popular I would say it was popular that tyrion
would help to install a democracy and I'm not sure if it's still popular or if
it you know really is the way people think things are gonna turn out but it
is a sort of natural conclusion when you see how the story points out all the
flaws in this system as I mentioned earlier you know you kind of get that
idea when you're reading that the throne doesn't matter at all because in the end
it just won't be that important and my 10 things that have to happen in order
to make this series end successfully video I talked about though that we do
need to understand that there is a government in place when things are done
and that starts with the Iron Throne but when there's an iron throne there will
always be some sort of a game of Thrones that goes along with that and that leads
us into the next problem and that is that none of the characters who might
end up on the throne necessarily seem like they would be the right candidate
now I know that george RR martin has said when talking about the end of the
series and how he knows what he knows about the end of the series like what he
told the showrunners he said directly i know who will sit on the Iron Throne I'm
not sure if that is to mislead us as he used to mislead us but if you take it at
face value he says that someone will actually be sitting on it when the story
comes to an end since we're expecting some kind of a
subversion of the whole hero's journey it makes it really hard to figure out
how that plays out of course we have Daenerys Targaryen and she has
trajectory that she believes ends with her sitting on the Iron Throne at the
end taking back what's hers by her birthright but we actually know that she
is not the legitimate heir now that John would be neither one of these characters
are necessarily the right fit because this story is told in a way that really
makes it relatable and great in my opinion all of these characters have
their problems there's really no one thing that you could say is like hey
okay well that makes sense if that person ends up sitting on the throne at
the end of the series I'll feel good about the way life will carry on in the
Seven Kingdoms after that all that leads me to believe
that Westeros will be changed I mean they're in this battle the war for the
dawn it will definitely be changed as a result of that but how do we get to the
point where we're like okay this makes sense changing the system of government
it sounds like a good idea at first but then you know say that out loud you know
that it ends with democracy being put in place like does that really sound like a
awesome ending not exactly you might like to believe that the people would be
more involved and that that does sound more realistic right something that
could work but if you think about it beyond that you know what has happened
in any of the characters stories that really puts them into place to get that
going obviously Daenerys had good intentions
whenever she ruled obviously John has made some good decisions as far as doing
things for the right reasons but there's really no situation where
either one of those people rule in a vacuum and everything that they want to
have happen all their good intentions play out and I will do problems with
each of those characters individually in this series later on well I look at that
more directly but it is a big problem this is the way the show has set up
conflict leading into this hidden battle with the dead and in order for the story
to come full circle we have to feel good about what might happen in the future
the last book of the series which will hopefully get at some point is called a
dream of spring so what is a dream of spring
actually look like also I'm not overlooking the fact that we have pretty
good evidence that King's Landing is going to take a hit if not be destroyed
as a result of what comes after the war for the dawn of course Daenerys saw the
throne room destroyed in her house of undying vision and also bran saw that
again later on when he was in the weirwood net so that probably is going
to happen I guess if we take those scenes literally though the throne is
actually there whoever's left alive to sit on the throne could melt it down and
pass on some new form of government but it's just really kind of difficult to
see where the show is taking us do you think that any of the characters in the
story now would be a good fit for the Iron Throne in the system that we have
or do you think that that system has to be changed in order for us to have a
satisfied ending I do think that things will be changed I think that part won't
be that difficult obviously don't think Cersei can remain on the throne I fear
that she is irredeemable at this point but I don't know who will survive I've
made my predictions about that and I don't think it really works if you just
put the hero on the throne and call it a day
like I think there has to be something much more interesting up George RR
Martin's sleeve and I'll leave it to you guys to tell me what you think let me
know in the comments whether you see problems what you think a good solution
might be and really anything you're thinking about as far as we lead up to
this because I think we're about three weeks out now we're getting pretty close
so it's getting pretty exciting the next part in this series will be coming soon
it'll probably be about John or Daenerys I have a couple other ones lined up too
so make sure you check back if you want to follow along with the series or with
Season eight you know what to do thanks for watching I'll talk to you soon