Hey guys, and welcome to the final review for the final season if Game of Thrones, looking
at Episode 6, The Iron Throne.
Ok, so there’s quite a bit to get to here, so let me just start by saying, that the very
first reaction I had when this episode ended, was that it was actually pretty good, especially
relative to the rest of this season, which unfortunately for me didn’t live up to how
good the series was overall especially in the early seasons.
And while I wanted some kind of final twist at the very end to make things more interesting,
it actually felt pretty good seeing the 2 things I wanted most coming true, and that
was the Targaryens losing power and the Stark children getting a happy ending.
That being said, as with the rest of this season, there were some story and character
issues I had but before I talk about that, let’s get to my Top 5 moments of the night.
Starting at number 5, with Dany’s victory Speech to the Unsullied and Dothraki.
This scene was beautifully shot, especially with that visual of Dany walking forward with
Drogon spreading his wings in the back, and the speech she delivered definitely got the
message across that she needed to be stopped.
But I also found myself a bit disappointed in this scene with Daenerys as a character.
To me this whole idea of ridding the world of Tyrants, that really is delusional.
If you’ve been watching my reviews you know I’ve been arguing that Dany is not a mad
queen, but instead just has a warped worldview because of her experiences, and to be honest
I thought her talk about ridding the world of tyrants earlier in this season was just
a grandiose claim to inspire rather than a practical goal she had.
Her real mission all her life was to reclaim the Iron Throne, at first for her brother
and then for herself.
She even stayed behind in Slaver’s Bay to rule in Meereen so that once she conquered
westeros she would know how to be a queen.
I always thought this was her ultimate goal, and this intense focus is part of the reason
I think of her as Aegon the Conqueror who founded the Kingdom.
Aegon had ample opportunities to go east and conquer the lands of his ancestors, but made
the conscious choice of abandoning the east in favour of conquering and ruling Westeros.
I thought that was Dany’s plan as well, but now all of a sudden she doesn’t want
to rule and instead wants to spend her life conquering the world.
This really is an insane idea and while she still is no where near the level of incompetence
and insanity of her father, she does seem to be losing her grasp on reality.
For the fourth best moment of the night, Ive chosen the death of Daenerys Targaryen in
the throne room of the red keep.
Another beautifully shot scene, and I think like many book readers, as soon as I realized
Jon stabbed Dany, I immediately thought of the story of Azor Ahai, the great hero from
the east, Melisandre thought Stannis was, who arose during a time of darkness and had
to kill his wife Nissa Nissa in order save humanity.
I thought this was an excellent way to kill her, as Jon, at least in my mind, had now
linked the 3 related hero stories from the past, having journeyed north with a special
sword and companions like the Last Hero, was revealed to be a secret Targaryen and rightful
heir to become the Prince who was Promised, and now killed the woman he loved to save
the people like Azor Ahai.
At the number 3 spot, I’ve gone with the Great Council in the dragonpit of King’s
Landing.
Although there were some issues with this scene I’ll get into later, I really enjoyed
seeing the remaining great lords discussing the future of the realm.
But for me there were 2 big moments in this scene that I absolutely loved, the first was
Sansa refusing to give up power and claiming the North as an independent kingdom.
Now, let me be clear about something, if we’re talking about what is best for the realm as
a whole, then I think this was an absolutely terrible and incredibly selfish decision by
Sansa, I don’t think it was a coincidence that the first shot after she said this, was
of Yara Greyjoy of the Iron Islands and the Prince of Dorne.
Both those realms have just as much right to be independent as the North, and in the
long run this will no doubt cause massive political problems and possibly even another
civil war when they try to reclaim their independence.
On top of that the north already gave up their sovereignty when Jon knelt to Daenerys, and
how much more would they be willing to accept it, if Bran stark, the eldest living son of
their beloved Ned was in power.
I also think the reason Bran said yes to her is because he knows just how ruthless Sansa
has become, and that standing in her way could only lead to more war.
And while the political nightmare this will create may lead to violence in the future,
at least a short term peace gives Bran time to try other avenues towards appeasing the
other realms.
But even though I think this was a really bad development for Westeros, I absolutely
loved this moment, because it solidified what I’ve thought about Sansa for the past 2
seasons, and that she a true Queen in every sense of the word.
That doesn’t mean she’s a good person, or a bad one, but that like any authoritarian
monarch, she is singularly focused on increasing and maintaining her own power at any cost.
Sure declaring independence is bad for the Seven Kingdoms, but it is good for her and
the north.
Afterall the north didn’t threaten or scheme there way into independence, King Bran granted
it, meaning that when the Iron Islands and Dorne start making trouble their anger will
be directed at King’s Landing rather then the northern kingdom.
In addition if a civil war breaks out later on, the North can stay out of it and allow
the six kingdoms to weaken themselves, so Sansa can expand their influence and possibly
even their territories.
Because of her strategic political mind and proven administrative skills, I think Sansa
will be a harsh but excellent Queen, and be remembered as one of their best leaders like
Theon Stark the Hungry Wolf and Cregan Stark the Old man of the North.
The other big moment I loved in this scene was Bran becoming King of the Six Kingdoms.
Although on the surface this seems like a boring, uninspired ending, as Bran with his
special powers and lack of carnal desires make him the wisest person in the world, meaning
he will rule as some sort of infallible god king who makes the land prosper, keeps the
peace and knows exactly what to do at all times.
But I didn’t see it this way at all, to me this moment had much more sinister implications,
as Bran made it perfectly clear he knew exactly what was going to happen, and was more than
ready to accept the position as king.
To me this said that there was far larger and deeper game being played here, and brought
a million new possibilities about who exactly is the 3 eyed raven, what was his real plan
and was it really necessary to reveal Jon’s past or was it a strategic move in the game
of thrones, to make Dany go mad so she ended up dead and Jon in exile, therefore clearing
the path for Bran to take power.
So many new possibilities that will hopefully be explored in the books if they go in this
same direction.
Moving on to the number 2 spot for the night, I’ve chosen Arya Stark sailing into the
Sunset sea to explore the uncharted waters of the west.
Another moment linking themselves to the books, this immediately made me think of Elissa Farman,
the great westerosi explorer from decades earlier who sailed into the west and discovered
3 small islands she named Aegon, Rhaenys and Visenya.
Some stories even claim Elissa sailed all the way around the world and ended up in Asshai
in the Far East, which may hint at Arya’s future.
At the number one spot, and for me the best moment of the night, was the ending for Jon
Snow as he reunited with Ghost and Tormund before setting off to resettle the free folk
beyond the wall.
As much as I would have like seeing Jon end up in a position of power in the south, the
truth is it likely would have made him miserable, especially since it seems what he really wanted
was to be free of all the responsibilities thrust upon him, so seeing him smirk a little
bit as the doors shut behind him and he rode off into the north, to me confirmed that in
the end he was happy, which is the heart of what I really wanted for my favourite character.
On top of that, I loved his long awaited reunion with ghost, and him riding off into the wild
alongside Tormund Giantsbane, reminded me the conversation between Ned and Robert in
season 1, where they daydreamed about riding off together to live free as adventurers,
and since Jon is so much like Ned, this seemed like both of their dreams coming true.
I’m also not sure Jon will ever come back to the night’s watch, I think there’s
a good chance he settles with the free folk and eventually takes a wife and has a family,
maybe even becoming King beyond the wall.
Now for the best kill of the night, there’s really only one choice and that’s Dany’s
death in the throne room and it’s similarities to Azor Ahai killing Nissa Nissa.
As for the best line of the episode, that goes to the possible mastermind behind it
all Bran the Broken, who after being asked if he would accept the crown replied cooly,
“Why do you think I came all this way.”
Moving on to my criticisms for the episode, unfortunately there were quite a few, but
this was by no means the worst episode of the season in my opinion, and like I said
earlier overall I still managed to enjoy this one despite its flaws, the first of which
is small and relatively insignificant I will admit, but I was a bit disappointed they went
with The Iron Throne as the title of this episode, rather than A Dream of Spring, which
is GRRM planned title for the last book of the series, and which would have fit perfectly
well with the theme of this episode, even better I think the then title they chose.
Aside from that a more serious criticism I had was with Drogon sparring Jon and melting
the Iron throne.
To me this didn’t make any sense as it seemed to be ascribing a level of intelligence to
the dragons that they had not previously established, they had mentioned that the dragons are smart
but we’d never seen them express this level of complex thought before.
Also it seemed like Jon was being sparred because he was a Targaryen, even though in
the books there was no such hesitation for dragons who quite readily killed other targaryens
in the past, and while they may have changed it for the show, it seems like a needless
change made to serve this one scene rather than the series as a whole.
Another problem I had was with the ever changing concept of Breaking the Wheel.
This term never made any sense to me, not when Dany said it the first time and not when
Tyrion said it the last time.
Dany’s idea of breaking the wheel was taking away the independence of others to establish
herself as an absolute monarch, which is already a ridiculous way to describe breaking the
wheel, but then Tyrion makes it even more absurd by saying what she really meant by
it was establishing an elective monarchy where the nobility have more power and the non targaryen
ruler has less.
No Tyrion, that is not what she wanted, that is not what she meant by breaking the wheel,
and I sincerely hope he understood that and only said it to appease Grey Worm.
Speaking of which, I thought it absolutely insane that Grey Worm, the unsullied and the
dothraki were so eager to make peace after the death of their beloved queen.
The fact they arrested Jon and didn’t execute him immediately, to me was completely unrealistic.
Both these groups were supposed to be absolutely loyal to her yet as soon as she was betrayed
and killed, turned their backs, accepted a minor punishment for the offender and sailed
away to live new lives.
It would have been one thing if they didn’t have possession of Jon Snow, and had to negotiate
for justice as they had no choice.
But they had both Jon and Tyrion in their possession, and could have killed them easily,
and maybe even sailed off before the Lords of Westeros could gather together, but from
what I can tell they didn’t because in order to avoid more fighting.
The Unsullied and Dothraki who were basically born for warfare and were extremely loyal,
did not avenge their queen because they were afraid of a fight.
To me this was a really bad moment in the episode.
Also, where did the Dothraki go?
We saw the Unsullied sailing off but there was no explanation for what happened to the
horselords, who lets not forget were made bloodriders to Dany and so therefore should
have been her most loyal servants.
On top of all this the writing in general in the episode, especially the dialog I felt
was quite poor, so when thinking about an overall score for this episode, I’m going
to have to go with a 7 out of 10.
Not perfect by any means, but reasonably enjoyable.
As for the season as a whole I have to admit I am fairly disappointed.
I had high hopes for this final season and thought they would give it their all, and
while the music, costumes, direction, cinematography and acting were all top tier, the writing
really was quite poor, and unfortunately that lowers the score quite a bit.
So in the end I am going to give this season the same score I gave the final episode, and
go with a 7 out of 10.
Although I was disappointed with the storyline, I can’t ignore all the moments I did enjoy
and the raw emotion they pulled out of me in every episode.
And while the series may not have ended perfectly, I think it’s important to recognize what
a monumental achievement this show was overall, and how in many ways it changed the landscape
of television and the fantasy genre, and for those who wanted more from this story there
is always the books to satisfy that craving.
So that’s it guys, after 8 seasons we’re at the end of the road for this show, but
not for this world as a whole because of the many spin off shows and prequels currently
in the works, so it’s entirely possible that we’ll be back in a few months or years,
once again diving into the complexities of this world.
But before I wrap up here I just want to say a thank you to all those who have been with
me throughout this journey, watching my videos and reviews, your support is very much appreciated,
and remember that this channel will continue to make videos about the ASOIAF books as well
as other series like LOTR, the MCU, Star Trek, Star Wars, the Wheel of Time and others.
And like always don’t forget to check out the episode recap, already out and the Thrones
Effect available in all formats on Amazon.
Take care everyone and rest easy, for now our Watch is ended.