This Wheel's On Fire

Seasons ago, on Game Of Thrones, Daenerys promised to "break the wheel"--the system that led to perpetual wars and oppression.  Well, last week, she burned down the wheel, destroying most of King's Landing with dragonfire.  This week, in "The Iron Throne," the show's finale, we dealt with the aftermath.

It was by its nature a quieter episode, but plenty happened.  Plenty of fans were unhappy, but then, considering the choices the producers have been making all season, I don't know where they could have gone at this point that would have pleased most people.

The episode starts with Tyrion walking silently through the destruction wrought by Dany--I thought they made this point quite well last week, but just in case you forgot, let's continue the parade of misery.  And there's Jon and Davos, also horrified.  Okay, we get it.

The only one not horrified is Grey Worm, preparing to kill a bunch of soldiers who fought for Cersei but have surrendered.  Snow and Davos want him to stop, but he's got direct orders from the Queen.  No mercy.  Snow is not happy.

Meanwhile, Tyrion checks the burnt-out palace he once spent so much time in. He goes down to the basement where he finds, conveniently near the top of the rubble, his bro and sis, in each others arms, dead.  He feels bad, and he should--he sent Jaime here, for one thing.  If he'd let him stay locked up, rather than sent him on a cockamamie mission, he'd still be alive.

Now we see Arya, also horrified.  Okay, that's enough.  Dany is giving a victory speech to her troops--Dothraki (they're still alive?) and Unsullied, in a Nuremberg-like setting.  She's gone full-on Mad Queen. They love her, of course, since 1) she's a great conqueror and they won a great war, 2) these are people she's saved and who voluntarily followed her and 3) you try not cheering when someone has the world's only dragon watching you. Speaking in three different languages, Dany announces she has liberated King's Landing and plans to liberate the rest of the world. Not just the local areas, either--she means Winterfell and Qarth.

Her Hand, Tyrion, walks up next to her. Pretty light security.  She tells him he committed treason by freeing her brother. (I'm surprised everyone's making such a big deal over this--seems pretty minor to me, and I don't even know how she found out so fast.) But she lit up a city, he responds.  He throws away his Hand medal (I don't want this Hand job), and she has him arrested, presumably to perish in dragonfire before too long.  He takes it pretty well--hey, even if he dies it's the final episode, so he gets paid in full for the season.

Arya meets with Jon.  She actually sneaks up on him, which is what she's good at.  She could easily do it to Dany, so I'm not sure why she's waiting.  Jon still supports his queen, though Arya says Sansa won't, and now that Dany knows who Jon really is, how long will he last?  He tells her he'll meet her at the gates later, but I don't believe that happens.  You're in politics, Jon, keep your appointments.

Jon visits Tyrion in his cell.  This is not the first time the Imp has been held, awaiting his death. Occupational hazard for him.  To tell the truth, Jon Snow, with his earnestness and reticence, is probably the last person you want to talk to before your execution.  They have a long discussion about a number of things, but the centerpiece is about love versus duty.  Tyrion can't be clearer--you may love Dany, but it's your duty to kill her.

Jon approaches the castle.  A snow-covered Drogon is keeping watch, but Jon passes the Targaryen smell test and gains entry.  Inside already is Dany in the newly air-conditioned throne room. (By the way, it's snowing in King's Landing--is that Winter Coming, or is it just leftover ashes?) This is what she's spent most of her life waiting for.  As a young girl she was told about the Iron Throne, and now it's hers.

Jon comes in and says she should be more merciful, but Dany says he's missing the big picture.  Dany explains how they can work together, "liberating" the rest of the world.  If other people don't want to be liberated, well, it's not their call.  He calls her his queen, they kiss and he stabs her to death.

Perhaps it had to happen dramatically (certainly Arya shouldn't be the one to do it, as some suggested--she already killed the Night King, and can't be killing all the big names), but only one scene ago he wasn't sure.  Just as Dany changed from hero overnight to villain, this was just too quick.  The producers have been rushing this season, or perhaps just not writing carefully enough.

Drogon, sensing something wrong, flies into the room and sees his mother is dead.  He then looks like he's going to melt some Snow, but Drogon won't kill a Targaryen, so he burns the Iron Throne instead (as I sort of predicted last week).  He then takes Dany in his claws and flies away, never to be seen again (as far as we know).

Okay, Dany's dead, what will happen next?  There's no superpower keeping everyone in place.  Maybe she had a point.

Some time later, we see Tyrion waking up in his cell.  He's marched to the dragon pit by Grey Worm, where a bunch of leaders are sitting. (Not clear how they chose this motley crew.  Sure, there are some clear heads of kingdoms, like Sansa, or Yara, for that matter--didn't expect to see her again--but also Davos, Samwell, Brienne and some others.  Brienne and Samwell might at least represent their Houses, but come on, can just anyone come to this meeting?  Also, as some have noted, there's a plastic water bottle on the ground next to Samwell--sitting all day in the dragon pit can make you thirsty.)

They also requested Jon Snow be brought out, but Grey Worm is still angry at him for killing his queen.  Anyway, they're assembled to decide what to do next. Some swore to follow Dany, and remember the good she did, but some are glad she's gone.  Davos, always the voice of reason, says it's time to stop the fighting.  Dany did a great job, and the Unsullied should at least get some land, but Grey Worm wants justice (or revenge).

Tyrion says Grey Worm can't decide what to do. (Why not, exactly? In fact, why not declare himself the new leader?) The Imp is a prisoner who shouldn't be speaking, but you try and stop him.  He explains they need a new leader to make decisions like what should happen to Jon Snow. (Where's Littlefinger when you need him?) Time to choose, right now.  Some guy I don't recognize gets up to nominate himself, but Sansa, calling him "uncle," tells him to sit down.  I suspect he's a Tully.

Samwell suggests they let the people decide their next leader.  Everyone has a good laugh, and why wouldn't they?  Democracy sounds incredibly silly--the people don't know anything except their small, selfish needs, so letting them decide is insane.

Tyrion doesn't want to lead, since everyone hates him.  But he suggests they get rid of this hereditary thing and let the council decide.  And from now on, every time the king or queen dies, there can be another council.  They all agree, but I don't see this as stable.  It'll lead to assassinations, plotting, confusion every time there's a death (especially when there's no unanimous choice for replacement, as there almost never will be) and breakaway kingdoms. (The real question is who will command the respect of the largest fighting forces--that's who the king is, just as it decided who'd be the emperor of Rome.)

Tyrion then nominates Bran the Broken for King.  Really?  I can't think of anyone worse than this spacey kid.  He drifts off while eating breakfast.  An advisor, maybe, but king?  I'd rather be led by the anarcho-syndicalist commune from Monty Python And The Holy Grail.

But everyone seems to think it's a great idea, and he's voted in.  The only one who won't agree is Sansa, who says the North doesn't want to bend the knee, and will stay independent.  Bran says okay (it's all the family, after all).  Did everyone get that?  Don't want to be ruled by some guy in a far-off city, just say so and you're free.  That won't cause any problems. (This did clear up a question that's been bugging me from the start.  Is the North one of the seven kingdoms, or is it an independent territory.  We now know it's a kingdom, which makes Bran "Lord of the Six Kingdoms"--hey, don't they have a religion based on sevens, so won't this cause some problems?)

Bran accepts--he says it's why he came down here.  So Bran always knew this would happen?  Then why are we wasting our time doing anything.  Just let Bran tell us.

Bran chooses Tyrion as his Hand, and though Tyrion isn't happy about it, he has to accept, just as Bran had to. (Besides, he's an old Hand at it.)  The first order of business is what to do about Jon.  Killing him will start a war, setting him free will start a war. So they decide to send him to the Night's Watch?  Huh?  Jon himself asks if there's still a Night's Watch.  Good point.  The Night's Watch was mostly destroyed in a war, and was there protect the Wall, anyway, which has been breached.  Further, no one fears the wildlings any more, much less the White Walkers, so there's no need to rebuild that wall.

But Tyrion figures they can just send miscreants and bastards up North to do whatever. (Why not have them roam around like Guardian Angels to fix whatever's going on in the Six Kingdoms, while not letting them marry, etc.)

The action is over at this point, but the show's got to wrap up what happens to the shire.  For instance, the Unsullied are going back to their Island, where Grey Worm hoped to spend his days with Missandei.  Really?  This means there isn't even an army to back up the king.  It sounds like there'll be seven kingdoms I could name soon fighting a huge civil war to decide who's strongest. (I don't think we find out where the Dothraki will go.  I assume back to the Dothraki Sea, though they hate the water.  There other choice is to stay in Westeros, looting and pillaging.)

Jon meets up with the rest of the Starks.  This show started with the Starks, and in the first few seasons, the family was being killed right and left.  Didn't seem like much hope. But now they rule, and everyone else is defeated.  Bran is king, Sansa is queen of the North, and Jon rules north of that.  The only question left is what should Arya do.

She says she's going to sail west of Westeros--the mapmakers don't know what's out there. I can tell her: Qarth and a bunch of other cities. (Do people on the show know the world is round?  Someone ask Samwell.) This isn't really Arya's character, is it? She's not that much on sailing, and her specialty at present is international assassin.  But I guess she knows she won't feel comfortable staying anywhere, so she might as well go on a trip. (I smell sequel, though I'd rather have seen the further adventures of Arya and The Hound.)

Back in King's Landing, in a room with a ceiling (they still exist?), Ser Brienne pages through a book on the important names, or whatever they call their social register.  She gets to Jaime's unfinished pages and fills them in.  Good penmanship, Brienne, though I notice there's no mention of Jaime's booty call in Winterfell.

In the council room, Tyrion arranges the chairs.  No one will be seated during the chair-arranging scene.  In come the rest of the small council--Brienne, Samwell, Davos and Bronn.  Good to see Bronn got everything promised--it looked for a while all the Lannisters would be dead and he'd be SOL.  Seeing all these regulars who survived to the end sitting on the council, there's an important point being made here--politics is based on connections.

Samwell--the new Grandmaester who never even got his undergrad degree--comes in with a book someone wrote about the recent events. (Why didn't he write it--anyone else would take years doing the research, but Sammy was there.) It's called A Song Of Ice And Fire--George R. R. Martin might smile, but isn't this a bit too self-referential?  Think I'll skip the book and see the play, which should be opening in Braavos soon.

Bran comes in and says we need to fill in the rest of the council.  Meanwhile, he'll search for Drogon (in his head?).  Thanks, Bran, that's what you should be doing, rather than be king.  They all bow toward him and he leaves so they can deal with the actual problems of the kingdom.  I'm not sure if Bronn will be a great Master of Coin--sure, he was a mercenary so he gets money, but he still thinks like a lowlife.  But at least he can tell the Iron Bank to go stuff themselves.  Anyway, the whole place will soon be engulfed in civil war, so who cares?

We now cut to the Wall, which still stands for no good reason.  Jon Snow enters Castle Black and waiting for him is Tormund.  How sweet--the actor gets paid again. (Saw him in the opening credits, so wasn't surprised).

Now we see how the various Starks are doing, Jon at the Wall (meeting his direwolf Ghost), Sansa in Winterfell, Arya on a ship.  They're all moving on with their lives, in the places where they should be, I guess.

Jon ends the show the way it started, on a horse walking through a tunnel and into the woods (though this time Winter Has Come and perhaps spring is next.) He's accompanied by Northerners who accept him.  In fact, he's done so much for them he might as well be called the King-Beyond-The-Wall.

The finale was a bit long, but overall made sense, and wasn't entirely predictable.  But, like the season (or last two seasons), the big plot moments were rushed and the motivations weren't properly prepared.

Game Of Thrones was a fine show--at its best, as good as anything on TV.  But the ending should have been both stirring and touching, and ended up, too often, being stilted and lukewarm.  Still, even at its worst, I enjoyed the show.

That's all folks.