That was a hell of a finale. I guess we’re down to our last few pieces on the board now, so it all comes down to:
- The North, preparing for winter and the White Walkers.
- The South, about to be invaded by Daenerys.
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Ok so this season needed a little bit less of its everything in the last 2 episodes. I get why they did it, but overall not much happened and then everything happened.
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The thing is, plenty did happen this season but it’s easy to forget about because of the slow pacing and the bombastic finale. Outside of the last two episodes: The Hound came back and allied with the Brotherhood, Arya finished her training and returned to Westeros to get on with her revenge, Jon was brought back from the dead, Sansa reunited with Jon, Brienne kept her oath and swore fealty to Sansa, Euron took over the Iron Islands, Theon and Yara allied to Daenerys, Bronn(!) came out of retirement, the Three-Eyed Raven and the CotF were killed, Bran discovered the origins of the White Walkers, and Sam gained a Valyrian steel sword.
A
lot happened and set the stage for the final season, but a lot of it was more low-key than in previous seasons, and most of the action sequences were saved until the end. And that slow build was crucial for the finale to have the impact it needed.
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Also, haven't we kind of gone in a circle? The northern houses are united under a king, the Iron Islanders are pissed off, Dany has an army and dragons and wants to conquer Westeros, Dorne is pissed off, King's Landing is in control of the Lannisters and there's a crazy Lannister on the throne...
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But circumstances are completely different now: the North isn’t going to war against the South, they’re preparing for the White Walkers; Daenerys is actually going to war and is now en route to Westeros; Dorne is also going to war allied with Daenerys; and King’s Landing is under control of possibly the most ruthless ruler ever while enemies bear down on it from all sides…
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Stannis died without doing much, other than saving The Wall (and bringing Melisandre to Jon I guess). The Boltons are dead, old Walder Frey is dead.
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But Stannis
did serve an important role, he drove many events in the story for several seasons (the battle for King’s Landing, defeating Manse Raider’s army, fighting and ultimately losing to the Boltons) and his storyline directly affected those of various other characters (Davos, Melisandre, Jon, Tormund, Brienne, Ramsay, Margaery, Loris
oh and Gendry).
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So the show skimped on a lot of the character stuff. People love to complain about those books, and I have my fair share of complaints, but I feel like rather than doing this slower stuff the show instead did nothing and capped it off with big exciting episodes. Like damn I was waiting for the High Sparrow to actually do something and then he's just dead. King's Landing was still the best thing about this season by a mile, but I can't wait for some more details in the books.
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It also makes sense for the Sparrow to go now – he was at the peak of his power, and was on the cusp of his endgame of having complete control over the King and his kingdoms and having chief sinner Cersei executed. If he had stayed on any longer there would have been nothing left for him to
do as a character, he would no longer be necessary.
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Anyway RIP King Tommo, he was a rare decent bloke but he drew a short straw in the game of thrones ![Sad](images/smilies/frown.gif)
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Agreed, I was genuinely surprised by his death – poor guy.