HOLY MOLY! I was physically in shock for a good few minutes after watching the new episode of 'Game Of Thrones', processing what I just watched. I LOVE that none of the fan theories I read were close to what happened in 'The Bells'. So yes, shock is the main word. George RR Martin said there would be three WTF moments in the TV series, and this was a huge one. Here are *spoiler-filled thoughts*, following last week's 'The Last Of The Starks'.
Looking at the commentary on social media, it seems a lot of people are blasting 'Game Of Thrones'. After years of character arcs, complex storylines, they are gunning to the end. Do I feel the same? No. I want to be shocked. I don’t want the ending to be a fan theory. I don’t want to see any main characters be flawless. Dany has been great the whole way through, now we see another side. I’m hoping to see the bad side of Jon Snow, but with just one episode left there’s not much time. I firmly believe there are no good or bad people, just people who do good or bad things.
— Bruce Alano 💙 (@BruceAlano) May 6, 2019
DAENARYS
Dany blew up Kings Landing after they surrendered. Seriously. "BURN THEM ALL!" She has gone crazy. There were signs of this going to happen, from the way they destroyed her character throughout Season 8. At the beginning of 'The Bells', we saw a gaunt looking Dany - she hasn’t eaten or slept in the days since losing Rhaegal and Missandei.
So it’s clear that someone will try to kill her in the final episode. The Fire & Ice will be Jon Snow vs Dany, instead of indicating Jon’s heritage. What’s going to happen to Drogon? Will he protect “his mother”, or will he sense Jon is a true Targaryen and leave him be?
#gameofthrones— abas (@norrasthlm) May 13, 2019
twitter last week: BURN THEM ALL FOR MISSANDEI
everyone after this episode: pic.twitter.com/0IhGzM65AK
SANDOR CLEGANE AND ARYA
"Thank you." Two simple words from Arya to Sandor, as he convinces her not to follow her. Cersei would die anyway, there was no need for Arya to go. Arya saw sense, and thanked him. Not just for that, but for everything. You could see it in her eyes. It was a touching farewell.
It was a great death for Sandor - his existence fuelled by hatred for his brother, it made sense for them to die together. He gave his all in a fantastic duel, but when the enemy doesn’t die with a sword through his body or even face, it’s time to chuck both of you in the fire together...
Other than the heartfelt moment with Sandor, it was strange how Arya was portrayed as useless in this episode and literally added nothing. Nevertheless, she killed the Night King and will be forever badass.
JAMIE AND CERSEI
I think watching Jamie’s character arc is what bugged people the most. He had his redemption at the battle, got into bed with Brienne and seemed loved up. Then as soon as he heard Cersei was in trouble, he ran back to her. They end up dying together, covered in rocks in the basement of Kings Landing. It was such a nice death for them - dying in each other's arms. Cersei, of all people, deserved to be treated like a S’more by Drogon.
I had hoped Cersei would do one good thing in the show, and jumped out of the window like her son had done (albeit for different reasons). Maybe then, Dany would have stopped her tyrannical destruction.
THE GOLDEN COMPANY
Was useless and basically just added to the body count. Why did we keep seeing a close up of the captain who looked like Jamie? Bah.
GREY WORM
I noticed for the first time that Dany didn’t call him Grey Worm. Not sure of the significance of that. But it seems the sacking of Kings Landing would not have happened without Grey Worm. Grey Worm has a huge hatred for the people of Kings Landing, for killing his love, Missandei. He is also trained to listen to his commander at all costs. At no point would he have thought to not follow his commander’s commands - i.e. when she started toasting up Kings Landing, even though the Lannister army in front of him had already dropped their swords.
Had it been just the army from the North, or from the Vale, the death toll would have been lower as Jon would have been able to control the army and allowed people to escape out of the city.
TYRION
He seemingly can do nothing right since meeting Daenarys. Apart from hugging his big brother and making us all tear up.
VARYS
"I hope I deserved this", he said before being toasted by Drogon. But he didn’t, did he? Dany was crazy and deserved to be usurped. I wonder who he wrote the letter to in the opening scene - perhaps the Iron Bank, who will come and back Jon as King. I personally would be a bit disappointed if Jon became King - I guess we just have one more week to go to see how it all plays out.
Read our other 'Game Of Thrones' Season Eight recaps here. Diana works as a freelance photographer and lives in North London with her 2 children and husband. Find more info at dianavonr.com.
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