So another season of Game of Thrones has come to a close. I’ll post spoilery stuff below the fold. TL;DR: this was one of the best seasons yet and has clearly set us on the path to a roaring conclusion over the next two seasons. It’s going to be a long wait for Season 7.
OK. This assumes you’ve watched the entire series, so proceed at caution of major massive spoilers.
- You can see what I predicted last year. I was right about Cersei’s bloody purge and Jon leaving the watch. However, I was a bit wrong about where we were headed. Westeros has not completely collapsed. But the seeds of that destruction are there. And the Wall is very lightly defended.
- This season was simply outstanding, with several thundering episodes — The Door, The Battle of the Bastards and The Winds of Winter — standing above the fray. The last two episodes were particularly great. Episode Nine featured one of the best battles ever shown on television — grueling and ultimately satisfying. And Episode Ten was simply heart-pounding from start to finish. Everything was great, from the directing to the acting. But I would especially single out the music in Episode Ten, which was simply amazing.
- This season was all about clearing the decks of all the secondary characters. Tommen, the Sparrow, the Tyrells, Dorian, the Boltons, the Freys — all gone. What we’re left with now is John and Sansa in the North (with Littlefinger lurking), Cersei in the middle, the Tyrells and Martells in the South and Daenerys Stormborn bearing down on all of them. We have a few little lingering threads with Sam, the Hound, Bran and Arya. I expect them to be tied in or cut soon.
- Speaking of Jon, the good thing about his death and resurrection is that it, in the end, it served a purpose. It absolved him of his oath. It filled him with purpose. It persuaded the Wildlings to follow him into a war that wasn’t theirs. And now that we know his real ancestry, the game gets very interesting.
- I’m so glad Ramsay is gone. Not just because he was evil but because was a one-note evil. The only time we ever saw him was when he was raping someone, murdering someone, torturing someone or all three. Killing him off brings Littlefinger to the fore and he is a much more dangerous and wily villain. Watch your back, Jon Snow. For real this time.
- Speaking of torture, I’m glad we did not get to see what happened to Septa Unella.
- And speaking of Cersei, with her children gone, she is now incredibly dangerous. She could do anything at this point and probably will. As the producers pointed out in the post-credits talk, Tommen would still be alive if she’d been with him rather than basking in her victory (a victory that may prove more difficult to cement than she thinks).
- I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Melisandre. And I loved Davos’ rage. That scene was played perfectly by all three.
- Speaking of perfect scenes, I loved the next-to-last between Daenerys and Tyrion, in which she names him Hand of the Queen. I thought Tyrion was going to shed tears.
So where are we headed? Well, only the show’s producers and GRRM know that. All signs point to a convergence on King’s Landing, with Daenerys coming from the east, the Tyrells and Martells from the South and West and Jon from the North. I expect the War of the seven six five four three two three four five kings queens will converge in spectacular fashion. I have no idea how it will be resolved. But I expect that they will soon find themselves looking North, where the real danger awaits.
The Second Battle for the Dawn is coming. And where we end up with after that … well, that will let us know what this was really all about.
