Game of Thrones is over. The nine-year 73-episode journey has finally come to an end. It’s sad that there’s nothing left. This season was a bit rocky, but everything got wrapped up mostly neat and tidy in the end. Sure, there was a little fanservice, but you gotta send the fans home happy.
Most fan favorite characters got good endings to their story arcs. Most were straightforward, but there were a few characters who began new journeys into the unknown.
If you’re not looking to spoil the series finale of Game of Thrones, then turn back now. The following will contain major plot spoilers for the entire series.
Tyrion Quits the Game of Thrones, but Still Gets to Be Hand
This was one of the biggest holy crap moments of the finale. If freeing Jaime wasn’t enough to seal his fate, Tyrion felt the need to disrespect the queen in front of the Dothraki horde and Unsullied army. This act of defiance was all for Varys. At this moment, Tyrion declared his allegiance to this realm that his old buddy always used to drone on about.
He couldn’t support a queen that vowed to “liberate” Westeros.
In the end, this is what makes him rise back to power as Bran’s Hand of the King. Bran was the only one who didn’t want the throne, so he had to pick someone who didn’t want to be Hand. Tyrion had accepted his fate when he turned his back on Daenerys. Tyrion’s bravery of defying a murderous tyrant in the face of certain death proved he was the best option for Hand of the King.
Jon Kills Daenerys
Someone had to do it. Might as well be her little nephew to do the job, right? It’s also the closest thing we got to the fulfillment of the Azor Ahai prophecy. The abridged version is that Azor Ahai is this hero who was going to save the world from darkness.
He forged a sword and needed to stab his love in the heart to temper it. He struggled with the decision, but the deed was done, and the world was saved.
It doesn’t quite follow the prophecy beat for beat, but the key part of having to kill his love for the betterment of the world is there. It also parallels the beginning of Jaime’s story as the Kingslayer. The biggest difference is that he only acted once King’s Landing was destroyed instead of trying to stop it from happening.
This is where the Game of Thrones ending gets a little wonky. Jon is then sentenced to live out his days with the Night’s Watch, but he was also shown leading a bunch of Wildlings north of the wall. It’s a bit unclear what he ended up doing.
The two common explanations are that Jon was just seeing off the Wildlings and that he will return to Castle Black and the other is that he left the Watch to become the king beyond the wall.
That last one doesn’t make much sense considering that any time Jon was offered kingship he turned it down. He’s not into that whole game of thrones that got his friends and family killed.
Also, all of Jon’s friends we knew from his days as a crow are dead or somewhere else in Westeros. It just made sense to show Jon with someone we’re familiar with in Tormund instead of a bunch of extras off the street as his new brothers of the Night’s Watch.
Happy Endings for all the Starks
Well, at least the surviving Starks got to have some happy endings. Arya became the next Amerigo Vespucci, Sansa became the queen in the North, and little Bran gets to rule the six kingdoms. It was the ultimate culmination of all things Stark fans wanted.
Arya always had a vague fascination with exploring west of Westeros. Season 6 was the first time we learned of the young assassin’s interest in exploring beyond the edge of the map. It almost seemed like a throwaway line, but it clearly held more importance to Arya than that.
Sansa becoming the Queen of the North was well-earned. She had always remained loyal to her family and the other noble houses of the North. While Jon went to Dragonstone and King’s Landing, Sansa took up the leadership role in Winterfell.
Also, the fact that she was the oldest of Ned’s children eligible to lead didn’t hurt her claim either. She was one of the few characters to “play” the game of thrones and come out on top.
Bran becoming King kind of came out of nowhere, but it also makes sense. There wasn’t much of any foreshadowing to this happening. However, Bran was the most peaceful option they ever could have decided upon. There’s no need to worry about him having sons that could mess everything up. Bran doesn’t have human desires anymore.
He was the only one capable of taking on every issue without bias.
Game of Thrones Fans Get a Happy Ending (Kinda)
Tormund and all his Free Folk get safe passage through The Wall back home. They enjoyed their time in the “south,” but their home was the far north. There the Wildlings don’t need to live under any Kings, Queens, or Lords. They have finally made peace with Westeros, but they need to go back to their style of living to truly enjoy life.
Grey Worm has about as happy an ending as he can get. His love had been beheaded by the mountain. Queen Daenerys was killed by Jon Snow, and he was unable to hold Tyrion accountable for his act of treason. The only task left for Grey Worm was to finally make his way to the beaches of Naath.
He may set up the Unsullied there to protect the people from ever falling back into the hands of the slavers.
Near the end, we get to see a small council meeting between Grand Maester Tarly, Lord Bronn, Tyrion, Davos Seaworth, and Ser Brienne of Tarth. Even the recently knighted Ser Podrick made an appearance. Having them all together discussing things like public health and rebuilding infrastructure was a sign of how things have changed at King’s Landing.
War is done (for now) and they’re able to work towards other, more important tasks.
Many Game of Thrones fan favorite characters made it all the way to the end.
If you want to laugh at some Game of Thrones memes, then check out this article. Take this Game of Thrones character quiz to see if your character survived until the end.
