IIRC there's some implications that the ending to the conflict in the books isn't actually going to be one solved w/ physical force in the end. (Dany's clearly going to still be blasting them and losing forces in the process to get them to that point.) The "kill leader kill the wights" thing only coming up in S7 might be related to that w/ the writers wanting to not do the book ending 1:1.
The conflict isn't ended by force. They all come together and elect Bran. The thing with the White Walkers is that they're not an actual race. They're Terminators. The outline really pushes that they just want to kill everything because they're programmed that way. GRRM did a story on this in Tuf Voyaging.
It would have at least made a statement of some kind. What really is the point of it all with the ending that we got? This is the problem with shows that dont seem to have any ending in mind from the get go. They spend years spinning more and more complicated webs but cant figure out how to wrap it up. When we got halfway through season 7 with no real resolutions to the larger conflicts in sight, I knew this shit would be a disaster.
The ending in mind is something GRRM's been planning since the 90's. It was just executed by Beniodd and Weiss.
It is making a statement though.
War corrupts people.
Don't put all your faith in a messianic leader.
The idea of how we cheer for tyrants as long as they're the targeting the right people but without paying attention to the idea that those same tyrants could target people you would consider the wrong people.
Collective punishment isn't just.
Violence and imperialism alone won't bring about a better world. People coming to the table, hashing things out and compromise is what brings a better world.
Or having Jaime the Kingslayer actually kill the Night King, thereby completing his transformation from despicable villain to hero.
You know, so his character arc actually serves some kind of purpose.
"Haha I am dick. Oh now I am becoming a better person. Haha fooled you still a dick"
That would redeem Jaime. That's not really Jaime's story. He's not a hero turned villain. He's a villain slowly being humanized.
Would have preferred for the Night King to be the final boss after the Cersei mess with Jon Snow becoming the avatar of the Lord of Light (a la Gandalf the White) dueling the Night King 1v1. It's supposed to be Ice and Fire after all.
It is. The Ice are the White Walkers and Fire are the Dragons according to GRRM. Both are threats to people.
They should have killed Cersei off in season 7. Her death was long overdue and it really felt like the writers kept her on artificial life support by dumbing down team Tyrion and giving Euron superpowers. Felt really anticlimactic to turn Cersei into the "final boss", because she never stood a chance against Daenerys anyway.
Season 8 should have focused entirely on the battle with the white walkers. Daenerys could have had some kind of redemption arc if they still wanted to go the mad queen route with her in season 7.
Daenerys is the final villain.
Daenerys is meant to die without being redeemed via GRRM. That's part of the tragedy.
Honestly the night king arc was Jon's moment, I personally think he deserved to finish it and probably should have been the end of Jon's arc.
There's no conflict there. It's just an action hero moment where Jon swings a sword really well. It's not even a real arc.
Jon murdering Daenerys is the resolution to his arc where he has to give up his personal honor to do his idea of the right thing.
Considering Jon did kill Dany, I think he was Azor Azai.
Nah. Once you read his other stories, you'd realize that GRRM doesn't actually dig chosen ones. One of his books even critiques them. Classic heroes like Jon never truly succeed in GRRM's stories. It's usual weirdos like Bran and Tyrion and Samwell that do.
Except it doesn't. This dude and his army wrecked the ever living shit out of the living the last time around. Why is subverting expectations suddenly something that makes sense in universe during this 5 year period, than the preceding 10,000 years?
To be fair, those stories are legends and we have no idea how hyperbolic it is but this story was never going to do decades or even years of the Long Night. If they did then all of GOT would actually have to be the prologue.
Thrones has always tried to subvert exceptions though or deconstruction, like the Red Wedding, I think GRRM admited he HAD to kill of Rob Stark after Eddard, to avoid the typical revenge story. The show was worse at executing these types of subversions though.
Exactly. Jon Snow and Daenerys are red herrings. GRRM made Jon the rightful heir so you would automatically conclude that he gets the throne but putting a trope down doesn't mean it'll happen.
only if the style of Game of Thrones is narratively unfulfilling bullshit.
Game of Thrones/ASOIAF is really about a collective of heroes dying and eventually Bran stands atop all their corpses.
GRRM puts tropes down but that doesn't mean that he's going to play it the way you think .
For instance, Jon Snow's parentage makes people conclude that he's the true endgame king but it's actually there to introduce conflict to his relationship with Daenerys and completely destroy House Targaryen
