The People Weigh In: Was The Game Of Thrones Finale Any Good?

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Game Of Thrones Finale Good bad,

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones. Seriously! Get out of here if you haven't watched!

Frankly, who knows how much the people of Westeros actually know about what happened in King's Landing following Daenerys Targaryen's (Emilia Clarke) brutal siege. By the time the story reaches the outer villages, they may think Drogon is their new king.

But Twitter? That's where news of Westeros spreads faster than Bronn's (Jerome Flynn) mind goes to the gutter. Game of Thrones unfolds simultaneously on HBO and on Twitter, where it's filtered through the incredibly witty commentary of its devoted, frustrated fans. During Game of Thrones' last-ever episode, the monoculture's last breaths on Twitter were highly opinionated. Here are the highlights.

Generally speaking, people were sad to see Daenerys go — despite the drastic dip into Mad King Aerys II Targaryen territory she took last episode. There was quite a bit of open mourning on Twitter, both for her character's death and the death of all that was once good in Daenerys. She had begun her character arc as a liberator and a vanquisher of evil. Her commitment to the vague premise of "breaking the wheel" became merciless.

DAENERYS TARGARYEN.
MY REAL QUEEN. A DRAGON. #GameOfThronesFinale pic.twitter.com/JuiYmg1F6m

— math (DAENERYS LENDÁRIA) (@mathchala) May 20, 2019

Obviously, one of the night's biggest reveals was that Bran Stark — now known as "Bran the Broken," which is a bit rude – was elected King of the Andals, etc. etc by a group of noblemen and women. On Twitter, people smelled a whiff of "L'eau Du Scammer King. " Because if Bran is the three-eyed raven, then he probably knew that Daenerys would burn King's Landing, then knew he would be king. He felt as entitled to the throne as Simba.

Nobles: "Bran, Daenerys freed all the slaves and killed all the bad guys and escaped a life of child trafficking to conquer the seven kingdoms. Now that your brother killed her, why don't you take the job she fought her entire life to earn?"

Bran: "Cool"

— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) May 20, 2019

So, I assume the "Dany was always evil" people will be EQUALLY as fair-minded to realize that Bran manipulated the entire story and got tens of thousands killed in order to power-grab for the throne, right?

— Jessica Ellis (@baddestmamajama) May 20, 2019

Bran watching himself become King getting ready to manipulate everyone a few seasons back pic.twitter.com/G4egyVJOdV

— BaeLo (@_Ash_Bello_) May 20, 2019

I’m glad we deposed Dany, the Doer of War Crimes, to elect a fair and just king, Bran, the Sitter-Upon Of His Ass Whilst His Immense Psychic Powers Told Him Daenerys Was Going To Do War Crimes, Which Would Ultimately Prove Necessary For Bran To Take Power

— Sady Doyle (@sadydoyle) May 20, 2019

Am I the only one who thinks Bran is a terrible person ?? He knew King's Landing was going to burn but he let it anyways in order to become king !! WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT IT #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/uIXQ8RezVm

— im dead but loki isnt ४ (@c_h_a_o_t_i_c_) May 20, 2019

People were also concerned about what Bran's abilities meant for his tenure as king. Daenerys had dragons, but Bran has the ability to warg — just like the Night King.

also, not for nothing, but it's kinda an ethical quagmire that Bran can be king and WARG INTO PEOPLE'S BODIES AND TAKE CONTROL OF THEM WHENEVER HE WANTS #GameOfThrones

— emily edwards (@MsEmilyEdwards) May 20, 2019

Consensus was, though, that Bran would at least be a less volatile ruler than Daenerys, even if he's the kind of guy to dip out of important business meetings and think moodily. His first act as king is searching for Drogon, who burned the throne before gripping his mother's dead body in his talons and flying away — also moodily.

The dragons’ grasp of physical metaphor is way stronger than I had been led to believe

— Helen Rosner (@hels) May 20, 2019

With that, the Stark kids are flung into the universe. Jon Snow was banished to the Night's Watch, where he reunited with Ghost and ended up moving to the Truth North with the wildlings. Bran is the weirdo King of Westeros. Sansa (Sophie Turner) crowned herself Queen of the North and stayed put in Winterfell — which everyone agreed was the One Good Thing that happened this episode. Given her seasons-long character trajectory, Sansa's title as Queen of the North felt earned (unlike Bran's sudden pivot toward royalty).

Only good thing about that episode was Sansa. She did what she had to do for her people and came to slay. I am so proud of her. She is the only character that didn't get ruined #GameOfThrones

— bolu babalola (@BeeBabs) May 20, 2019

sansa stark outliving her abusers and becoming queen in the north is the level of bad bitch no one in westeros can reach #gameofthrones #thefinalepisode pic.twitter.com/G3MqVR2F1p

— sansakal stark (@anyabermeo) May 20, 2019

Arya's (Maisie Williams) final storyline incited quite a bit of Twitter turmoil. "What's West of Westeros?" Arya asks Jon as they say goodbye. There's still uncharted territory in the Game of Thrones universe, and she intends to find it. Standing at the prow of a ship headed where no ship has gone before, Arya looks a lot like an explorer — or, you know. Christopher Columbus.

They made Arya into a colonizer. I'm livid

— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) May 20, 2019

Where is Arya headed? What civilizations will she find? How will coming in contact with Westeros affect them forever? Will her exploration only wreak more violence? The irony wasn't lost on people.

arya deciding to leave genocide town by being columbus is very funny

— brian feldman (@bafeldman) May 20, 2019

Generally, though, viewers were kinder about this episode than the rest of the (flawed) season. The sense of an ending eclipsed criticism. After all, we've invested nearly a decade of our lives into this show. We can critique season 8 in think pieces and make memes about the creators' stranger decisions. But we can't entirely shut out what the show meant to so many people.

People were aware of goodbyes. To the show, and to the act of watching the show as it airs — an increasing rarity in the age of streaming.

ANYWAY, I’m glad I devoted many years to this show, even if this season sucked, we had a lot of fun and made a lot of friends.

— Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) May 20, 2019

Fittingly, the episode was full of goodbyes. Tyrion weeps over his dead siblings' bodies. Jon says goodbye to the idea of Daenerys before killing her. Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) said goodbye to Jaime by writing him a page in the knight's book, which was memed to no end. Finally, the four Stark siblings say goodbye and head into their futures. They're unlikely to meet again.

Say whatever else you will about the final season of #GameOfThrones but damn, those final intercutting shots of Sansa, Arya, and Jon walking to their futures pic.twitter.com/Y55tmPRn7l

— Fonda Lee (@FondaJLee) May 20, 2019

At least there was unanimous highlight of the episode: A good boy got pet.

JON: *pets Ghost*

Me:#GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/aL4CV4e31b

— Chris Masse (@cjmasse) May 20, 2019

Most of the people on here are really gonna forgive this show just because they let him pet Ghost after all, don’t lie to me

— Ella Cerón (@ellaceron) May 20, 2019

We all said goodbye to the Starks, to the characters whose names we remembered and the ones we didn't, to the idea of a benevolent queen Daenerys. Can you blame us for taking comfort in Jon and Ghost saying hello?

The season's ended. We may still have feelings about how it went:

“There’s nothing in the world more powerful than a good story.”

AWW MAN WE SURE COULD HAVE USED ONE OF THOSE IN THIS SEASON THEN#GameOfThrones#GameOfThronesFinale

— Denizcan Stark (@MrFilmkritik) May 20, 2019

Actually, a lot of feelings. But when it came to night-of reactions, the "goodbye" mood was stronger than the disgruntled. Be well, young Starks. It's been good knowing you.

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