So…
The writers went off the rails and have completely flopped the whole season. Utterly failed, however, they have a chance to reclaim the corner of this arc they wrote themselves into. There’s still some chance to make this blunder into a blunderbuss. Not the weapon of choice, but at least a weapon…
I’m not going to dignify them with how bad they’ve done it so far, only think of how it can be saved. In the current conditions they’ve left it.
Dany, titled: “Queen Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, Lady of Dragonstone, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons.” So, she must live up to this title and prophesy while being written into a fury for no reason other than they didn’t know what else to do.
Let’s look at Protector od the Realm and Breaker of Chains, what if her idea about this is the “Breaker of the Wheel” quote that she will finally end the cycle of madness and wars for the throne in Westeros. This can happen, this can be their “way out” of the corner. I don’t think anyone on their staff is talented enough to do it, but here’s how I would save the series on that principal.
Snow will be in shock and seeking an explanation as he’s always forgiving, almost. I think he still believes she can be a good ruler and like an old flame that fizzled, lives her like an aunt (LOL). Have them talk and mildly reconcile / end the romance with him bending the knee to his queen and very much not proposing.
Dany will now go the fear route and her first person to tackle is Tyrion, he’s betrayed her and someone caught early onset dementia, so he’s bound to say something to piss her off about freeing his brother. My pick would be for Grey Worm in his current form to dispatch him on his queen’s orders but a little unexpectedly so something like “Another word out of you and you’ll no longer be the hand of the queen, or anything else.” And he makes a sound, not even a syllable and GW pierces him to silence and death. Enacting her will, but to her own surprise at the speed and she also now knows the complications she faces with the rest of the alliance and will double down on Fear.
Snow finds out about the ending of Tyrion through Sansa who should have the wearwithall to take over the spy networks of the little birds and likely already has little finger’s network at capacity. Probably the only explanation for how they can ambush a dragon who can see what’s coming… is that the planned attack was never shared with them (/sigh that whole scene…) So, she learns of the true end of Tyrion and how the queen made to cover it up from him and he is pretty much forced into his next title that he never wanted the true air to the Targaryen lineage.
Dany will get wind of this as he now needs to get out of camp without being caught. He doesn’t. Queue nice battle scene where he and a few characters we care about and the typical number of “red shirts” make it just to the walls and BAM, the door slams shut and “dracarys” the whole group is lit up. After a few more seconds than necessary some black hair starts to wave and we see a whole Night King style reveal that Mr. Snow is really good at cheating death thanks to that blood line. We hear Dany say “he is a dragon” calling back to her line from season one. Just as her armies cut him down. This also closes up the “Starks should stay out of the red keep
This is not over, and probably about 60% into the episode, but let’s take a moment to analyze the situation. Obviously, the ending of John is not what people wanted, yet if we look at the current state of the game they wrote themselves into. To “break the wheel” there needs to be no connections to the old regime of the Targaryen lineage and it’s supporters. At the start of the episode there were only 3 who had a connection, Tyrion, Danny and Snow, she’s now eliminated two of the three and only she remains to either be queen, or to be ended thus freeing everyone from the generations of the current model and it’s instability in stable linage power. Kinda like Rome, the line is good, but the butts in the seats are crazy. She’s set herself up for a fall and the vacuum that she makes will supply a darn good opportunity for a stable system.
Cut to next scene by a raven’s path back to Winterfell alluding that bran always knew and Sansa is about to find out through her network. She begins to lose it, break down as her last pillar has just crumbled and she also knew this would happen. Bran comes to her and asks her what the queen of the north will do with the Stark army. This steels her reserve and she sets in motion to unite not just her own forces but all of the many houses she has contact with that are left in turmoil after their heads were removed by the barbarian army and it’s mad dragon queen. She’s in the seat to unite the 7 kingdoms as never before because they are all either heavily stark loyal or ready to run on the mad queen for safety.
Again, a moment of analysis – Vale of Arryn : Stark, Stormlands : Baratheon, need I even say anything? (no take backs mad queen!). Iron Islands: Grejoy, heavy Stark allies under new leadership & mantra. Westerlands : without a house or army perhaps under a mercenary who will ally with any frontrunner. Riverlands : without a house or army, easy to claim & give to a loyal Stark. The Reach : Wouldn’t be a “reach” to have Samwell Tarly take this area over, of a noble house and well allied with the Starks plus the Tyrells are wiped out. Crownlands : Empty burning and ready for anyone but the mad queen. Dorne : In chaos and led by an unknown prince and presumably with a shadow of an army if they have any left. Easily swayed to the Stark cause if they get their hands-off allied approach back. So the world as they know it is 100% ready to be reborn under the Stark clan and if anyone Sansa knows this.
We see the armies uniting and the mad queen in what’s left of the red keep on the iron throne looking ready for a reign of fear and a grand battle to lay waste to anything that gets in her way. The armies are way off and well outside combat range and she lies in wait like a spider for them to come into the web. Kings landing still burns in any par she or her army doesn’t need. As she rises to survey the battle we get an inclining she’s ready to mount her dragon and go wipe them out in advance and as she takes a breath in to call for Rhaegal, she is met with an arm of the unsullied driving a valerian dagger into her chest. This hits the mark where she will bleed out in moments, but doesn’t instantly kill her.
“This dagger was once meant for the Starks. Now, it has met its fate with the Night King and now it ends its mission with the Mad Dragon Queen, the Starks have broken their Targaryen chains and ended the wheel of madness. Winter is here and the real must be protected.” Danny at first in shock and beaming with hatred, has a moment of clarity in Arya’s words. She dies with a peaceful smile reminiscent of her earlier, powerful days knowing that “her destiny” has actually came true, she was, in a way the Breaker of Chains and her madness is lifted.
Word spreads and without a queen to reign the dragon the Unsullied and Dothraki leave the city under cover of night seeking a refuge before being cut down by the gathering armies.
The next morning the castle is overrun by Sansa’s united army of the 7 kingdoms as they cut down any stragglers and the few Westerosi that allied with the Mad Queen they are shocked at the level of resistance and fear a trap. As Sansa suddenly worries about dragonfire or a wildfire explosion Arya rides in on her white horse with the crown of Robert Barthian and Cerci Lannister saying simply “Take your pick” to Sansa. Ever stoic, Sansa lets down a single tear for her fallen brother and choses the Barathian crown saying “This one shall do for now.” tossing the Lannister crown into nearby flames.
We close out the show with Sansa in Winterfell giving a speech on the reign of the Starks as the leaders of the 7 kingdoms and all in the realm noting that Winterfell will now be the seat of power and the Red Keep is to be left in its state “You will now come to the Starks, the Starks no longer go south to misery and tyranny.”
This fulfills many of the prophecies and themes of the show while including the crazy that has happened in the 8th season. To be honest, I think this is where George R. R. Martin was going in the first place. To have the characters battle for power as great armies clash between John and Danny just seemed too cliché. I really believe he would have had them both meet their end, especially considering all of the arcs these characters have built for themselves, but he would have done it in a much more eloquent way that what we have been forced to watch.
Big gaping pothole:
The Dragon.
I’d worry more about incorporating this into the story, but they failed to be anything other than a plot device in season 7 & 8 so I’m fine with the thing just flying north after Dany is killed to find Ghost and the two of them can retire in Essos dining on roast mutton and playing tag as they’re both completely forgotten by the writers and characters after their plot functions are complete.
So, in a great post credits scene, we get to see Ghost ride Rhaegal over the ocean and torch some goats for supper. It really does end that way LoL.
The writers went off the rails and have completely flopped the whole season. Utterly failed, however, they have a chance to reclaim the corner of this arc they wrote themselves into. There’s still some chance to make this blunder into a blunderbuss. Not the weapon of choice, but at least a weapon…
I’m not going to dignify them with how bad they’ve done it so far, only think of how it can be saved. In the current conditions they’ve left it.
Dany, titled: “Queen Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, Lady of Dragonstone, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons.” So, she must live up to this title and prophesy while being written into a fury for no reason other than they didn’t know what else to do.
Let’s look at Protector od the Realm and Breaker of Chains, what if her idea about this is the “Breaker of the Wheel” quote that she will finally end the cycle of madness and wars for the throne in Westeros. This can happen, this can be their “way out” of the corner. I don’t think anyone on their staff is talented enough to do it, but here’s how I would save the series on that principal.
Snow will be in shock and seeking an explanation as he’s always forgiving, almost. I think he still believes she can be a good ruler and like an old flame that fizzled, lives her like an aunt (LOL). Have them talk and mildly reconcile / end the romance with him bending the knee to his queen and very much not proposing.
Dany will now go the fear route and her first person to tackle is Tyrion, he’s betrayed her and someone caught early onset dementia, so he’s bound to say something to piss her off about freeing his brother. My pick would be for Grey Worm in his current form to dispatch him on his queen’s orders but a little unexpectedly so something like “Another word out of you and you’ll no longer be the hand of the queen, or anything else.” And he makes a sound, not even a syllable and GW pierces him to silence and death. Enacting her will, but to her own surprise at the speed and she also now knows the complications she faces with the rest of the alliance and will double down on Fear.
Snow finds out about the ending of Tyrion through Sansa who should have the wearwithall to take over the spy networks of the little birds and likely already has little finger’s network at capacity. Probably the only explanation for how they can ambush a dragon who can see what’s coming… is that the planned attack was never shared with them (/sigh that whole scene…) So, she learns of the true end of Tyrion and how the queen made to cover it up from him and he is pretty much forced into his next title that he never wanted the true air to the Targaryen lineage.
Dany will get wind of this as he now needs to get out of camp without being caught. He doesn’t. Queue nice battle scene where he and a few characters we care about and the typical number of “red shirts” make it just to the walls and BAM, the door slams shut and “dracarys” the whole group is lit up. After a few more seconds than necessary some black hair starts to wave and we see a whole Night King style reveal that Mr. Snow is really good at cheating death thanks to that blood line. We hear Dany say “he is a dragon” calling back to her line from season one. Just as her armies cut him down. This also closes up the “Starks should stay out of the red keep
This is not over, and probably about 60% into the episode, but let’s take a moment to analyze the situation. Obviously, the ending of John is not what people wanted, yet if we look at the current state of the game they wrote themselves into. To “break the wheel” there needs to be no connections to the old regime of the Targaryen lineage and it’s supporters. At the start of the episode there were only 3 who had a connection, Tyrion, Danny and Snow, she’s now eliminated two of the three and only she remains to either be queen, or to be ended thus freeing everyone from the generations of the current model and it’s instability in stable linage power. Kinda like Rome, the line is good, but the butts in the seats are crazy. She’s set herself up for a fall and the vacuum that she makes will supply a darn good opportunity for a stable system.
Cut to next scene by a raven’s path back to Winterfell alluding that bran always knew and Sansa is about to find out through her network. She begins to lose it, break down as her last pillar has just crumbled and she also knew this would happen. Bran comes to her and asks her what the queen of the north will do with the Stark army. This steels her reserve and she sets in motion to unite not just her own forces but all of the many houses she has contact with that are left in turmoil after their heads were removed by the barbarian army and it’s mad dragon queen. She’s in the seat to unite the 7 kingdoms as never before because they are all either heavily stark loyal or ready to run on the mad queen for safety.
Again, a moment of analysis – Vale of Arryn : Stark, Stormlands : Baratheon, need I even say anything? (no take backs mad queen!). Iron Islands: Grejoy, heavy Stark allies under new leadership & mantra. Westerlands : without a house or army perhaps under a mercenary who will ally with any frontrunner. Riverlands : without a house or army, easy to claim & give to a loyal Stark. The Reach : Wouldn’t be a “reach” to have Samwell Tarly take this area over, of a noble house and well allied with the Starks plus the Tyrells are wiped out. Crownlands : Empty burning and ready for anyone but the mad queen. Dorne : In chaos and led by an unknown prince and presumably with a shadow of an army if they have any left. Easily swayed to the Stark cause if they get their hands-off allied approach back. So the world as they know it is 100% ready to be reborn under the Stark clan and if anyone Sansa knows this.
We see the armies uniting and the mad queen in what’s left of the red keep on the iron throne looking ready for a reign of fear and a grand battle to lay waste to anything that gets in her way. The armies are way off and well outside combat range and she lies in wait like a spider for them to come into the web. Kings landing still burns in any par she or her army doesn’t need. As she rises to survey the battle we get an inclining she’s ready to mount her dragon and go wipe them out in advance and as she takes a breath in to call for Rhaegal, she is met with an arm of the unsullied driving a valerian dagger into her chest. This hits the mark where she will bleed out in moments, but doesn’t instantly kill her.
“This dagger was once meant for the Starks. Now, it has met its fate with the Night King and now it ends its mission with the Mad Dragon Queen, the Starks have broken their Targaryen chains and ended the wheel of madness. Winter is here and the real must be protected.” Danny at first in shock and beaming with hatred, has a moment of clarity in Arya’s words. She dies with a peaceful smile reminiscent of her earlier, powerful days knowing that “her destiny” has actually came true, she was, in a way the Breaker of Chains and her madness is lifted.
Word spreads and without a queen to reign the dragon the Unsullied and Dothraki leave the city under cover of night seeking a refuge before being cut down by the gathering armies.
The next morning the castle is overrun by Sansa’s united army of the 7 kingdoms as they cut down any stragglers and the few Westerosi that allied with the Mad Queen they are shocked at the level of resistance and fear a trap. As Sansa suddenly worries about dragonfire or a wildfire explosion Arya rides in on her white horse with the crown of Robert Barthian and Cerci Lannister saying simply “Take your pick” to Sansa. Ever stoic, Sansa lets down a single tear for her fallen brother and choses the Barathian crown saying “This one shall do for now.” tossing the Lannister crown into nearby flames.
We close out the show with Sansa in Winterfell giving a speech on the reign of the Starks as the leaders of the 7 kingdoms and all in the realm noting that Winterfell will now be the seat of power and the Red Keep is to be left in its state “You will now come to the Starks, the Starks no longer go south to misery and tyranny.”
This fulfills many of the prophecies and themes of the show while including the crazy that has happened in the 8th season. To be honest, I think this is where George R. R. Martin was going in the first place. To have the characters battle for power as great armies clash between John and Danny just seemed too cliché. I really believe he would have had them both meet their end, especially considering all of the arcs these characters have built for themselves, but he would have done it in a much more eloquent way that what we have been forced to watch.
Big gaping pothole:
The Dragon.
I’d worry more about incorporating this into the story, but they failed to be anything other than a plot device in season 7 & 8 so I’m fine with the thing just flying north after Dany is killed to find Ghost and the two of them can retire in Essos dining on roast mutton and playing tag as they’re both completely forgotten by the writers and characters after their plot functions are complete.
So, in a great post credits scene, we get to see Ghost ride Rhaegal over the ocean and torch some goats for supper. It really does end that way LoL.
the first season was fun. After that I was bored.