After years of
teasing that the Night King and his undead army were inevitable, it turns out
the real inevitability was the madness of Queen Daenerys Targaryen.
Victory was
hers. Daenerys rides Drogon to destroy the Iron Fleet, and the Lannister army and
Golden Company surrender to the forces of Jon Snow and the North. The bells ring
out and the gates of King’s Landing open. And something in Daenerys snaps permanently.
With a terrifying look on her face, she gives into her rage and pain and
destroys the entire city, killing untold innocents.
This has been
coming for a long time, at least as far back as when she crucified the slavers
in Meereen. Some of this insanity and cruelty is probably innate to her
character as one of the Targaryens, but some of it she was pushed into. After
losing her two most trusted advisors, Daenerys feels backed into a corner,
paranoid and betrayed by everyone on her side. Lacking the love of the people,
she decides she will lean into the fear she inspires. Dany is a powerful,
ruthless and compassionate woman, but she is also mentally ill and nobody does
much to help her.
And it all
ends in disaster. Everybody completely freaks out. Grey Worm furiously mows
down everyone in his path. Jon stops his own men from killing innocents. Arya
tries to help some women and children escape, only to see them turned to ashes
by dragon fire. Everything crumbles completely and it’s horrifying.
Varys was
right about Daenerys not being able it hold it together and he pays for it with
his life. Tyrion betrays his friend, betting everything on the dragon queen, and
risking execution by freeing Jaime in an emotional scene.
Arya and
Sandor slip into King’s Landing to kill Cersei. (I had to laugh at them
announcing this to some soldier, who was like, “I have to ask my supervisor.”)
The Hound gives her some parting wisdom by telling her the quest for revenge on
Cersei isn’t worth it, since she’ll die anyway and it will just make Arya more
like him. Clegane Bowl becomes a standstill, with the Hound stabbing the
Mountain in the eye to no avail. Finally, the brother who was so afraid of fire
throws them both off a ledge to perish in the dragon fire below. This was more
affecting than I expected because their relationship was not that of normal
adversaries. It built instead on an abusive relationship.
Cersei’s
smugness crumbles along with the Red Keep. Her last doomed moments were
poetically staged, with everything falling apart around her, her sanctuary and
her plans crashing down on a map of the Westeros that she once ruled. Jaime
chooses to return to Cersei and they both die in one another’s arms as brother
tells sister, “We’re all that matters.” Cersei had very little to do this
season.
With Daenerys going
mad, the Hound locked in battle with his brother and Jaime returning to Cersei
to die with her, Game of Thrones is
making a dark comment on how none of these characters can escape the cycles
they were trapped in. Maybe this whole world can’t escape the cycle of conquerors
and war it’s trapped in.
Where does the
show go after this slaughter for the last episode? I’m not sure but I’ll bet
that when Dany and Jon next see each other, the burning of King’s Landing will
come up in conversation.
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