Vox - Game of Thrones season 8: episode recaps and reviews, spoilers, news, and analysishttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52517/voxv.png2019-07-20T10:05:00-04:00http://www.vox.com/rss/stream/159801332019-07-20T10:05:00-04:002019-07-20T10:05:00-04:00Why the ending of Game of Thrones elevated the worst of fan culture
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<img alt="Game of Thrones finale Bran Stark" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/z-cqi33QcChcZLw5zGwXUrjm_Ss=/89x0:2889x2100/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64772247/4724F294_885A_4BC0_954F_E7947BFAB591.0.jpeg" />
<figcaption>The face of a man who’s definitely a Hanzo main. | HBO</figcaption>
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<p>Game of Thrones turned Bran Stark into a tired geek power fantasy — at its own expense.</p> <p id="4BRWCC"><a href="https://www.vox.com/game-of-thrones"><em>Game of Thrones</em></a>’ <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/20/18632090/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-recap-winners-losers-house-stark-daenerys">ending</a> left many fans disappointed with what they viewed as <a href="https://www.vox.com/game-of-thrones/2019/5/20/18632343/game-of-thrones-finale-season-8-bran-tyrion-iron-throne">lazy or misguided storytelling</a>, or sloppy writing that abandoned many of the show’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/22/18634056/game-of-thrones-series-finale-questions-ending">longstanding plot threads</a>. </p>
<p id="92fq1E">Among the most hotly debated, even confusing choices the show made was the issue of who would finally rule what was left of Westeros. After the dust cleared, the answer was ... <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/19/18630083/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-spoilers-iron-throne-who-won">Bran Stark</a>.</p>
<p id="SjRBST">It’s true that Bran is an <em>interesting</em> choice, in that he isn’t a hyper-masculine character; unlike other contenders for the throne, like Jon or even Tyrion, he’s never fought in a battle. His abilities are entirely mental and intellectual rather than physical, as he’s lost the use of his legs. He’s portrayed as a “soft” counterpoint to <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ other, much more rugged heroes. </p>
<p id="pyNxbd">But <a href="https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/tv/a27520071/bran-wins-iron-throne-king-fans-pissed/">to many fans</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/05/20/long-journey-bran-stark-game-thrones/?utm_term=.8ff92b4c59dc">critics</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/19/18629699/game-of-thrones-finale-reaction-who-won-the-iron-throne">including me</a>, Bran winning the game of thrones hardly seemed like a step forward for Westeros; instead, it felt shortsighted and regressive. Part of the frustration stems from something beyond the world of <em>Game of Thrones</em>: By being named king, Bran Stark is cemented as a perfect analogue for a certain type of protector of geek culture; specifically, fans (often male) who are rigidly deferent to the original lore of a story, often alienating other (typically marginalized) fans who support a more flexible approach. </p>
<p id="PmkJ66">Within our real-world context, Bran’s ascension to rulership feels like a myopic, self-aggrandizing celebration of curatorial fandom, or the specific way in which many fans worship canon — in this case, <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ source material, the <em>Song of Ice and Fire</em> book series by George R.R. Martin. Ending the show with Bran in charge of Westeros codifies a male-dominated version of geek culture that reflects mainstream perceptions about fandom and aligns generally with the show’s <a href="https://tv.avclub.com/rape-of-thrones-1798267897">frequent</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/17/18624767/game-of-thrones-series-finale-season-8-episode-5-the-bells-daenerys-dany-kings-landing-targaryen">misogyny</a>. </p>
<p id="jAETqf">Moreover, it’s a choice that’s ultimately bigger than Bran: Whether it was intentional or not, when <em>Game of Thrones</em> made room for a reading of Bran as a stand-in for male geekdom, it unwittingly revealed how flawed this type of fandom is. And the flaws within this oppressive, holier-than-thou type of fandom can also help explain just why <em>Game of Thrones</em> was such a disappointment to many in its final two seasons.</p>
<h3 id="26Fnxm">Curatorial fandom and transformative fandom are two halves of a whole</h3>
<p id="hdP7Un">“Curatorial fandom” is a general term for the area of geek culture that emphasizes amassing as much canonical knowledge as possible, no matter how minute. The concept was first formally articulated by a <a href="https://obsession-inc.dreamwidth.org/82589.html">Livejournal user, obsession_inc</a>, in 2009, as “<a href="https://fanlore.org/wiki/Affirmational_Fandom">affirmational fandom</a>,” and then further expanded on and redefined by <a href="https://np.reddit.com/r/gallifrey/comments/2u73cg/tumblrbashing_why_or_why_not/co5ucsk/">Reddit user LordByronic in 2015</a> as “curative fandom.” The curatorial fan passionately commits details about their favorite story to memory and uses those details to fuel their understanding of the narrative. Curatorial fandom worships and upholds the source text above all else, rather than deconstructing it or challenging its canonical authority. </p>
<p id="5pcdd3">The other side of fandom is “transformative fandom.” If curatorial fandom is about enshrining an authorial version of canon, transformative fandom is about changing it. Transformative fandom is centered on fanworks, like fanfiction, fan art, or fan critique, all of which use the source text as the jumping-off point for original interpretations. The idea of “transformative fandom” is a core concept of fanworks-based fandom because transformativity is part of the legal framework that protects fanfiction (i.e. it’s a “transformative work”). Transformative fandom often arises out of biases built into the canons themselves, and fans’ need for a place to confront and respond to stories that neglected to include their identities or experiences.</p>
<p id="PuqnEM">Academics have long associated curatorial and transformative fandoms with <a href="https://www.academia.edu/32749631/Gender_Dynamics_in_Fandom_The_Gender_Theory_Behind_Curative_and_Creative_Fandoms">a general fandom gender divide</a>, finding that curatorial fandom appeals more to men and transformative fandom appeals more to women. Men and women are socially conditioned to read different types of stories and think about them differently, according to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1345998?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">much research</a>, and that conditioning shapes how we respond to our favorite stories. The curatorial approach to fandom is generally thought to <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=61ZxDwAAQBAJ&q=%22defer+to+the+author%27s+authority%22#v=snippet&q=%22defer%20to%20the%20author's%20authority%22&f=false">appeal more readily to men</a>, who read texts and “defer to the author’s authority, focusing on mastering information and solving any narrative puzzles the text might present.” The common negative stereotype that attaches to this type of fan portrays them as the quintessential <a href="https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/911/778">male fandom gatekeeper</a>, who accuses other fans, often women, of being “fake,” à la the fabled “<a href="https://www.themarysue.com/psychology-of-the-fake-geek-girl/">fake geek girl</a>,” if they don’t know some minor story detail. </p>
<p id="I0zeHd">Conversely, because <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=wmo_-QhfqeoC&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=%22stops+short+of+explaining+why+boys+and+girls+would+be+offered%22&source=bl&ots=QM6TOoYuue&sig=ACfU3U2qlqOx03tFQs3UWzCG7NCUgCiXMQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjWu_qE-8HjAhWkzVkKHW20BFMQ6AEwAHoECAEQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22stops%20short%20of%20explaining%20why%20boys%20and%20girls%20would%20be%20offered%22&f=false">women are conditioned</a> to read texts that are culturally devalued, they often learn to read texts transformationally, valuing multiple interpretations and resistant readings of the things they love. Thus, transformative fandom is <a href="http://centrumlumina.tumblr.com/post/62816996032/gender">primarily</a> the bastion of white <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/6/2/11531406/why-were-terrified-fanfiction-teen-girls">women, queer, and genderqueer fans</a>, although there are many fans of color as well<strong> </strong>— all people who have traditionally been barred from curatorial fandom due to things like the aforementioned gatekeeping.</p>
<aside id="24kHWF"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data="{"stories":[{"title":"Why we're terrified of fanfiction","url":"https://www.vox.com/2016/6/2/11531406/why-were-terrified-fanfiction-teen-girls"}]}"></div></aside><p id="u0Pldh">There’s nothing inherently wrong with being a curatorial fan; in fact, many fans fall between both tentpoles, or are transformative fans in one fandom and curatorial fans in another. Where things get sticky is when curatorial fandom is portrayed as the <em>only</em> way of participating in fan culture, and when that level of encyclopedic knowledge is hailed as somehow akin to ascending to “true” fan status. For a well-known fictional example of curatorial fandom represented in just this way, look at Ernest Cline’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/3/26/17148350/ready-player-one-book-backlash-controversy-gamergate-explained"><em>Ready Player One</em></a><em>. </em>The 2011 novel and subsequent 2018 feature film adaptation are both<em> </em><a href="https://ponyregrets.tumblr.com/post/169560632539/okay-friends-as-ready-player-one-comes-into-the">notorious for their valorization of curatorial ’80s nostalgia</a>.) </p>
<p id="HqFxs6">Transformative fans are very aware that they are fringe fans who don’t do fandom the “right” way, i.e., the curatorial way. That is, they recognize that their way of participating in fandom is diametrically opposed to curatorial fandom. But most curatorial fans don’t even know there <em>is</em> another way of being in fandom; their notion of fandom is the only kind that exists. When we look at the way fandom is presented in the mainstream, it’s curatorial fandom that has traditionally been best represented, whether through big events like <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/7/18/20699414/comic-con-trailers-2019-movies-tv-sdcc">Comic-Con</a> or through explorations of fandom phenomena like <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-grown-men-who-love-my-little-pony-arent-who-you-think-they-are/2016/07/18/d1c1cefe-476f-11e6-acbc-4d4870a079da_story.html?utm_term=.5fbec09cc745">“Brony” culture</a>.</p>
<p id="6NCgWZ">Meanwhile, transformative fandom is frequently denigrated, its members often regarded as mystifying oddities by mainstream media as well as other fans and the general public. (Just recall the widespread bafflement and salaciousness around the media’s coverage of <em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> and its fanfiction origins.)<strong> </strong> <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/6/2/11531406/why-were-terrified-fanfiction-teen-girls">Fanfiction in particular</a> is largely viewed in mainstream culture as a source of comedy and a repository for porn, rather than something to be taken seriously. And while Tumblr, where transformative fandom has found its most visible home, has quietly fueled mainstream pop culture for a decade by <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/blog/techflash/2015/03/tumblr-worth-to-buzzfeed-as-content-provider.html">funneling memes</a> and fandom <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/11/09/what-the-hell-is-a-stan-and-where-does-the-name-come-from_a_23264113/">terms</a> into <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/19/18507130/ship-dynamics-meme-twitter-art-fandom-shipping">common cultural parlance</a>, it’s also <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/12/4/18124120/tumblr-porn-adult-content-ban-user-backlash">been written off as</a> a silly platform for teens.</p>
<p id="6qGRN8">If you’re involved in curatorial fandom, you may not see what difference any of this makes. But the divide impacts many fans on the other side of the line, who constantly must defend the legitimacy of how they interact with their fandom. When they aren’t having to defend the <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92577677?storyId=92577677">legal</a> and <a href="https://bookshop.tumblr.com/post/27457664777">moral</a> legitimacy of the fanworks they create, transformative fans are often <a href="https://splinternews.com/fandom-isn-t-broken-it-s-just-not-only-for-white-dudes-1793857254">seen as aggressive</a> for trying to talk back to, and hold creators accountable for, certain stories’ problematic elements — including <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/9/4/12534818/harry-potter-cursed-child-rowling-queerbaiting">queerbaiting</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/summer-movies/2018/5/22/17376052/deadpool-2-writers-fridging-women-in-refrigerators">fridging</a>, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/4/15/11438080/ghost-in-the-shell-white-washing-johansson">erasure</a>. </p>
<p id="AJ6dih">In her 2009 essay on curatorial versus transformative fandom, obsession_inc <a href="https://obsession-inc.dreamwidth.org/82589.html">describes transformative fans</a> as “most definitely, the <em>non-sanctioned</em> fans.” Meanwhile, curatorial fandom is frequently <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/04/25/avengers-endgame-is-thank-you-those-who-believed-storytelling-power-marvel-studios/?utm_term=.35b24a3f2be1">lauded and validated</a> by both creators and mainstream media for trusting storytellers to get their own stories right. It’s a frustrating hierarchy that only underscores the fact that geek culture <em>isn’t</em> a hierarchy: The two sides of fandom balance one another equally.</p>
<p id="wmLIUf">So what does all this have to do with Bran Stark? Well, if modern fandom is a multifaceted whole made up of curatorial fans and transformative fans who balance one another, and Bran represents modern fandom, you’d expect him to embody both curatorial and transformative fandom. But he doesn’t.</p>
<h3 id="xGUxwd">Bran Stark embodies curatorial fandom — including its worst aspects</h3>
<p id="mlAcDk">It must be said: Bran embodies the stereotype of a fannish geek who spends his entire day sitting surfing the internet. After <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ series finale, I <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/19/18629699/game-of-thrones-finale-reaction-who-won-the-iron-throne">wrote semi-snarkily</a> that Bran is the “Westerosi equivalent of an internet addict who spends all his time reading Wikipedia and playing video games”; but seriously, he’s easily viewed as an analogue for the curatorial male <em>Game of Thrones</em> fan who believes knowing tons of trivia represents his dedication to the series. Bran is a human database of facts and knowledge that he acquired from “reading” the history/canon presented to him through his nebulous abilities as the Three-Eyed Raven. Not only that, but his first official act as king was to essentially go gaming in search of Drogon the dragon, while Tyrion and the small council were left to run the kingdom. These characteristics and behaviors make Bran easy to read as an avatar for curatorial fandom. </p>
<p id="BTbONe">Like the (generally) male geeks who think their worship of the canon gives them a say in <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/7/24/17599132/james-gunn-fired-gamergate-guardians-of-the-galaxy">who holds the power</a> in their culture, as well as <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/6/30/12027882/ghostbusters-reboot-all-female-backlash-sexism-sony">what kind of stories are told</a> in that culture, Bran is rewarded by a communal narrative that validates his sense of entitlement. In <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ final episode, Tyrion declares that stories have power, and then he anoints Bran as not only having the best story of them all but consequently holding the most power. This is a not-so-subtle suggestion that the “best” kind of <em>Game of Thrones</em> fan is the one who’s spent hours on Reddit soaking up trivia, or, to go back even further, the dedicated <em>Song of Ice and Fire</em> fan who has spent more than two decades at this point playing the game by close-reading the canon, often developing theories from these close reads that <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/8/30/16213394/r-l-j-game-of-thrones-fandom-oral-history">ultimately proved correct</a>. </p>
<p id="tfsaA8">But, of course, that’s not the only way to engage with a story, nor should it be. Emphasizing an encyclopedic knowledge of canon silences the many fans who engage with the source texts they love by focusing on what those source texts left out to begin with. Remember, the draw of transformative fandom is often in exploring what the text omits. Obviously, a creator can’t possibly anticipate everything that every reader would like them to include in their story. But when a knowledge of what’s already in the text is upheld as the best thing for a good fan to focus on, it creates less motivation for fans to think about what’s <em>not </em>in the text, and how exploring those elements might make the whole story better. </p>
<p id="hM6plI">Bran’s knowledge of Westerosi history is a perfect case in point, because he doesn’t just “know” history; his special connection to the Children of the Forest has given him the ability to physically see history as it played out, so he’s always got a running replay in his mind. You’d think that would make him virtually all-knowing, but in fact, it gives him a limited view of history that leaves out many historical stories and perspectives. After all, his knowledge only extends as far as events that happened near specific weirwood trees. <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/26/18515988/bran-is-the-night-king-theory-reverse-spell-battle-of-winterfell">Seriously</a>. </p>
<p id="4wdLoy">The problem is that for the past 5,000 years or so, weirwood trees <a href="https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Weirwood">have existed</a> mainly in the northern part of the kingdom, so all the history Bran has access to is, pretty literally, the history that “the North remembers.” Despite this, he’s validated by his community, via Tyrion’s speech and the council’s approval, as the one who holds the keys to all of Westeros’s past and future, which justifies his ascension to the throne. </p>
<p id="A9gh6A">So Bran gets to be the gatekeeper of power and the sole interpreter of knowledge for his culture, without having his authority over that story questioned. And while he deserves full marks for having trained hard to become a human library, we’ll never have a total grasp on what stories have been left out.</p>
<p id="PACkIz">What’s more, by not acknowledging those limitations, <em>Game of Thrones</em> tells us that Bran’s store of knowledge is fine, and that he needs no corrective lens. Similarly, <em>Game of Thrones</em> creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss seem to have their feet firmly planted in curatorial fandom, without possessing any deeper interest in or understanding of transformative fandom or why it might matter, both in terms of how the show is constructed and why fans care about it to begin with. And that disinterest in transforming the narrative they’re working with is part of why <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ storyline collapsed in season eight.</p>
<h3 id="w5Dl23">A transformative fandom approach to <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ home stretch could have kept it from falling apart</h3>
<p id="aaEOWP">Remember how I said above that this new <em>Game of Thrones</em> power dynamic is all ultimately bigger than Bran? The choice to put Bran in charge doesn’t only reflect, however inadvertently, the elevation of one form of fandom over another; it also reflects the kind of shortsighted perspective you can wind up with when a solely curatorial approach, or for that matter a solely transformative approach, is your only way of being involved in a fandom. And <em>that </em>tells us a lot about where the series went in its final two seasons.</p>
<p id="mILAjs">All of the criticisms made about <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ final season — that it deemphasized character, that it abandoned narrative threads and stopped deconstructing tropes, that it mistreated women and characters of color — are issues that transformative fandom is built on addressing and correcting. And many of those criticisms have been made with <a href="https://twitter.com/AlannaBennett/status/1130470136522125315">a frequent reminder</a> that having women and writers of color in the writers’ room could have solved many of these problems.</p>
<p id="HmukBP">That’s because creators who come from marginalized groups are the ones who are usually thinking most deeply about what’s being left out of the story. Why? Because, to be blunt, the story usually leaves <em>them </em>out. Marginalized fans can often bear the burden of speaking up for their groups, but transformative fandom gives them an eager audience that dares to shake up established lore through gender- and race-swapping, among other storytelling approaches.</p>
<p id="NAFYMQ">As such, many transformative fanworks are character-driven; far more than engaging with world-building and expanding plot possibilities, transformative fans tend to be drawn to explorations of characters and their relationships with each other. When plots render beloved characters unrecognizable, or do badly by them in a way they don’t think is justified, fans will frequently write “<a href="https://fanlore.org/wiki/Fix-it">fix-it fic</a>” to right the perceived wrong. </p>
<p id="3YLKHL">Benioff and Weiss’s prescriptive approach to storytelling is exactly what transformative fandom runs counter to, and it plays into the specific problem that plagued the show throughout its final season: <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/27/18639229/game-of-thrones-finale-disappointing-the-iron-throne-recap">the conflict</a> between natural character progressions and the bulleted checklist of plot points that Benioff and Weiss seemingly felt obligated to deliver. Instead of relying on the inherently transformative emphasis on characterization and deconstructing fantasy tropes that made <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ earlier seasons compelling, Benioff and Weiss fell back on plot and spectacle and callbacks, even when it meant characters contradicted themselves or acted in highly inconsistent ways. The effect was that they wound up regurgitating George R.R. Martin’s plot directions without any deeper thought for what it would do to the characters.</p>
<p id="QPIFCh">That’s the irony of the finale’s claim that “stories have power.” In fact, <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ final season illustrates that a story utterly fails to have any power when all it’s doing is worshipfully preserving a preexisting one — in this case, the <em>Song of Ice and Fire</em> novels and their ostensible ending as dictated by Martin, which <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/20/18623683/game-of-thrones-finale-reaction-george-rr-martin-got-ending">we may never get to see</a>. Without showrunners who balanced reverence for the written story with a desire to be true to their characters’ unique evolutions on the show, it was hard for <em>Game of Thrones</em> to fully shake its roots in the end. That’s even mirrored in the show: Bran’s and Tyrion’s attempt to start a “new” political system really just ended up <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/19/18629699/game-of-thrones-finale-reaction-who-won-the-iron-throne">enshrining the old political system</a>, with a few tweaks.</p>
<p id="Cb6eUg">It’s easy to see how this ending, with Bran on the throne, the geek inheriting the earth, could represent a fantasy of ascension for other nerds like him. But ultimately, all it’s done is illustrate why curatorial fandom, left on its own, will never be as satisfying as a fandom that allows everyone access to the same story, and lets new stories have just as much value as the old ones.</p>
<p id="58FqTN">How disappointing that this show that wanted to break the wheel couldn’t even break through its own shortsighted vision of which stories are worth telling.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2019/7/20/18638718/game-of-thrones-ending-bran-stark-transformative-fandomAja Romano2019-07-10T11:39:24-04:002019-07-10T11:39:24-04:00HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series and spinoffs: everything we know so far
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<img alt="The Night King walking through flames in “Game of Thrones.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jHCmv55KwnYM4Yc--TpBwlUp5Do=/194x0:1769x1181/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63867565/Courtesy_of_HBO__5_.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>HBO</figcaption>
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<p>The network has several projects in development, but only one has reached the pilot stage so far.</p> <p id="3r9ZWP"><a href="https://www.vox.com/game-of-thrones"><em>Game of Thrones</em></a> is over. The series concluded its <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/12/18306963/game-of-thrones-season-8-episodes-news">eighth and final season</a> on May 19 with <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/20/18632090/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-recap-winners-losers-house-stark-daenerys">“The Iron Throne,”</a> capping off a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/16/18627915/game-of-thrones-petition-to-redo-season-8">polarizing</a> final season that <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/17/18624767/game-of-thrones-series-finale-season-8-episode-5-the-bells-daenerys-dany-kings-landing-targaryen">drew mixed reviews</a> from <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/20/18632090/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-recap-winners-losers-house-stark-daenerys">critics</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/game-of-thrones/2019/5/20/18632343/game-of-thrones-finale-season-8-bran-tyrion-iron-throne">and fans</a>. </p>
<p id="tMGX8F">It’s undeniable, however, that <em>Game of Thrones </em>will leave a lasting impression on the TV landscape. HBO adapted George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy book series into a drama deemed appointment- and award-worthy; following its 2011 premiere, the series’ fanbase and viewership grew by millions of people every season. </p>
<p id="ZnKWpE">Then there’s the series’ extensive cultural permeation, on a level that has far <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/4/8/18297039/game-of-thrones-oreo-mountain-dew-whiskey">transcended superficial product tie-ins</a>. Parents have <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/5/9/5699448/naming-babies-after-game-of-thrones-characters-got-even-more-popular">named their kids Arya and Khaleesi</a>; the line “You know nothing, Jon Snow” <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/you-know-nothing-jon-snow">entered the cultural lexicon</a>. Even President Donald Trump has been known to <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1118876219381026818?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1118876219381026818&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnet.com%2Fnews%2Fhbo-requests-trump-stop-using-game-of-thrones-memes-for-political-purposes%2F">co-opt the show’s iconic imagery on social media</a>. Such is the phenomenon that <em>Game of Thrones</em> has become, and will likely continue to be. </p>
<p id="YwHCBf">In short, the series is a buzz- and money-generating machine, one that HBO was presumably very sad to see go. So it’s hardly a surprise that the network began to develop no fewer than four potential prequel series <a href="https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/game-of-thrones-spinoff-hbo-1202409434/">in May 2017</a>, not long before<em> Game of Thrones</em> debuted its seventh season. (HBO then went ahead and <a href="https://ew.com/tv/2017/09/20/game-thrones-bryan-cogman-5th-prequel/">reportedly started work on a fifth one</a> in September of that year, as well.)</p>
<aside id="lFtx7K"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"5 winners and 9 losers from Game of Thrones’ series finale","url":"https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/20/18632090/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-recap-winners-losers-house-stark-daenerys"}]}'></div></aside><p id="x1ehfA">Today, at least three of the five prequel projects remain in development (one that would have been produced by <em>Game of Thrones</em> writer Bryan Cogman <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2019/04/game-of-thrones-bryan-cogmans-prequel-is-dead-at-hbo.html">has been nixed</a>; the other’s status remains unknown), <a href="http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2019/05/04/stuff-and-nonsense-3/">according to George R.R. Martin</a> himself. The projects that have yet to be canceled hail from Jane Goldman (<em>Kingsman: The Golden Circle</em>); Max Borenstein (<a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/8/14838538/kong-skull-island-review-king-kong-godzilla"><em>Kong: Skull Island</em></a>); Brian Helgeland (<em>Legend</em>); and Carly Wray (<em>Mad Men</em>). </p>
<p id="HGXb7x">“What are they about? I cannot say,” wrote Martin in <a href="http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2019/05/04/stuff-and-nonsense-3/">a May 4 blog post</a>. “But maybe some of you should pick up a copy of FIRE & BLOOD [Martin’s companion novel to <em>A Song of Ice and Fire</em>, about the history of Westeros] and come up with your own theories.”</p>
<p id="mPWpFO">But only Goldman’s project has come anywhere close to getting off the ground thus far. It’s a prequel set thousands of years in the past, in a Westeros very different from the one that <em>Game of Thrones</em> viewers and fans of Martin’s originating book series know so well. According to the UK’s the Sun newspaper, its working title is <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/9067339/game-of-thrones-prequel-filming-belfast-bloodmoon/"><em>Bloodmoon</em></a>, and production has reportedly begun on a pilot, with filming having started in Belfast, Ireland, in May 2019.<strong> </strong>(Martin said on his blog that filming is set for “later this year,” however — and he also hinted to Entertainment Weekly in July that he’s heard <a href="https://ew.com/tv/2019/07/09/george-r-r-martin-game-of-thrones-prequel-facts/"><em>The Longest Night</em></a><em> </em>bandied about as a possible title as well.)</p>
<p id="9Svfji">With that said, HBO hasn’t released any recent updates on the status of Goldman’s project, or any other <em>Game of Thrones</em> series it has in development, so details remain scarce. But here’s everything we know about the prequel so far.</p>
<h3 id="QVC4kZ">The prequel will tell an all-new story</h3>
<p id="LUAhJA"><em>Game of Thrones</em> is famously based on Martin’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/6/2/8701867/game-of-thrones-books-are-better">fantasy book series <em>A Song of Ice and Fire</em></a>. And the author has grown famously slow in writing those books, with two titles still to go in the planned seven-part series and no end in sight. Book five, <em>A Dance with Dragons</em>, hit bookshelves in July 2011 — mere months after the April 2011 premiere of <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ first season. But a full eight years later, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/20/18631417/game-of-thrones-winds-of-winter-martin-release-date">Martin is still writing book six, <em>The Winds of Winter</em></a>, with no known release date.</p>
<p id="o43Ymg">The TV show outpaced it source material around season five. By season six, showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff began <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/5/27/11787534/game-of-thrones-show-better-than-books-spoilers">turning toward original storytelling</a>, with Martin’s blessing. </p>
<p id="gwM37C">The prequel, however, will follow an original storyline from the beginning; though it will draw from Martin’s <em>Song of Ice and Fire</em> universe to reveal the backstory of Westeros, it won’t pull directly from any of Martin’s existing writing. The author will still shape the project, however, serving as series co-creator with showrunner Goldman. The aim is to create a new story and characters that help fill in the early details of the <em>Game of Thrones</em> universe.</p>
<p id="hveoFp">Here is <a href="https://www.hbo.com/hbo-news/game-of-thrones-prequel-what-to-know">the show’s description</a>, straight from HBO:</p>
<blockquote><p id="Fy9xcG">Taking place thousands of years before the events of <em>Game of Thrones</em>, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend, only one thing is for sure: It’s not the story we think we know.</p></blockquote>
<h3 id="3zCw5V">The Night King and White Walkers may factor in — but don’t expect to recognize much else</h3>
<p id="WvnMjO">In June 2018, after HBO ordered a pilot for the prequel, Martin set some expectations for curious fans. First things first: Whoever your favorite characters are? Forget about ’em. They’re not here for this one.</p>
<p id="WE1rFF">“None of the characters or actors from Game of Thrones will appear in the new show,” Martin wrote in <a href="http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2018/06/11/hbo-greenlights-goldman-pilot/">a blog post</a>, adding that this pilot “really puts the PRE in prequel, since it is set not ninety years before Game of Thrones ... or a few hundred years, but rather ten thousand years.”</p>
<p id="5dDa7i">In November 2018, Martin doubled down on that statement, getting more explicit about which families — and iconic locations — won’t appear in the prequel.</p>
<p id="f68HPp">“There’s no King’s Landing. There’s no Iron Throne. There are no Targaryens — Valyria has hardly begun to rise yet with its dragons and the great empire that it built,” Martin told <a href="https://ew.com/author-interviews/2018/11/19/george-rr-martin-interview/">Entertainment Weekly</a>. “We’re dealing with a different and older world, and hopefully that will be part of the fun of the series.” Several months later, in a <a href="https://ew.com/tv/2019/07/09/george-r-r-martin-game-of-thrones-prequel-facts/">separate July 2019 interview</a>, he added the Lannister family to the list of characters not to expect — but there <em>will </em>be Starks, he teased. Though which Starks could appear, and in what capacity, remains unclear, early ancestors of Ned and all the rest seem like a good bet. </p>
<p id="CMPTbc">And there may be one other exception to the otherwise fresh start: the Night King, who commanded humanity’s greatest threat, the White Walkers, until <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/28/18522047/arya-stark-long-night-king-death">he was killed by Arya Stark</a> during the final season’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/29/18522048/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-3-recap-the-long-night-winners-losers">Battle of Winterfell</a>. The Night King lived for thousands of years before he and his Army of the Dead appeared on <em>Game of Thrones</em>, so he’s really the only figure from the show who could have existed during the time period when the prequel is set. Indeed, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/26/18515988/bran-is-the-night-king-theory-reverse-spell-battle-of-winterfell">he was the first White Walker in existence</a>, and with Martin having <a href="https://ew.com/tv/2019/07/09/george-r-r-martin-game-of-thrones-prequel-facts/">confirmed</a> in July 2019 that the White Walkers will definitely reappear, it seems likely that the Night King will make an appearance along with them.</p>
<p id="SXx4W7">“The Night King was the first White Walker, and he and the other White Walkers were meant to defend the Children of the Forest from the rest of the First Men, who were invading Westeros at that time,” Riley McAtee of <a href="https://www.theringer.com/tv/2018/6/11/17448012/game-of-thrones-prequel-pilot-age-of-heroes">the Ringer</a> noted in June 2018. “Obviously, it didn’t quite work out that way, and soon the Night King brought Westeros into the Long Night. It’s hard to think HBO could tell the story Westeros’s ‘darkest hour’ without also telling the origin of the Night King.”</p>
<p id="fIb8lF">McAtee also identified one other character who could appear in the prequel, albeit one who has only been <em>discussed</em> on <em>Game of Thrones</em>: Brandon the Builder, who founded House Stark and, according to legend, Westeros itself. Brandon Stark doesn’t play an active role in <em>A Song of Ice and Fire</em>, as he is said to have lived during the ancient Age of Heroes. But the Age of Heroes is when HBO has <a href="https://www.hbo.com/hbo-news/game-of-thrones-prequel-what-to-know">said</a> that the prequel will be set — so Brandon could potentially appear onscreen as a Stark ancestor, especially now that Martin has confirmed that the Starks will show up in some way.</p>
<h3 id="BB1UWI">A cast is already in place, but character details remain unknown</h3>
<p id="TYDCPD">HBO has revealed a large roster of actors who are set to appear in the pilot. At the top of that roster is Naomi Watts, who is the only cast member whose character has been even slightly defined; <a href="https://www.hbo.com/hbo-news/game-of-thrones-prequel-what-to-know">HBO says</a> Watts will play “a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret.”</p>
<p id="Rhf8PP">So far, the rest of the cast list contains names big and small, including Miranda Richardson (Rita Skeeter in <em>Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire</em>), Jamie Campbell Bower (<em>Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald</em>), Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia series), and Marquis Rodriguez (<em>Luke Cage</em>), all in unspecified roles for now. </p>
<h3 id="m2qM8x">When will the prequel series air? Don’t get too far ahead of yourself.</h3>
<p id="2tN0ny">HBO has only ordered a pilot of <em>Bloodmoon</em><strong> </strong>(or is it <em>The Longest Night</em>?) so far. That’s certainly a good sign, but it’s far from a guarantee that the pilot will eventually become a series. Lots of pilots are filmed but don’t become TV shows, or get seriously retooled before they ever make it to air; even <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ original pilot was remade after <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/game-of-thrones-unaired-pilot_n_5c0af138e4b0ab8cf6934dbe">disastrous screen tests</a>. </p>
<p id="gxvfj0">So it’s far too early to even think about a possible release date. But given <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ popularity, the prequel project seems to have a decent chance of making it beyond the pilot phase. And thinking about potential spinoffs is as good a way as any for fans to distract themselves from ongoing arguments about <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/20/18632090/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-recap-winners-losers-house-stark-daenerys">the series finale</a>, if nothing else. </p>
<p id="I87X6q"></p>
https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/20/18294424/game-of-thrones-prequel-spinoff-series-pilot-hboAllegra Frank2019-05-27T09:40:00-04:002019-05-27T09:40:00-04:00Game of Thrones and the danger of planned finales
<figure>
<img alt="Game of Thrones" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JI_zJOxJV7o3GNfprj4T4sKWftU=/632x0:3432x2100/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63902587/_9__Courtesy_of_HBO.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Drogon burns down the idea of planning out your series finale. | HBO</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The series has known where it was heading for many seasons now. So why did it fall apart?</p> <p id="wHsMdt"><a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/8/28/16216092/game-of-thrones-season-8-spoilers-news-review-episode-recaps-winterfell"><em>Game of Thrones</em></a>’ series finale, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/19/18630083/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-spoilers-iron-throne-who-won">“The Iron Throne,”</a> is the show’s lowest-ranked episode ever on IMDB, with the site’s users <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6027920/">grading it a 4.3 out of 10</a>. And what’s the second-lowest-ranked episode of the series on IMDB? That would be the final season’s fourth episode, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/6/18530741/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-4-recap-the-last-of-the-starks-winners-losers">“The Last of the Starks,”</a> coming in at a 5.6.</p>
<p id="qpq7PG">And if you look a little further, you’ll realize that IMDB users’ lowest-ranked six episodes of the entire series are <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/episodes?season=8&ref_=tt_eps_sn_8">the six episodes of the final season</a>. The second episode, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/22/18510436/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-2-recap-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-winners-losers">“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,”</a> ranks the highest of the six, with an 8.0, but it’s still behind season five’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/5/18/8619347/game-of-thrones-episode-6-recap">“Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken,”</a> IMDB’s lowest-ranked episode of <em>Game of Thrones</em> that’s <em>not</em> in the final season, with a score of 8.1.</p>
<p id="n8wxYu">On one level, these rankings are a little off — I think all six episodes of <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ eighth and final season, whatever my issues with them, are better than “Unbowed,” which is a bad episode of television! </p>
<p id="wrVOF7">But on another level, they’re pretty well aligned with <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/game_of_thrones/s08">Rotten Tomatoes’ critical consensus</a> on the final season, which sits at 58 percent, by far the worst ever. (Season one is in second place, with 91 percent.) </p>
<p id="QJ7UPb">The season certainly has its defenders, who feel the series <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-recaps/game-of-thrones-series-finale-recap-the-iron-throne-835755/">wrapped up just about perfectly</a>. And there are plenty of people like me, who feel the season was conceptually interesting while <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/17/18624767/game-of-thrones-series-finale-season-8-episode-5-the-bells-daenerys-dany-kings-landing-targaryen">whiffing several key moments of execution</a>. </p>
<p id="fduhnW">But I still think it’s fair to say that the general consensus on <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ final season could be described, charitably, as “disappointing.” And the further we get from the finale, the more I can feel myself detaching from the show in a way that suggests I might not think about it much in the years to come. For a show this big to mostly evaporate is somehow more disappointing than if it had ended in a way that actively infuriated me.</p>
<p id="grTNoG">So what was it about <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ final season that left so many people disappointed? Sure, some of the disappointment was an inevitable function of hype. But I would argue it was just as much a function of the show having a planned finale.</p>
<h3 id="tDNd18">TV is a medium where you have to plan everything and nothing simultaneously — no small feat </h3>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="The Americans" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vwUUKHrnRGjw0kd-ESRHiftODP0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8492259/americans5.10main.jpg">
<cite>FX</cite>
<figcaption>The final season of <em>The Americans</em> was met with critical acclaim.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="f9Es1g">One of my favorite stories about the construction of a great TV series has always been about the five-season classic <em>Breaking Bad</em>. Throughout that show’s second season, creator Vince Gilligan and his writers seeded hints in several episodes about a catastrophe that would occur in the season finale. And Gilligan felt because these hints were being seeded, the writers needed to know what that catastrophe was.</p>
<p id="FGqxjr">It worked, more or less. I really do love <em>Breaking Bad</em> season two. But Gilligan found the whole process so arduous that in the show’s following seasons, he mostly plotted things on the fly, even as several later episodes featured flash-<em>forwards</em> to some future timeline when Walter White’s crimes had been found out. Gilligan trusted both his writers’ room and his overall conceit for the show — a meek family man becomes a ruthless drug kingpin — to hold everything together while all involved worked toward finding the best story. (You can read a much fuller version of this basic tale in Alan Sepinwall’s <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Revolution-Was-Televised-Slingers-Slayers/dp/1476739676"><em>The Revolution Was Televised</em></a>.)</p>
<p id="gKFXOE">This is the paradox of TV. You’d think that having a satisfying ending would require having a rock-solid plan to get to that ending. But the opposite is often true, because the more you know about how a story is going to play out in the macro, the more the micro just becomes a series of items checked off a list. The storytelling can start to drag because you’re so focused on set, arbitrary signposts you’ve already set for yourself down the road. If you can’t get to that major revelation until the end of season two, well, season one might start to feel a little slow.</p>
<p id="nEZVKH">Yet you also have to plan <em>some</em> things, because audiences still want to feel like the destination they’ve reached is inevitable. Thus, the best endings are often ones where the writers have a very vague idea of what will <em>probably</em> happen and work toward that point, while also leaving themselves room to radically change everything until the last possible second. </p>
<p id="qt6BHY">One show that excelled at this approach was <a href="http://www.vox.com/the-americans">FX’s spy drama <em>The Americans</em></a>. I talked to the creative team behind <em>The Americans</em> several times during the construction of that show’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/5/29/17392150/the-americans-fx-final-season-series-finale-review-philip-elizabeth">generally acclaimed final season</a>, and even though they’d had an idea of the show’s finale in mind since season two, they still wanted to leave things open just in case a better idea came along that blew their original one out of the water. (What made it to screen mostly conformed to their original pitch, with a few minor tweaks here and there.) </p>
<p id="ztM4bm">And the more I’ve thought about why the planning that led to <em>The Americans</em>’ final season left me feeling so satisfied, where the planning that led to <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ final season<em> </em>left me feeling so dissatisfied, the more I’ve realized that planning plot points and character arcs is all well and good, but it falls apart if you adhere to them so rigidly that you can’t account for how the characters’ <em>relationships</em> might change.</p>
<p id="ei9J4e">Though <em>The Americans</em>’ writers had a very rough idea of where their show’s characters and plot might end up, they left themselves a good amount of leeway in terms of where their characters’ relationships might end up. This came in handy with the main characters’ kids in particular, because the writers were able to try out endless variations on which kid ended up where, in hopes of finding just the right version that would have the maximum impact for all of the show’s relationships.</p>
<p id="p6ZhxC">And I think if I had to pinpoint why <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ final season so often felt slapdash, it’s probably because it didn’t pay enough attention to its characters’ relationships, as opposed to the fates of individual characters and plot points. </p>
<p id="x9XoL6">The big turn toward genocide that Daenerys takes in <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ penultimate episode <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/10/18563566/game-of-thrones-season-8-daenerys-mad-dark-villain">isn’t entirely unmotivated</a>, but <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/9/18537013/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-5-daenerys-targaryen-mad-queen">it feels like it comes out of nowhere</a> because her relationships with the other characters have barely been affected by her growing paranoia and desire for conquest. As such, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/17/18624767/game-of-thrones-series-finale-season-8-episode-5-the-bells-daenerys-dany-kings-landing-targaryen">it feels like she exists in a vacuum</a>, where her actions are easier to read as simply an extension of the would-be queen she’s always been, rather than a ruler whose actions impact the people she rules, even those in her inner circle.</p>
<h3 id="6Ojr0u">
<em>Game of Thrones</em> as the reverse <em>Lost</em>
</h3>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Lost" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TUDi8rUk6Ju-2VCCug5gXWve-wM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/16301610/lostfinale.jpg">
<cite>ABC</cite>
<figcaption>The <em>Lost</em> finale angered many of the show’s fans.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="8M1kbe">Ever since <em>Lost</em> ended in 2010, it’s been held up as an example of a show that had immense goodwill headed into its series finale but nevertheless botched that goodwill with a bad final episode. (I <a href="https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/05/lost-if-you-come-with-me-ill-show-you-what-i-mean.html">love the <em>Lost </em>finale</a>, but I’m well aware this is something of a niche opinion.) Few people would claim it’s the worst finale of all time — <a href="https://tv.avclub.com/dexter-remember-the-monsters-1798178011"><em>Dexter</em> is right there</a> — but there’s definitely a sense that the final episode hurt the series’ reputation on some small level.</p>
<p id="Vo57OD">And on the night that <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ finale aired, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/20/18632090/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-recap-winners-losers-house-stark-daenerys">I surmised</a> that <em>Game of Thrones</em> might be the reverse <em>Lost</em> — a show where everything was <em>so</em> planned out (thanks to George R.R. Martin’s outline for the final books, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-showrunners-know-how-687589">which he revealed</a> to David Benioff and D.B. Weiss shortly before season four) that it felt like an adaptation of bullet points more than something organic.</p>
<p id="gnUxlh">I wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="ON2XN9">I don’t really think their lack of planning is to blame, because I tend to believe that planning too far ahead in TV results in bland, boring storytelling that feels deeply schematic. (See also: the <em>How I Met Your Mother</em> series finale, which was planned out in season two but failed to account for how much the characters would change between that season and season nine, when it finally ended.) But for quite a while there, <em>Game of Thrones</em>, with its carefully etched narratives, felt like it was proving me wrong.</p>
<p id="9s6bP6">Well, guess what? <em>Game of Thrones</em> pulled a reverse <em>Lost</em>! Everything was accounted for, and the writers certainly had a plan. But to put that plan in motion, they had to twist and contort the characters so heavily that the whole show became a warped, funhouse mirror version of itself.</p>
<p id="oY2ebc">Most of the time, that was fine. The spectacle was enough, and the actors were fun. But now it feels ever more like so much of what <em>Game of Thrones</em> made us care about for all of those years was worth very little.</p>
</blockquote>
<p id="SxcJQq">I still think it’s true that much of what the show did amounted to very little, and that’s part of the problem. Viserion the dragon becoming an ice dragon existed solely as a schematic way for the Night King to bring down the Wall. The Night King existed mostly to unite the vast majority of the characters in a place where they could eventually squabble about letting Daenerys lead. And so on.</p>
<p id="uzIhFE">But the more I think about it, the more I think there’s an even more frustrating way in which <em>Game of Thrones</em> pulled a reverse <em>Lost</em>. Where <em>Lost</em>’s final few episodes made the mistake of being too much about the show’s character relationships — to the point that the biggest question the final season answers is “Will these people find each other in the afterlife?” — the final few episodes of <em>Game of Thrones</em> prioritized the exact opposite, rushing so quickly through plot points and character beats that viewers had no way to understand the ripple effect massive changes had throughout the cast. And that led to a gradual disconnection from the characters as anything other than symptoms of what the plot needed them to be.</p>
<p id="RxE6dq">The longer I write about TV, the more I think it’s a medium where relationships are more important than anything else. Great relationships between characters are what unites a show as traditional as <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/15/18623229/big-bang-theory-series-finale-explained-review-recap"><em>The Big Bang Theory</em></a> and a show as experimental as <a href="http://www.vox.com/twin-peaks"><em>Twin Peaks</em></a><em> </em>(yes, even the 2017 revival season). TV is an exploration of change, and how change affects people, and how the ways those people are affected breed further change.</p>
<p id="hQH0OG">The best shows reflect this question right back at us. How do <em>we</em> feel about these characters now that they’ve changed? How do their shifting relationships include us in that equation? Do we still care? Do we want to see what else is on?</p>
<p id="tZW9ud">In its early going, <em>Game of Thrones</em> kept these questions in sight. It was really good at tracing the elaborate ways that change rippled throughout its massive cast. But in its final two seasons, the show mostly created a series of implications about what was happening and to whom. </p>
<p id="rbHowU"><em>Game of Thrones</em> — which for so long was so good at tracing how small moments could create huge vibrations on entirely different continents — became a show that just kept asking you to take its word for things. Of course Dany would do this, and of course Tyrion would do that, right? If the writers say they did?</p>
<p id="beKWMf">For some viewers, that worked well enough. But for a lot of us, it felt like what it was: a series of cut corners that damaged <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ most important relationship of all — the one it had with the audience.</p>
https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/27/18639229/game-of-thrones-finale-disappointing-the-iron-throne-recapEmily St. James2019-05-24T14:50:00-04:002019-05-24T14:50:00-04:00Why HBO’s Succession will be the new Game of Thrones
<figure>
<img alt="Game of Thrones, Succession" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_W0m4yB1YXuLUANnRz2eeLgXcYM=/102x0:2102x1500/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63894396/headshots_1558721197581.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Will Brian Cox take Peter Dinklage’s place as perpetual Emmy winner? Only time will tell. | HBO</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The darkly funny family drama has plenty in common with Game of Thrones without feeling like an exact copy.</p> <p id="Gegcbp">With <a href="http://www.vox.com/game-of-thrones"><em>Game of Thrones</em></a> over, one big question hangs over the TV industry, TV fans, and people who more casually enjoy water-cooler shows: Will there ever be another show like this?</p>
<p id="5gppD6">I <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/12/18303780/game-of-thrones-last-tv-show-monoculture">answered this question</a> before the final season of <em>Game of Thrones </em>began with a resounding “yes,” because there’s always another huge TV show. And my <a href="http://www.vox.com/game-of-thrones">colleague Peter Kafka explained</a> some of the reasons there will be another event show at this level. It might take a while, but there will be another <em>Game of Thrones</em>. </p>
<aside id="l5sxOP"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Game of Thrones won’t be the last TV show everyone cares about","url":"https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/12/18303780/game-of-thrones-last-tv-show-monoculture"}]}'></div></aside><p id="ie4mRE">But what will it be? That’s a trickier question to answer, and it’s one I’ve been turning over in my head ever since <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/30/15127346/game-of-thrones-season-7-episodes-review-recap-news">the show’s seventh season</a> ended. And though there are many contenders out there, there isn’t one clear and obvious favorite to take the crown.</p>
<p id="RtSgHJ">Then again, when <em>Game of Thrones</em> started up, it wasn’t a clear and obvious favorite to slide in and steal the crowns of <em>Mad Men</em> and <em>Breaking Bad</em> (the biggest, buzziest TV shows of that era), despite the fact that it eventually surpassed both of those series in popularity. So not being a clear and obvious favorite isn’t necessarily a handicap. </p>
<p id="DNb0Gd">But before I give you my prediction for the Next Big TV Show, let’s take a look at all of the things it probably won’t be.</p>
<h3 id="Zrd35L">Three categories the Next Big TV Show probably won’t fall into</h3>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Stranger Things" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nz5jxQ2Q2URljq8Zzdonxt7I6nA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9546435/strangerthings2main.jpg">
<cite>Netflix</cite>
<figcaption>Sorry, <em>Stranger Things</em> kids.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="Ss3yVF">Let’s start with a caveat: The next big show isn’t likely to be the literal biggest hit on TV. Even <em>Game of Thrones</em>, which was massively watched, saw lower viewership for its series finale than the series finale of <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/big-bang-theory-finale-gets-huge-ratings-for-cbs-2019-05-21"><em>The Big Bang Theory</em></a><em> </em>a few nights earlier. </p>
<p id="iqrC9u">(HBO released a number <a href="https://variety.com/2019/tv/ratings/game-of-thrones-series-finale-draws-19-3-million-viewers-sets-new-series-high-1203220928/">showing <em>Game of Thrones</em> edging out <em>Big Bang</em></a>, but that number included a bunch of streaming views that don’t have independent verification outside of HBO. I have no reason to doubt that number, but have trouble calling it “official.” And even if it is, the point remains: Just as many people watched <em>Big Bang</em> as <em>Game of Thrones</em>, but you heard a whole lot more about one than the other.)</p>
<p id="J4XQI3">What the “next big show” is will have almost nothing to do with actual viewership, in fact. It will be far more about some strange, hard-to-define combination of hardcore fandom, industry acclaim, and media buzz. </p>
<p id="z6OhX3">But these three things feed each other. <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-handmaids-tale"><em>The Handmaid’s Tale</em></a> didn’t really start to break out for us here at Vox, for instance, until it had won a bunch of Emmys, and we wrote more and more about <a href="https://www.vox.com/stranger-things"><em>Stranger Things</em></a> after its first season, because people clearly were responding to what we had published. Similarly, it’s hard to deny that both industry types and TV fans got on board the <a href="http://www.vox.com/mad-men"><em>Mad Men</em></a> train <em>after</em> the media started hyping it to high heaven.</p>
<p id="ENqSBb">So what we’re talking about here is a weird alchemy, one that is almost intentionally hard to define. But we can try. And we can start by listing three categories that the next big thing probably <em>won’t</em> fall into, simply due to how those categories isolate one of the audiences I just mentioned.</p>
<p id="GMjJWK"><strong>It probably won’t be a streaming show (and especially not one that debuts all of its episodes at once): </strong>In summer 2016, the smart bet on the next big thing was probably on <em>Stranger Things</em>, Netflix’s tale of kids encountering the unknown in a small town. And to be sure, that’s been a sizable hit. But season two came and went as a cultural phenomenon much more quickly, and buzz for the upcoming season three has tapered off.</p>
<p id="iriVwM">Blame the fact that all of its episodes drop at once, which means that the time between seasons becomes a desert. It might seem like a minor distinction, but even the six weeks it took for <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/12/18306963/game-of-thrones-season-8-episodes-news"><em>Game of Thrones</em>’ final season</a> to unfold over gives lots of time for discussion to reach a fever pitch. The way we talk about Netflix shows is just different, particularly after the first season (when slow discovery of a show can create the feeling of a burgeoning word-of-mouth hit), which makes it hard for them to truly break through with the media in the way a big TV show usually does.</p>
<p id="CdSFgG">In fact, I think even streaming shows that drop weekly are at a subtle disadvantage. Hulu’s <em>The Handmaid’s Tale</em> has some of the earmarks of becoming a big TV hit (if not a <em>Game of Thrones-</em>level one), but it really does feel like the phenomenon of a huge TV hit really requires an initial airing where everybody is watching at the same time. In other words, the Big TV Show has to feel a little like a live sporting event, and a streaming show can never quite capture that feeling.</p>
<p id="mfzwq6"><strong>It probably won’t be a comedy: </strong>I toyed with suggesting <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-good-place"><em>The Good Place</em></a> as the next big thing. Interest in the show has steadily grown over its first three seasons, and its viewership numbers have held remarkably steady (while there are also hints it’s way bigger on Netflix than on NBC — often a good sign for a show that’s about to break out). </p>
<p id="1Z84jw">And in the ’80s and ’90s, the big TV show was often a <em>Seinfeld</em> or a <em>Cheers</em> — a big hit sitcom that sucked viewers in with a skewed perspective on the world or relationship melodrama. But a shift toward privileging dramas as the one show everybody’s talking about started in the mid-’90s, roughly paralleling the genre’s increasing comfort with serialization. </p>
<p id="5cuO7x">Comedies, obviously, are more serialized than ever before. <em>The Good Place</em> is highly serialized. But my guess is that TV audiences are too conditioned to think of “the big show” as something that’s hour-long and full of dark plot twists at this point to anoint a comedy “the one show everybody has to watch,” even though TV half-hours are generally stronger than TV hours right now.</p>
<p id="OgK3ZV"><strong>It probably won’t be a show that hasn’t debuted yet: </strong>Most of the time, the next big show is on the air at the same time as the last or current big show. While one big show is airing, another, smaller one gains momentum with audiences, critics, and the industry, because it becomes a kind of plucky also-ran. By the time the former big show goes off the air, the new big show is primed to become a monster hit.</p>
<p id="WWZJeU">So for as much as I want to believe <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zymgtV99Rko">HBO’s <em>Watchmen</em></a> or <a href="https://www.pcgamer.com/netflix-witcher-series/">Netflix’s <em>The Witcher</em></a> might have what it takes to rocket into the TV sky as quickly as possible, it’s usually a slow build toward becoming the next big show instead of something that happens right out of the gates. (That scenario usually ends up with a show collapsing very quickly — see: <em>Heroes</em> or <em>Glee</em>.) Thus, the odds are good that whatever is going to be next is already on the air right now.</p>
<p id="6IVz1a">(A necessary caveat: It is entirely possible the “next big show” could be the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020-presidential-election">2020 presidential election</a>, and by the time that’s over, something that’s just about to debut will have garnered the momentum to take <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ place. We’ll all certainly be talking about the election enough!)</p>
<p id="hdxGI4">So — with all of that said, I do have a prediction for the next <em>Game of Thrones</em>, and it’s probably not what you’d expect.</p>
<h3 id="yDlpDa">If it has a second season as good as or better than its first, HBO’s <em>Succession</em> seems likely to become our next TV obsession</h3>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Succession" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pdS3_JZsa39ubcA16iBzwxj_Aj4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11919185/SUC_110_03222018_CH_4096.jpg">
<cite>HBO</cite>
<figcaption>If you’re not on board the <em>Succession</em> train yet, now is the time to start.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="g330Xw">Most predictions of “the next big show” tend to look at series that resemble the last big show. So in this case, we might look to Amazon’s upcoming <em>Lord of the Rings </em>adaptation and suggest the <em>Game of Thrones</em> magic will be recaptured there. Similarly, HBO is clearly betting at least a little bit on <a href="http://www.vox.com/westworld"><em>Westworld</em></a>, which inherits <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ late spring premiere and timeslot next year. Both of these genre series have numerous obvious similarities to <em>Game of Thrones</em>.</p>
<p id="BaC8Nq">But reconsider the shows <em>Game of Thrones</em> replaced — <em>Breaking Bad</em> and <em>Mad Men</em>. Neither series has many superficial similarities to <em>Game of Thrones</em>. But if you look a little deeper, both have elements in common with <em>Game of Thrones</em> that may suggest why each led to the other. <em>Breaking Bad</em>’s willingness to plot a psychologically rich portrayal of one man’s descent into darkness against a pulp fiction background, for instance, has plenty in common with how <em>Game of Thrones </em>tells stories, while <em>Mad Men</em> also offered an alternate world to get lost in.</p>
<p id="OUCWuG">This is why I submit that <a href="https://www.hbo.com/succession">HBO’s <em>Succession</em></a> — a twisted and incredibly funny family drama about a clan of media moguls who are jostling for position to take over the family empire — <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/7/22/17588300/succession-hbo-review-recap">has what it takes</a> to fill <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ shoes. For one thing, it’s already a show plenty of people are deeply obsessed with (<a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/8/5/17645354/succession-hbo-finale-interview-brian-cox-jeremy-strong">like Karen Han</a>, formerly of Vox and now of our sister site, Polygon). For another, it has plenty in common with <em>Game of Thrones</em> (this is another battle for a different throne, with twisted family dynamics to rival those of Westeros), while not feeling too similar to it.</p>
<p id="TrM2FX">What’s more, the series’ portrayal of the absurd, obscene divide between those with wealth and those without feels incredibly timely in 2019, in the same way that <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ existential battle against a bunch of ice-cold invaders who were trying to get past a giant wall could stand in for whatever political problem you wanted them to. <em>Succession</em> isn’t quite apolitical — it clearly thinks being able to accumulate this level of wealth is absurd — but it’s not above indulging in that wealth just a little bit, too.</p>
<p id="TRB6jB">In fact, if <em>Succession</em> takes the crown, it might be in line with some earlier dramas that became big hits in the ’80s: <em>Dallas </em>and <em>Dynasty</em>. Those shows started out feinting toward being critiques of American excess, but they were all too happy to become lolls in a giant money pit. </p>
<p id="Po3Cd2">So far, <em>Succession</em> seems sharper and more acidic, less likely to bring in Joan Collins (or whoever her 2019 equivalent would be) just to goose the drama. But my larger point — that the divide between haves and have-nots can make for a hit TV show that appeals to just about everybody — remains.</p>
<p id="Ip3Eh5">Now, the biggest obstacle standing in <em>Succession</em>’s way is that its second season (debuting in August) has to be fantastic to take off in the way I think it could. But even there, the show is promising. It’s made by experienced TV hands (Jesse Armstrong of <em>Peep Show</em> fame), and its first season very much displayed a learning curve that was going in the right direction. The series could fall flat on its face, but I’m betting it won’t. </p>
<p id="5L5qDI">I’m also betting that when it does, you’re going to start having friends and family and coworkers ask you, “Hey, have you heard of this show on HBO? It’s about a rich family? Accession? Procession?”</p>
<p id="4y5C70">And because you’re in the know, you can get caught up on the one season that currently exists and be ready to answer them with a confident smile. “<em>Succession</em>,” you’ll say. “You just heard about it? Don’t you love Cousin Greg?” </p>
<p id="Zj6fIm">Because what good is a big hit TV show if you can’t be there on the ground floor, smiling just a little smugly about how you knew about it from the first?</p>
<p id="jmDMLy">Succession <em>is </em><a href="https://www.hbo.com/succession"><em>on HBO’s streaming platforms</em></a><em>. Season two debuts in August. Don’t you want to be able to sound cooler than your friends?</em></p>
<p id="rWbfrc"><strong>Correction: </strong>Joan Collins joined the cast of <em>Dynasty</em>, not Joan Crawford (who was dead by the time <em>Dynasty</em> debuted).</p>
https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/24/18637826/replace-game-of-thrones-succession-hboEmily St. James2019-05-22T16:44:24-04:002019-05-22T16:44:24-04:00Games of Thrones season 8
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cx6fywFvP3kCGd8Sp9r-c2e4PAc=/136x0:2269x1600/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63399850/1_F5OBN_wgi_9iL4_w104e_w.0.jpeg" />
<figcaption>Macall B. Polay/HBO</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Everything you need to know about the final season.</p> <p id="QMNLZ0">The game of thrones is over, just as <a href="http://www.vox.com/game-of-thrones"><em><strong>Game of Thrones</strong></em></a> is over.</p>
<p id="cDnEJn">All six of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/8/28/16216092/game-of-thrones-season-8-spoilers-news-review-episode-recaps-winterfell">final episodes</a> of HBO’s blockbuster fantasy epic <em>Game of Thrones</em> have aired, and we now know how it all ends. It’s safe to say this outcome is not what most people were expecting.</p>
<p id="srktvz">Vox’s Todd VanDerWerff says that “anticlimactic” might be the best way to describe the <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/20/18632090/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-recap-winners-losers-house-stark-daenerys">series finale</a>: “It dutifully trudges through <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ remaining plot points, arriving at an ending that is just fine, until you start to think about it for a couple of minutes.”</p>
<p id="8I2gCQ">On the one hand, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/19/18630083/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-spoilers-iron-throne-who-won"><strong>the new ruler of Westeros</strong></a> is arguably someone whom many fans least expected. But on the other, given <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ often contentious politics, what happened in the final episode, “The Iron Throne,” was <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/19/18629699/game-of-thrones-finale-reaction-who-won-the-iron-throne">completely predictable</a>, writes Vox’s Aja Romano. </p>
<p id="Mnxwcy">Dig into our coverage of the show’s final season, from how<em> Game of Thrones</em> uses <a href="https://www.vox.com/videos/2019/5/13/18564411/cersei-game-of-thrones-costume-design-power-sansa">costume design</a> to show power to an explainer on the next book in the <em>Song of Ice and Fire</em> series, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/20/18631417/game-of-thrones-winds-of-winter-martin-release-date"><em>The Winds of Winter</em></a>. </p>
https://www.vox.com/2019/4/12/18306963/game-of-thrones-season-8-episodes-newsVox Staff2019-05-22T16:00:00-04:002019-05-22T16:00:00-04:0020 lingering questions about the Game of Thrones series finale
<figure>
<img alt="Tyrion Lannister in “Game of Thrones.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Cje6izwKZG6we6HIrKwLTpOqiDc=/0x212:1566x1387/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63881098/y9cmUaSQ.0.jpeg" />
<figcaption>Tyrion Lannister in <em>Game of Thrones</em>. | HBO</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, did Jon Snow being a Targaryen really even matter? </p> <p id="hw98j1">The nicest thing I can say about the <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/20/18632090/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-recap-winners-losers-house-stark-daenerys"><em>Game of Thrones</em> series finale</a> — and even its final season — is that a lot of things happened. </p>
<p id="fPqmm6">“The Iron Throne” included the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/19/18632069/game-of-thrones-finale-jon-kills-dany-iron-throne">murder of Daenerys Targaryen</a>; Jon Snow returning North to a Night’s Watch that doesn’t seem to have a reason to exist; and Tyrion Lannister plotting his Queen’s death, avoiding execution, and then being installed as Hand of the King by <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/19/18630083/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-spoilers-iron-throne-who-won">Bran Stark, the newly minted ruler of what is now the Six Kingdoms</a>. Sansa Stark became the queen of the North, ruling over an independent Winterfell. And Arya Stark set off on a ship in search of a new adventure.</p>
<p id="pL0bLf">Though a lot happened in the finale’s 80 minutes, it feels as though the show ended with plenty of unfinished business that couldn’t be addressed in even a feature-length episode. Here are 20 thorny questions we’re still wondering about.</p>
<h3 id="OR0E8L">1) Does Tyrion know how awful his sister was? </h3>
<p id="SBbX1v">When Jon Snow visits Tyrion — who’s being held by the Unsullied for treason against Daenerys — Tyrion states that Daenerys is completely mad because her body count is so high after destroying King’s Landing. </p>
<p id="DR30aH">In support of this, he cites that his family, particularly his father and his sister Cersei were truly awful people, but never leveled a city. But Cersei did bomb an entire church in season six, leveling a section of King’s Landing to take out the High Sparrow and the Tyrells:</p>
<div id="TDVL2x"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_KbvDvc-WFE?rel=0" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="MmgDeC">While Tyrion might not know his sister was behind this, <em>Game of Thrones</em> presents him as a voice of reason and logic. Remembering how Cersei bombed the Sept of Baelor for personal reasons, are we then supposed to take Tyrion’s speech to Jon about assassinating Daenerys skeptically? If so, is Daenerys really <em>more </em>of a “Mad Queen” than Cersei? </p>
<h3 id="3oPmlF">2) Where does Arya stand on the “sanity” front?</h3>
<p id="NTKwRS">Throughout <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ eight seasons, Arya was trained as a face-stealing assassin, devoted years of her life to exacting revenge on her enemies, and at one point created human pies out of Walder Frey’s family and fed them to Frey. Going by the rubric that <em>Game of Thrones</em> applied to Daenerys, wherein revenge and vindictiveness are signs of irredeemable madness, shouldn’t we, and Arya’s friends and family, be more worried about Arya? </p>
<h3 id="IpaIUE">3) Was Maggy the Frog’s prophecy really just about Daenerys?</h3>
<p id="Qnk58L">In season five, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/9/1/16197698/game-of-thrones-season-8-cersei">Cersei received a prophecy from Maggy the Frog</a>, foretelling that “another — younger, more beautiful — [will] cast you down and take all you hold dear.” Many <em>Game of Thrones </em>fans understandably thought that Maggy was talking about Daenerys.</p>
<p id="FQKAQv">But there were also <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/9/1/16197698/game-of-thrones-season-8-cersei">fan theories</a> that the prophecy wasn’t as simple as Daenerys coming in and killing Cersei. Some suggested that Jaime would kill his sister, or that Sansa or even Tyrion might. Or was Maggy talking about Bran (definitely younger, but maybe not as beautiful) since he’s the one who ultimately took control of the kingdom?</p>
<h3 id="su1tcC">4) Did <em>Game of Thrones</em> forget the casualties Daenerys’s army suffered at Winterfell? </h3>
<p id="xAqk6N">In season eight’s third episode, “<a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/29/18522048/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-3-recap-the-long-night-winners-losers">The Long Night</a>,” Daenerys sent her Dothraki army into the darkness to fight the advancing Army of the Dead, which resulted in mass casualties. During the same battle, the Unsullied held formation outside Winterfell’s gates, and many sacrificed their lives to protect the forces of the living during a retreat. </p>
<p id="8WueV8">But in the series finale, Daenerys’s army still seemed to be pretty huge:</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OJVYufD7ACJWFIubTeJFMaO1UP4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/16290584/Wyn8Nf6w.jpeg">
<cite>HBO</cite>
<figcaption>Daenerys Targaryen’s army in the series finale of Game of Thrones</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="9hUAzo">So, exactly how big was Daenerys’s army to begin with for it to withstand an epic death toll from the Army of the Dead and still look so massive? </p>
<h3 id="Wlrjy8">5) What was the deal with Arya’s white horse? </h3>
<p id="BGSdHU">At the end of <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ penultimate episode, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/13/18617316/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-5-recap-the-bells-winners-losers">“The Bells,”</a> a white horse magically appeared before Arya, who’s barely evaded death. She rode it out of the crumbling King’s Landing following Daenerys’s assault on the city. Her triumphant exit suggested that Arya riding this horse would be significant in some way. But at the start of the series finale, Arya was ... hanging around the burned-down city again, the horse nowhere to be found. What happened to the horse? Did she just ride it, like, 20 feet before coming back? </p>
<h3 id="rSWWjo">6) Why didn’t Daenerys have more of a security detail after winning the throne? </h3>
<p id="vX0kK1">As the new queen of the Seven Kingdoms and most powerful person in Westeros, it seems unlikely that Daenerys would want to wander around without security, especially after she decimated King’s Landing, a move that likely made her the enemy of anyone who survived. Yet she approached the Iron Throne on her own — albeit with a dragon keeping watch outside. This gave Jon Snow the chance to come in after getting past her one fire-breathing guard, who seemed to trust him, and to use his and Daenerys’s relationship to get close to her and then kill her. It was a dramatic turn, but one that seemed sloppily executed, given the circumstances. </p>
<h3 id="iiGrdX">7) Where did Drogon take Daenerys’s body after he melted the Iron Throne? </h3>
<p id="4EwLQd">Did he drop her off somewhere (Dragonstone, perhaps)? Or is he just flying around with a decomposing body in one of his talons? </p>
<h3 id="ArIN7X">8) Who dry-cleaned Daenerys’s outfit? </h3>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Rih589o-qY2UA9pgK5cAN4PEx8A=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/16293442/headshots_1558450759746.jpg">
<cite>HBO</cite>
<figcaption>Daenerys Targaryen’s villain outfit and glow-up in the series finale.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="SBftvX">In the penultimate episode of the season, Daenerys has a full day of torching innocent people and inundating King’s Landing with dragonfire and terror. Her outfit is a mess and she’s covered in dirt, grime, and ash from the incinerated human bodies. But somehow, after the siege (presumably the same day) she’s cleaned up and her outfit is neatly pressed when she gives her big villainous speech. Which Dothraki or Unsullied dry cleaner is responsible for reviving the outfit? And where did she go for what appears to be a relaxing and rejuvenating spa day?</p>
<h3 id="KnWa7U">9) Why doesn’t Bran just tell Arya what’s West of Westeros? </h3>
<p id="7ynyU9">When <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/20/18632057/game-of-thrones-series-finale-major-characters-recap-endings">Arya tells Jon</a> and her family that she’s going to go west of Westeros and explore what’s beyond where all the maps stop, couldn’t Bran just have warged into a sea bird and saved her a trip? </p>
<h3 id="Dhq1FU">10) Did Bran know he was going to be king all along? If so, did he just let a bunch of bad things happen (including Jon Snow’s exile) so he could be king?</h3>
<p id="Ugg4KZ">With his warging power, Bran can see the past, present, and some glimpses of the future. And when Tyrion asks Bran if he would agree to rule over the kingdom, Bran agrees by saying, “Why do you think I came all this way?” — a strange turn considering Bran previously said he couldn’t be lord of Winterfell he is the Three-Eyed Raven. </p>
<p id="tCZNeL">Did Bran know the events that were going to play out during <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ final season — Cersei not sending her army to Winterfell; <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/28/18522047/arya-stark-long-night-king-death">Arya killing the Night King</a>; <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/5/18530376/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-4-euron-kills-dragon-rhaegal">Euron’s surprise attack on Dany</a>; <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/6/18530526/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-4-death-who-died-missandei-daenerys">Cersei executing Missandei</a>; <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/17/18624767/game-of-thrones-series-finale-season-8-episode-5-the-bells-daenerys-dany-kings-landing-targaryen">Daenerys torching King’s Landing</a>; <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/19/18632069/game-of-thrones-finale-jon-kills-dany-iron-throne">Jon killing Daenerys</a>; Jon being sent to the North — and decide to sit idly by so that he could inherit the throne by a process of elimination?</p>
<h3 id="OlJElF">11) What age is Bran going to live to? Does his council know the previous Three-Eyed Raven was 1,000 years old? </h3>
<p id="YJc56Q">The previous Three-Eyed Raven said in the season six episode “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uQLzkJv_FU">Oathbreaker</a>” that he had been waiting 1,000 years for Bran to take his place. While I’m assuming that some of that longevity comes from being magic and living in a tree (which Bran will not do, as far as we know), what happens if Bran has a similar kind of power? Does his council know that Bran might live longer than the average human? Do the people he’s ruling over know that he’s going to have an extremely long reign?</p>
<h3 id="vAsQxF">12) Why didn’t Grey Worm kill Jon and Tyrion?</h3>
<p id="RFAhXB">Grey Worm is Daenerys’s most loyal soldier. He kills anyone who’s perceived as a threat to his queen. Why, then, would he allow Tyrion and Jon to survive instead of killing them immediately when he found out that Tyrion hatched a plan to kill Daenerys and Jon killed her? Given the way Grey Worm is portrayed — killing Lannister prisoners on behalf of his queen — it seems plausible he would have killed them instantly. </p>
<p id="06Rzph">While one could make the argument that the North would revolt if Jon were killed, that doesn’t really explain why Grey Worm would then let a treasonous criminal like Tyrion speak effusively in front of the council later in the episode.</p>
<h3 id="Vx3EdH">13) Why didn’t the Dothraki bloodriders kill Jon and Tyrion?</h3>
<p id="RaIRBF">The same question goes for the Dothraki: One of the mythologies on the show is that the Dothraki “<a href="https://gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki/Bloodrider">bloodriders</a>” will avenge their Khal until they die. And in season six’s “Blood of My Blood,” Daenerys mades the entire Khalasar her bloodriders. </p>
<p id="ycFPCA">“I will not choose three bloodriders,” she tells them. “I will choose you all.”</p>
<div id="4Tn4JG"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kRR0NlesJy8?rel=0" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="zK8WXN">So, uh, now that their Khaleesi is dead, where’s the bloodrider revolt? </p>
<h3 id="1M8gR2">14) Is anyone going to punish Grey Worm for his own war crimes, or does everyone post-Daenerys’s death just get a clean slate?</h3>
<p id="i2fmpS">At Tyrion’s trial, everyone on the council — save for Yara Greyjoy — seems to be in agreement that Daenerys committed horrendous atrocities on innocent people. Well, Grey Worm and the Unsullied were an integral part of the King’s Landing slaughter. Did everyone on the council forget this? Was there a deal made in which the Unsullied would just get to leave instead of receiving further punishment? </p>
<h3 id="VK7FCZ">15) Why would Grey Worm allow Tyrion to become Hand of the King?</h3>
<p id="pgmTxk">If Grey Worm worked out a compromise with the council and Tyrion for Jon Snow to go North, why would he allow Tyrion to be Hand of the King again — after Tyrion freed his brother Jaime, who would go on to attempt to save Cersei, and encouraged Jon to kill Daenerys? Wouldn’t it be more plausible for him to ask for a compromise for Tyrion as well, one that wouldn’t essentially let him off scot-free?</p>
<h3 id="fb4jBc">16) Why is there still a Wall? </h3>
<p id="Wdb1iN">In <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ season seven finale, the Night King <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foFFwO06-tw">destroyed part of the Wall</a> with his zombified dragon. Of course, the Night King and the Army of the Dead have now been destroyed themselves, raising the question: is the Wall even needed anymore? </p>
<h3 id="e4FHmH">17) Why is there a Night’s Watch that Jon needs to join if the wildlings are at peace with the Seven Kingdoms and the White Walkers have been destroyed? </h3>
<p id="L2xmVt">The Night’s Watch was previously made to guard the crossing into the Seven Kingdoms from the freefolk and other threats, but now that everyone’s getting along, especially the wildings who live beyond the wall, and there’s no great evil to guard against, what does the day-to-day schedule of the Night’s Watch look like? And further, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/20/18632128/game-of-thrones-finale-did-ghost-die-what-happened">Jon Snow hanging out with his direwolf Ghost</a> and good friend Tormund doesn’t really seem like punishment.</p>
<h3 id="ghxHxl">18) Why didn’t Arya or Sansa remember that Daenerys and her army saved the North?</h3>
<p id="kClW0t">At the council meeting, Yara is taken to task for defending Daenerys, who she says freed her people from a tyrant. Sansa and Arya immediately get snippy, retorting that Daenerys was absolutely crazy. But do they remember that without Daenerys, her dragons, and her armies, Sansa would essentially be the zombie queen of the North? </p>
<h3 id="LaBR0D">19) Why is the North the only independent kingdom?</h3>
<p id="AHkHIl">Sansa declared to Bran that the North would be an independent kingdom. How come no one pushed back on that? Why did all the other lords not follow suit? Why wouldn’t Yara, who has asked for sovereignty for the Iron Islands, or the new unnamed prince who’s running Dorne not also want their independence? </p>
<h3 id="vkhRYR">20) Why does Jon being a Targaryen — something the show spent the better part of two-and-a-half seasons teasing and revealing — even matter? </h3>
<p id="B1ENyI">At the beginning of season eight, there were two episodes devoted to Jon’s true heritage; Bran and Sam, who were both on the final council with Bran becoming king, both made a huge stink about how the throne is Jon’s destiny. Neither one mentioned it again after that, not even when Jon was being punished for essentially saving the entire world from Daenerys’s mad reign. Was all that buildup — including <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/14/18302092/game-of-thrones-season-8-premiere-jon-snow-parents-targaryen-dragon">a scandalous turn toward Jon dating his aunt Daenerys</a> — really just background noise? </p>
<p id="cMJbGr"></p>
https://www.vox.com/2019/5/22/18634056/game-of-thrones-series-finale-questions-endingAlex Abad-Santos2019-05-20T17:40:00-04:002019-05-20T17:40:00-04:00What Sansa Stark’s coronation hairstyle says about her character development
<figure>
<img alt="Sansa Stark sits with her curved tiara, her hair slightly pulled back." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VXRnu3Ohsyp-VavNIgfQ8jqDkns=/164x0:2964x2100/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63869036/_20__Helen_Sloan___HBO.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Sansa Stark at her coronation. | Helen Sloan/HBO</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sansa’s style always mirrored that of other powerful Game of Thrones characters. Her coronation hairstyle was all her own.</p> <p id="aH58Ij">Throughout <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ eight seasons, Sansa Stark’s appearance has always mirrored the powerful people she’s tried to emulate — or, in some cases, to protect herself from. At the end of the series finale, though, her hair was styled in a way we’ve never seen it before: pin-straight, completely loose, with no ornamentation aside from a delicate tiara.</p>
<p id="XlX6P5">As Cheryl Wischhover <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/4/3/18287327/game-of-thrones-sansa-stark-costumes-michele-clapton">previously wrote for Vox</a>, Sansa’s style evolution signals her character development. Her outfits and hairstyles are fairly simple at the beginning of the series, a sign that Northerners are less concerned with flashy looks than the Westerosi farther south. When Sansa gets to King’s Landing, though, she begins trying to dress like the fashionable ladies she sees in court. </p>
<p id="YW5s6n">“You instantly know she’s trying to elevate herself,” <em>Game of Thrones</em> costume designer Michele Clapton told Wischhover. “She’s always had this idea that she’s better — she aspired to be a queen.”</p>
<p id="UzqvD1">Later in the series, Sansa wears her hair in ornate updos that look similar to Cersei Lannister’s season one hairstyles, presumably in an attempt to fit in with the family that is holding her hostage. When Margaery Tyrell arrives on the scene in the show’s third season and takes Sansa’s place as Joffrey’s fiancée, Sansa begins wearing her hair in a similar half-up, half-down style as the new queen-to-be. When Sansa has to pose as Littlefinger’s niece while in the Vale, she dyes her hair a dark brown that resembles his own — suggesting Sansa was abandoning her Stark roots, at least temporarily. And for a brief moment in the series finale, her hair was in Daenerys Targaryen-esque braids.</p>
<p id="2cLJwU">As Anthony Oliveira, a culture critic and Renaissance literature expert, points out, the ability to have elaborate hairstyles, in both the <em>Game of Thrones</em> universe and the Tudor period that inspired it, is a sign of power. “Your ability to summon someone who could do complicated hair for you was [important]. That’s why Missandei is such a fascinating character. She evokes this ‘exotic’ character who was shipped from overseas to style your hair — that’s what they did.” (Which raises an interesting question: How did Daenerys manage to get her hair braided after Missandei died? I guess we’ll never know.)</p>
<p id="baTRDH">But when it was time for Sansa to be crowned queen in the North, her hair was completely unadorned. This seemingly simple hairstyle says a lot about how far she’s come: She spent her life emulating other people’s forms of dress (and of political manipulation), but now she can be herself. </p>
<div id="ZdEOv1">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">THEY REALLY SHOWED SANSA STARK'S WHOLE CORONATION, IMAGINE THINKING I WILL EVER SHUT UP EVER AGAIN <a href="https://t.co/1tpSl2D8UT">pic.twitter.com/1tpSl2D8UT</a></p>— kinsey (@sansascstark) <a href="https://twitter.com/sansascstark/status/1130314338399653888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
</blockquote>
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<p id="RDJbZL">According to Oliveira, Sansa’s coronation look is a clear reference to another famous redheaded monarch: Queen Elizabeth.</p>
<p id="ZOaJcj">“George R.R. Martin has talked a lot about how <em>A Song of Ice and Fire</em> is the War of the Roses in England, and the Tudor period is the culmination of that,” Oliveira said. Elizabeth, one of the Tudors, had a “complicated early life” that is similar to Sansa’s.</p>
<p id="t6mwX4">After her mother, Anne Boleyn, was beheaded, Elizabeth was sent to live with the Seymours, a powerful English house. “She was basically a political pawn, a lot like Sansa, surviving on her wits in court,” Oliveira explained. Thomas Seymour, the brother of Henry VIII’s third wife Jane, later married the Queen dowager Catherine Parr, who was married to Henry VIII. </p>
<p id="XvUmYy">“Thomas starts sexually harassing Elizabeth when she’s 14. When this gets out — when Catherine discovers it — she immediately blames Elizabeth,” Oliveira said, and rumors begin spreading that the Elizabeth and Thomas two were conspiring to make Thomas king.</p>
<p id="bpGXx5">“When it’s time for [Elizabeth’s] coronation, she wears her hair down, which is a big, big deal,” Oliveira said. “It signals her virginity: to be unadorned for her, is the ultimate adornment. It says, ‘Screw all of you, I’m in no way sexually complicit or guilty.’ Sansa’s silhouette is identical: the long, flowing hair and the tight hourglass.” </p>
<div id="tDHTvT">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/M2H688omY5">pic.twitter.com/M2H688omY5</a></p>— Anthony Oliveira (@meakoopa) <a href="https://twitter.com/meakoopa/status/1130318977421463552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p id="cK8Sxe">According to Oliveira, the suggestion is that Sansa “has learned the same lessons as Elizabeth.” The parallels are clear: Both Sansa and Elizabeth were orphaned and left to fend for themselves in hostile courtly environments; both were sexually pursued by much older, power-hungry men. And both used self-presentation to evoke power. </p>
<p id="OU2nYM">“[The showrunners] have been building this throughout: Sansa is a seamstress, she loves embroidery, she’s learned how to be image-conscious,” Oliveira said. “That was Elizabeth’s game. Elizabeth creates the cult of Gloriana, this image of herself as the great mother of the state, the virgin mother of the state.”</p>
<p id="ro1rZx">Sansa letting her hair down is no denial of power; she’s just changing what it looks like to be queen.</p>
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https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/5/20/18633084/sansa-stark-queen-in-the-north-coronation-hairstyle-elizabethGaby Del Valle2019-05-20T17:10:00-04:002019-05-20T17:10:00-04:00Game of Thrones fans are giving Brienne the ending she deserved
<figure>
<img alt="Brienne on “Game of Thrones.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-pzg6G4UqIlgpnE5JaqO9WucNBc=/214x50:1281x850/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63868951/Screen_Shot_2019_05_19_at_10.07.37_PM.0.png" />
<figcaption>Dear diary ... | HBO</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the most popular memes in the wake of the finale sees Brienne telling better stories than the one she was given on the show.</p> <p id="vj1cA2"><a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/8/28/16216092/game-of-thrones-season-8-spoilers-news-review-episode-recaps-winterfell"><em>Game of Thrones</em></a>’ polarizing series finale has been met with plenty of <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/20/18632090/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-recap-winners-losers-house-stark-daenerys">unimpressed</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/game-of-thrones/2019/5/20/18632343/game-of-thrones-finale-season-8-bran-tyrion-iron-throne">negative reviews</a>, but if you were a fan of Brienne of Tarth, the character’s final solo scene might have left you with an especially sour taste in your mouth. </p>
<p id="TVBdsD"><a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/20/18632090/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-recap-winners-losers-house-stark-daenerys">“The Iron Throne”</a> did see Brienne become the commander of the Kingsguard under <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/19/18630083/game-of-thrones-series-finale-the-iron-throne-spoilers-iron-throne-who-won">the new ruler of Westeros, Bran Stark</a> — but it also saw her pining over Jaime Lannister, and made her most meaningful screen time all about Jaime rather than her own impressive accomplishments throughout the course of <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ eight seasons. </p>
<p id="yEWY1k">Many fans already had little love for the show’s treatment of Brienne in “<a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/6/18530741/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-4-recap-the-last-of-the-starks-winners-losers">The Last of the Starks</a>,” in which Jaime cruelly dumped her in the dead of night to leave Winterfell for King’s Landing, not long after they’d finally slept together. But in the series finale, the show went a step further: Brienne noticed that Jaime’s page in the Book of Brothers, which records the deeds of all knights who served in the Kingsguard, was unfinished — and took it upon herself to fill in some details. But rather than write about him with rancor or bitterness, she calmly framed his final acts as marks of heroism and valor. </p>
<p id="KrhYpe">On the one hand, the scene illustrates the nobility and grace of Brienne’s character. But on the other hand, it serves to make Brienne’s narrative all about a man. My colleague Zack Beauchamp <a href="https://www.vox.com/game-of-thrones/2019/5/20/18632343/game-of-thrones-finale-season-8-bran-tyrion-iron-throne">likened Brienne’s actions</a> to “functionally writing Jaime Lannister’s Wikipedia page, rendering her arc subservient to a man’s.” And fans of Brienne were quick to castigate <em>Game of Thrones</em> for concluding her arc in this fashion.</p>
<p id="V2nJ6G">But if you’re among those fans who thinks Brienne deserved much better, you might be heartened by the redemptive work that’s happening on social media on Brienne’s behalf. One of the most popular <em>Game of Thrones</em> memes in the wake of the finale involves allowing Brienne to tell much better stories than the one she was given on the show itself. And honestly, it’s pretty vindicating.</p>
<div id="Zs50zh">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jaime Lannister: Fuckboy <br><br>Fin. <a href="https://t.co/X42HFQspyT">pic.twitter.com/X42HFQspyT</a></p>— 9000 (@9000x) <a href="https://twitter.com/9000x/status/1130299168717713409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
</blockquote>
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<p id="6OSN55">To <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ credit, one of season eight’s best scenes involved Jaime knighting Brienne, in <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/22/18510436/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-2-recap-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-winners-losers">“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,”</a> which took its title from the moment. But from that point on, the show seemed to fall into the narrative trap of ultimately making Brienne’s story all about Jaime — who drunkenly took her virginity as Winterfell celebrated its defeat of the Night King and his Army of the Dead. </p>
<p id="bsgxjb">While <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/10/18536754/game-of-thrones-will-jaime-kill-cersei-pregnant-brienne">Jaime’s intentions</a> in leaving Brienne to return to his sister Cersei were never fully clear, his departure left many fans outraged at the image of Brienne, one of <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ strongest women, sobbing in a nightgown over the rake who took her innocence and then broke her heart. Given the show’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/19/18629699/game-of-thrones-finale-reaction-who-won-the-iron-throne">lackluster track record</a> regarding its women characters, it’s hard to blame them.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">i will never get over how the game of thrones writers managed to ruin most of the women’s characters this season. had dani turn into the mad queen in ONE fucking episode, had brienne crying over incestual dick, killed missandei. WHAT EVEN IS THIS</p>— robin arryn’s glowup (@_juwiiii_) <a href="https://twitter.com/_juwiiii_/status/1127817740683636737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2019</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brienne of Tarth’s character arc ended with her finally... getting some dick and crying in a bathrobe outside. <br><br>Somebody come get this raggedy ass show.</p>— Stoic Apples (@TheMikeTre) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheMikeTre/status/1130531414699630592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p id="5LB2fE">The finale added insult to injury by doubling down on this irksome narrative trope. After Jaime and Cersei died together at the end of episode five, “<a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/13/18617316/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-5-recap-the-bells-winners-losers">The Bells</a>,” the finale depicted Brienne as still being hung up on Jaime and his fate, and seeing to it that his legacy was preserved, rather than focusing on her own. </p>
<p id="pbARCE">Remember, Ser Brienne is the first woman in Westerosi history to be eligible to have her <em>own</em> story recorded in these pages. So a scene in which she wrote about the man who loved and left her did not go over well.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">All Brienne should have written in that book was "he knighted the first woman knight, Ser Brienne of Tarth." & then started her own fucking chapter.<br><br>Fuck D&D for wrapping up her storyline defending a dude who left her crying in the dark (wearing and amazing cape).<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GameofThrones?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GameofThrones</a></p>— Nerdista (@Nerdista) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nerdista/status/1130303822138466305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Of fucking course they focused on Brienne emotionally eulogising Jaime, forgiving his betrayal & ERASING HERSELF FROM THE NARRATIVE instead of writing HER OWN DAMN PAGE in the White Book like she bloody deserves. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GameOfThrones?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GameOfThrones</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GameOfThronesFinale?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GameOfThronesFinale</a> <a href="https://t.co/QWDcie3ven">pic.twitter.com/QWDcie3ven</a></p>— Claire Rousseau (@ClaireRousseau) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClaireRousseau/status/1130478400542564353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">you mean to tell me i watched brienne fight the hound only to see her spend her last few moments writing about a man that rejected her instead of turning to a page that had a lil' biography on her. i really did. i did. <a href="https://t.co/ssTGU5yvc2">pic.twitter.com/ssTGU5yvc2</a></p>— davalyn (@silkyfines) <a href="https://twitter.com/silkyfines/status/1130305932641099784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p id="Edqq0f">Enter the memes.</p>
<p id="335Vj7">Many viewers were <em>not</em> impressed by Brienne’s gracious euphemistic recounting of Jaime Lannister as a heroic noble knight rather than the antihero who left her sobbing in her pajamas in order to return to his incestuous sociopathic lover. They quickly began to meme the scene where she writes of his exploits, turning the Book of Brothers into a classic <em>Mean Girls</em>-esque burn book.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brienne was really hurt <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GameOfThonesFinale?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GameOfThonesFinale</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOTFinale?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GOTFinale</a> <a href="https://t.co/6zCrx3V9IW">pic.twitter.com/6zCrx3V9IW</a></p>— Zie (@TheMessenger93) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheMessenger93/status/1130493100093267969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">What Brienne of Tarth REALLY wrote about Jamie..<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GameOfThrones?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GameOfThrones</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GameOfThronesFinale?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GameOfThronesFinale</a> <a href="https://t.co/5Ksa5fR3sa">pic.twitter.com/5Ksa5fR3sa</a></p>— Amanda Guinn (@GuinnAmanda) <a href="https://twitter.com/GuinnAmanda/status/1130300732643708928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">I can't believe brienne wrote that omg <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GameofThrones?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GameofThrones</a> <a href="https://t.co/6TbIPuKTo5">pic.twitter.com/6TbIPuKTo5</a></p>— Kiran (@opalsrose) <a href="https://twitter.com/opalsrose/status/1130352224293359616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">What Ser Brienne really wrote <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GameOfThrones?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GameOfThrones</a> <a href="https://t.co/USNRlInVix">pic.twitter.com/USNRlInVix</a></p>— Michelle (@gingerlymyself) <a href="https://twitter.com/gingerlymyself/status/1130367286458634241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">*SPOILER ALERT DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE FINALE OF THRONES*<br><br>Full text of what Brienne ACTUALLY wrote about Ser Jaime Lannister <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GameOfThrones?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GameOfThrones</a> <a href="https://t.co/CnQcNXPV50">pic.twitter.com/CnQcNXPV50</a></p>— Pete Reilly (@Pete_Reilly_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pete_Reilly_/status/1130311795573514242?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p id="poGaJS">Many also took the opportunity to comment on <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ reduction of Brienne to essentially a Lannister fan blogger, instead of a character worthy of her own fitting sendoff. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">bran: king<br>sansa: queen<br>jon: free<br>arya: literally columbus<br>samwell: inventing democracy<br>ser brienne: <a href="https://t.co/sGjEdCgHTk">pic.twitter.com/sGjEdCgHTk</a></p>— Nicole (@niccibelli) <a href="https://twitter.com/niccibelli/status/1130451255799689217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">"...and I, Brienne of Tarth, am the first women to write on Game of Thrones since season 3..." <a href="https://t.co/iZevZvdLKy">pic.twitter.com/iZevZvdLKy</a></p>— Cat Staggs ️ (@CatStaggs) <a href="https://twitter.com/CatStaggs/status/1130476652452913152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brienne already posting her version of the final season to Tumblr. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GOT</a> <a href="https://t.co/804DJPWMoJ">pic.twitter.com/804DJPWMoJ</a></p>— Ryan “Tweets” McGee (@TVMcGee) <a href="https://twitter.com/TVMcGee/status/1130297426961752066?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p id="mZRH5h">Several of the memes pointedly reclaimed the narrative for Brienne herself, depicting her writing her own, much flashier story in the book.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">"Ser Brienne of Tarth- Super awesome knight. Probably the best. Beat up a wizard, had 40 boyfriends. Everyone loved her. They were all just, like, 'damn.'" <a href="https://t.co/4I0w71HCxz">pic.twitter.com/4I0w71HCxz</a></p>— Anthony Carboni (@acarboni) <a href="https://twitter.com/acarboni/status/1130318200711786496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">“And also Ser Jaime died while telling Cersei that he was in love with Brienne who was super hot the end” <a href="https://t.co/9yr5i3lvHK">pic.twitter.com/9yr5i3lvHK</a></p>— Dylan Goforth (@DGoforth918) <a href="https://twitter.com/DGoforth918/status/1130311810077384705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">"Brienne was so good in bed that he went crazy and went to die with his sister. Yeah. that's what happened." <a href="https://t.co/WvKRUItxgv">pic.twitter.com/WvKRUItxgv</a></p>— Zito (@_Zeets) <a href="https://twitter.com/_Zeets/status/1130302789983318019?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p id="4jyFsf">But not all the responses offered commentary on <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ finale; most memes involving text are easy to riff on, and lots of people simply took advantage of that.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm the most basic person. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GameofThrones?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GameofThrones</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GameofThronesFinale?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GameofThronesFinale</a> <a href="https://t.co/aCdMILLBgu">pic.twitter.com/aCdMILLBgu</a></p>— Sara Benincasa (@SaraJBenincasa) <a href="https://twitter.com/SaraJBenincasa/status/1130320046251581441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">brienne tries to draw a chameleon from memory <a href="https://t.co/4eb0wfxCmm">pic.twitter.com/4eb0wfxCmm</a></p>— ellie sunakawa (@elliesunakawa) <a href="https://twitter.com/elliesunakawa/status/1130308030971699202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">I can't stop making Brienne writing memes <a href="https://t.co/FkoZW3Exdl">pic.twitter.com/FkoZW3Exdl</a></p>— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheWilderThings/status/1130303774826860544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2019</a>
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<p id="93uD6C">All in all, while “The Iron Throne” may have been a lackluster sendoff for Brienne — and, let’s face it, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/19/18629699/game-of-thrones-finale-reaction-who-won-the-iron-throne">most of <em>Game of Thrones</em>’ women characters</a> — it led to a great day for women getting their due on the internet. </p>
<p id="F8TL0c"></p>
https://www.vox.com/2019/5/20/18632754/brienne-writing-jaime-book-of-knights-meme-game-of-thrones-finaleAja Romano