In this weeks episode of Game of Thrones (The Bells), the characters head off to their final battle in Kings Landing. Many fans argue that the creators have rushed certain areas of this last season. For example, fans haven’t been too impressed with the character developments for characters such as Dany, Cersei and Jaime. As a result, this contrasts the fact that this is the final season, which is presumably meant to be the most shocking, but also the most pleasing end to one of the most top rated shows of all time.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lena Headey in Game of Thrones (2011) © 2019 HBO. Image Credit via IMDb.
Don’t get me wrong, this episode was epic regarding cinematography. From a flying dragon to masses of fire and explosions of wildfire to buildings collapsing, the episode was impressive to watch, especially with how much detail went into these effects. Despite this, script-wise, it wasn’t so impressive. Fans have been blaming show-runners Benioff and Weiss for the downfall of this show. However, some believe that with their discussions with George R.R. Martin, that it may have actually been the authors plan all along to end things in this way. For example, in one of their discussions with George R.R. Martin, he is said to have given the show-runners three specific plot reveals. This included Hodor’s ending, the death of Shireen Baratheon, and the third plot reveal is presumably going to happen in the finale. However, it is likely that Benioff and Weiss have been closely following Martin’s story-line plan for the series. Moreover, another part I wasn’t too keen on regarding the writing was the character development. For example, both Cersei and Jaime have had strong character developments throughout the show, resulting into most fans loving Jaime and hating Cersei. However, this hype for both characters came to a sudden end as both were killed off in a matter of seconds. The result of this has led to an outpour of tweets and reviews going for and against their death writing of the show.
Similarly, there has been a lot of complaints surrounding Dany’s downfall. Specifically, how she has followed her father’s footsteps and turned into the Mad Queen-killing millions of civilians on her way to power. For many, this was a surprise, and has caused them to dislike the change in Dany’s character. Nonetheless, it makes sense why the writers have decided to do this- Dany has, after all, suffered hugely and has no one left aside from Grey Worm and a distant Jon Snow. One scene I did enjoy quite a bit and felt satisfied with was the Hound and the Mountain’s fate. I liked how the Hound fought against the one person he always wanted to kill and hated. Similarly, it was interesting to finally see just how horrific the Mountain’s face was! Moreover, some fans theorise that Jaime may still be alive. This is because James Hibberd interviewed both Lena Headey and Rory McCann (both characters who died in this episode). However, he did not interview Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Moreover, when questioned on the matter, he simply said he was ‘holding that one for a bit…’ As a result, fans believe that we still have hope for Jaime, as he may have escaped.
Liam Cunningham, Jacob Anderson, and Kit Harington in Game of Thrones (2011) © Home Box Office. Image Credit via IMDb.
Overall, the episode was very mixed. It was vert good visually, however, there has been many complaints surrounding the plot. So far, this season is the lowest rated seasons out of all of them- Specifically with the last two episodes being the first time GOT has been rated as low as 6.1/10 and 6.7/10. Personally, I don’t think expectations should be held for the finale. This is because, as we previous episodes, it is likely to be rushed, and not so satisfactory as fans may hope. For example, many deaths can be expected of loved characters, and the person who wins the Game of Thrones, may not be who we expected. Nonetheless, I am sure that regarding music and cinematography, it will be impressive. However,there is still room for improvement. I think we all must remember what John Bradley said in an interview: fans may not be happy with the season but they will be satisfied.
Game of Thrones (2011) © Home Box Office. Image Credit via IMDb.
Nonetheless, this season has been all about unanswered questions for me. Some that I am still pondering around are:
– Why hasn’t Arya used her faceless abilities?
– What is Bran’s purpose?
– As always, who is going to win the Game of Thrones? Surely it’s all burned now?
– What is Gendry purpose?
– Are fan theories right to assume that Arya is going to be the one to kill Dany?
– Is there really not going to be any other mention of the white walkers?
The next episode airs at HBO (US) on May 19th at 9 pm EST, and on May 20th on Sky Atlantic and NOWTV (UK) at 2 am BST.
Featured Image via IMDb
