Game of Thrones has dominated the social consciousness
pretty much since its debut. It beautifully adapted the seemingly unadaptable
work of George R.R Martin, it shocked audiences by constantly subverting their expectations,
and it weaved together fascinating stories about complex and realistic characters. Of all of the show’s many accomplishments,
what has always stood out the most to me is the way it handles death. Part of Game of Thrones’ reputation has
always been tied to the disposability of its characters, regardless of how big of a role
they play in the story or how much viewers love them. Really, it started as a show centered around
grief. It explored the many ripples death creates,
whether that be on a personal level or a global one, and I can’t think of many shows that
do a better job of handling death than Game of Thrones. With that said, I also can’t think of many
shows that have done a more disappointing job of handling death than Game of Thrones. What was one a pervasive threat always hanging
over the story became a tool used to simplify the narrative by taking out characters who
aren’t at the top of the billing list. One of the easiest things to point to for
this shift is the show catching up to its source material. Without Martin’s work to pull from, David
Benioff and Dan Weiss had to make the transition from adapters to creators. In some ways, it started to feel like a show
that was trying to imitate Game of Thrones instead of just being Game of Thrones. They gave heightened versions of what the
series was known for, but they missed the intricacies that made the show special in
the first place, especially in regards to death. So, I want to look at death throughout the
series, and examine both the show’s successes and shortcomings, in the hopes of learning
more about how to use death effectively in a story. There are many different ways and reasons
to kill a character. In Game of Thrones specifically, death is
used to give the story shape. Some deaths aim to shake the narrative to
its core by killing off beloved characters who seem untouchable, others, especially those
of more minor characters, are primarily meant to provide motivations for the main cast,
and others act as a sort of respite from the copious amounts of tragedy that Game of Thrones
provides by taking out those who deserve it most. These three kinds of character deaths are
what the show revolves around. While the deaths of minor characters and villains
are massively important to what makes Game of Thrones so special, one of the greatest
feats of the series, and obviously the novels it’s based on, is how it’s able to kill
main characters and not only have the audience want to keep watching, but to be more invested
than ever before. And, of course, this starts with the death
of Ned Stark. Ned’s death sets the tone and conflict for
pretty much the rest of the series. In season 1, he’s presented as the main
character and most of the major conflicts center around him, which all makes Ned feel
like someone who will be in the show for the long haul, fighting for good, but, obviously,
that’s not the case. Ned dies and it changes the course of the
story in many ways. From a character level, it creates a powerful
moment where Ned loses everything; he betrays his core value of honor, in an effort to protect
his daughters and, to a far lesser extent, himself. However, it’s all for not as he dies anyway
and his daughters are thrust into situations that put them into more danger than ever. His death sends the message to viewers that
this is not a story where being the hero will get a character far—in fact, being a hero
can be more of a liability than anything else. It also shows that even if a character eventually
plays by the twisted rules of those in power, it only takes the bidding of an insane child
king to end their best laid plans. It is a story where people are punished for
their mistakes. From a story standpoint, it solidifies the
major conflict of the show. Ned’s death marks a point of no return:
war is unavoidable, and it is something that hangs over the heads of nearly every primary
character for the entire series. It creates emotional fallout that is explored
in the stories of many characters. We watch those who loved him grieve in their
different ways, and we see those who considered him an enemy respond with frustration about
how things have escalated. What’s more is it puts characters into interesting
situations. It leaves Sansa alone in the lion’s den,
it sets Arya on the road and on the run, it forces Jon to decide where his true place
is, it puts Robb and Cat on the path of war, it leads to Tyrion becoming Hand of the King—Ned’s
death accomplishes a lot of different things from a story perspective, and it has massive
repercussions that, 7 seasons later, still feels relevant. Obviously, not every character death can or
should have as large of an effect on a story as Ned’s does, but there are a couple key
aspects of how his death impacts the narrative that can be seen in other great deaths in
the series. First off, It happens while his arc is most
relevant, meaning viewers are invested in his character more than ever; second, it creates
emotional fallout for the other characters that they are forced to explore, giving them
new motivations; and lastly, it leads to conflict, thus pushing the story forward. Take, Robb and Cat. Their downfall happens as they are in the
midst of trying to regain an upperhand in the War of Five Kings, and it comes right
after a series of mistakes on both of their parts. Just when things seem like they’re about
to get better, everything ends. It is abrupt but given their mistakes, it
feels like the natural end to their stories. By that point in the series, viewers have
been trained to know that no matter who a character is, too many mistakes leads to dire
consequences—too many mistakes leads to tragedy. Robb is forced to watch his wife and unborn
child be slaughtered in front him. Cat witnesses her first born son being murdered. She dies still believing that Bran and Rickon
are dead and that Jon is Ned’s bastard. They both die unfulfilled, which, as a viewer
who can see the full story, is tragic. Their deaths also symbolize the Starks losing
the War of the Five Kings—it feels like the end of their house. This is compounded by the fact that at this
point of the story, most of the Stark children are in process of losing their identities. Bran is blurring the line between himself
and Summer, Arya has been posing as various orphans throughout her travels, Sansa is married
into the Lannister family and has to learn to always wear a mask, Jon is walking the
thin line between posing as a wildling and being one, and Rickon is not important. Robb and Cat were really the only members
of the Stark family who could still openly be Starks. And with them dead, none of the remaining
family members are in a position to rule Winterfell—to carry on Ned’s legacy. They are forced to find their own path. Sansa relies entirely on strangers to escape
King’s Landing, knowing that her brother will never come for her, Arya decides to leave
Westeros to find Jaqen H’ghar, and Jon is again put in a position where he needs to
decide where his duty lies, and he ends up taking the mantle of Lord Commander of the
Night’s Watch. All hope of the Starks winning the war—the
side that most viewers of the show will be rooting for—seemingly dies with Robb and
Cat. It opens the door for new monsters to get
a footing in the game for the Iron Throne, and new conflicts sprout because of that. Their deaths are felt on all of these different
levels, and that is a large part of what makes the Red Wedding so powerful. These same elements can be seen in the deaths
of smaller characters as well. Like Oberyn Martell. Although Oberyn is only in the show for a
handful of episodes, he immediately establishes himself as a likable character. He’s witty with an interesting shade of
morally gray, which describes most of the best characters in Game of Thrones. Above all though, he volunteers to protect
everyone’s favorite mans, Tyrion. Oberyn’s death is sad and shocking because
he is seeking justice for the murder of his sister, and it is snatched from him at the
last second. His death is also tied to the fate of Tyrion,
a character that viewers have been growing close to for four seasons, so even if viewers
don’t care all that much for Oberyn, his death brings on all sorts of problems for
a character they most likely do care about, creating an emotional stake in Oberyn. Him dying pushes Tyrion to act drastically. All Tyrion has ever wanted was to be a Lannister,
but his family does everything in their power to not let that be, despite them being similar
to him in so many ways. Oberyn’s death shines the final light on
this conflict, and brings Tyrion to his darkest place. This action is a large reason everything spirals
out of control in King’s Landing and it starts with Oberyn. His death also creates conflict for Ellaria
Sand and the Sand Snakes, making them serious potential threats for the Lannisters. Especially early in the series there is no
shortage of deaths that happen to characters who are relevant to the narrative that lead
to personal growth for others and create new conflicts across the realm. Lady’s death raises the stakes for Sansa,
Arya, and Ned. It is their first taste of what Cersei and
Joffrey are capable of, and it establishes a conflict between Arya and Sansa and Ned
and Robert. Also, Lady’s a good pup, and good pups deserve
better. Jory dies after promising Arya that he’ll
protect Ned, showing that despite having Northmen around, Ned and his family are extremely vulnerable
in King’s Landing. Robert’s death creates a vacuum of power
across Westeros, leading to the War of Five Kings. This creates conflict for everyone in the
Kingdom, and it also puts Ned in a dangerous and difficult situation as losing Robert means
losing one of the only people in King’s Landing who actually cares about him. Syrio’s death acts as a major motivation
for Arya, helping jumpstart her list. Khal Drogo’s death happens just as he is
preparing to take Dany to Westeros, and it puts her further from the throne than ever. Renly’s death takes away a seemingly good
option of a ruler, it creates internal and external conflicts for Cat and Brienne, and
it leads to many other kingdom-wide consequences, the most notable being the Tyrells siding
with the Lannisters. Maester Luwin’s death leaves Bran with no
more parental figures in his life, meaning he has to rely on the help of other children
and a sweet simple man. Jeor Mormont’s death leads to the fracturing
of the Night’s Watch and puts characters viewers care about, namely Sam, in grave danger. Ygritte’s death shows both her and Jon’s
unwillingness to betray what they believe in, and how their duty, whether it be the
protection of the realm or fighting for freedom, is more important than their personal happiness. These deaths, big or small, not only serve
as satisfying ends to the arcs of each character, but they also echo throughout the series,
leading to interesting character growth and conflicts for those who survive. A lot of these same ideas even apply to characters
who viewers are actively hoping will die, the main difference is instead of grieving
those deaths, most viewers will celebrate them. The most iconic of these is Joffrey’s. Just before he dies, he is at a peak point
of awfulness. His marriage to Margaery would give him more
power as a king than ever, his animosity toward Tyrion has hit an all time high, and he has
been threatening Sansa in worse ways than ever, showing that he is becoming more and
more dangerous. Most viewers probably start hating Joffrey
enough to hope he dies somewhere in the early parts of the first season, but he persists. His army pushes back Stannis, he outlives
Renly and Robb, and it seems like there is no one left to take him down. And then he chokes it, and dies an excruciatingly
painful death that he no doubt deserves. Where the best deaths of the main heroes of
the story happen after them making one too many mistakes, the best deaths of villains
comes when they are at their most dangerous. Viserys gets his golden crown after nearly
killing Dany and her unborn child. Lysa is pushed from the moon door after threatening
to throw Sansa out of it. Tywin takes crossbow bolt to the gut just
after showing his willingness to let his own son die for a crime he knows he did not commit. There is a release of tension with these deaths
as they happen just after those characters commit some of their worst acts, and just
before they plan to do even more terrible things. These deaths also create emotional fallout
and further conflict for the others characters. Viserys’s death shows how hardened Dany
has become and it makes her the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, Joffrey’s death sets
Tommen as king, causes Cersei to start unraveling, and puts Tyrion in grave danger, Tywin’s
death removes a voice of reason from the King’s Council, leaving room for the new young King
to be manipulated by everyone else around him, and Lysa’s death gives Littlefinger
more power than ever, allowing him to play the game more openly than before. Their deaths leave a lasting print on the
story in the same way that the deaths of more likable characters do, and those remaining
need to live with the consequences. Also, no matter the kind of death, the majority
of ones from the first four seasons are timed well. Major deaths of beloved characters are spread
out just enough to not be exhausting, and the deaths of the most reviled ones are peppered
in to relieve some of the tension that hangs over the show. However, once season 5 came around, the way
the show handled death started to feel a little different. While the earlier deaths in Game of Thrones
were used to create long-remembered conflict, deaths in the later seasons seemed more focused
on simplifying the narrative. The shock of a character dying started to
have more to do with sheer brutality than anything else. Also, deaths started to focus more on servicing
the arcs of the major characters than delivering satisfying ends to the characters who are
actually dying. If the majority of these deaths had led to
interesting character growth, while still not ideal, it would have been more understandable,
but really most of the deaths that happen in the later seasons are quickly forgotten
by the other characters, and any developments that do come from them typically either have
weak payoffs or happen so quickly they feel jarring. Like with Shireen Baratheon. Her death is one of the most chilling in the
series, and it leads to a lot of potential exploration for Davos. It sets the groundwork for him to confront
Stannis, the man he has stood behind throughout the entire show, and come to terms with the
fact that he has helped a monster gain power, but Stannis dies before Davos even learns
of Shireen’s death. While I was happy to see Brienne get revenge,
her grudge had lost a lot of steam by that point, so I would have rather seen Davos get
the chance to confront him. From Shireen’s death on, Davos doesn’t
do a lot. He does have a great scene where he confronts
Melisandre about what happened, but there isn’t much beyond that. It doesn’t end up changing his character
in any major way. From a narrative standpoint this made the
death seem like there wasn’t much of purpose for it aside from shocking viewers with brutality. Another example of the show not exploring
the emotional fallout of deaths can be seen in Dany’s arc, primarily with the deaths
of her dragons: Viserion and Rhaegal. Dany’s dragons are constantly referred to
as her children, but this kind of gets dropped in the later seasons, and she doesn’t seem
to really care about them all that much. After Viserion is killed by the Night King,
Dany has one scene where she is in clear mourning, and then never seems to think about his death
again, despite fighting against his reanimated corpse. I wish the show had spent a little more time
on how much the loss affected her, and I would have loved a scene where she tries to appeal
to the zombified Viserion to no avail. It would have made a little more sense than
Jon just yelling at him. After Rhaegal’s death, gets a little more
emotional exploration and spurs change in Dany, but it also misses the mark. His death along with Jorah and Missandei’s
are all meant to push Dany over the edge. I get what they were going for, but it leads
to a conclusion that didn’t feel earned to me because it comes so quickly and Dany’s
realtionship with all of those character relationships hasn’t been much of a focus. Had they explored her grief over losing Viserion
more heavily, given her more scenes bonding with her friends, especially Missandei, and
had Rhagael die during the battle of King’s Landing instead of at the ambush by Dragonstone,
I think her decision to burn the city to the ground would have felt a little more built
to. Instead it is asks viewers to fill in the
gaps that the show didn’t have time to explore. On top of not exploring grief all that thoroughly,
a lot of the characters who die in the later seasons are ones who either have been absent
for awhile or have been fairly irrelevant to the narrative for some time. To me, this feels like a cheap way for the
writers to kill recognizable characters who seem important, thus maintaining the reputation
of the show, without needing to develop them a whole lot or spend time on the emotional
fallout of their deaths. Take Osha and Rickon. They come back after being away for multiple
seasons, get one scene to reintroduce them as characters and a second one to die. Osha’s death is sad because she is a likable
character, but it doesn’t have a lasting impact on anything. It really only serves to get viewers to hate
Ramsay Bolton even more, which isn’t necessary. Rickon’s death, while powerful in the moment,
ultimately suffers the same issue. Even when Rickon was regularly on the show,
viewers didn’t have much of a connection to him as he was too young to play a big role
in the story. The only real purpose of his death is to get
Jon to react irrationally, which he does, but even this doesn’t have a real consequence. Jon gets away unscathed, no one that he or
viewers care about dies despite his rash choice to charge, and although a lot of northmen
are killed in the fight, he still becomes King of the North. Rickon’s death is forgotten about once the
battle ends, and it seems to matter so little that when the rest of the Stark children reunite,
they don’t even address it, which rings hollow. Maybe this is cynical, but it feels like something
the writers did to get rid of the problem of there being a clear Stark heir in Winterfell. Him dying isn’t sad because viewers care
about him, it's sad because viewers care about the other Starks who care about him, but even
they don’t really seem to care that much. Ultimately, it asks for an emotional payoff
without doing the work of creating an actual relationship between Rickon and any of his
sibling. This same thing happens with Myrcella who
comes back to the show after being gone for a handful of seasons and promptly dies in
Jaime’s arms in what I think is supposed to be an emotional moment. However, as viewers haven’t been given much
reason to care about her, and it is clear that Jaime is extremely disconnected despite
being her father, it doesn’t land all that well. It really just seems to be there in order
to justify Cersei moving one rung further down the pit of madness, which is fine, but,
again, it asks viewers to fill in the relationship between Cersei and Myrcella on their own. A lot of time is spent exploring Cersei’s
relationships with both Joffrey and Tommen, which makes the effects of those deaths clearly
seen, and the lack of any developed relationship between Myrcella and the characters mourning
her, makes it feel less important. I am going to catch flak for this next one,
but even Hodor’s death falls into a similar trap as these others. While it successfully paints his life in a
tragic way, it comes after him and Bran being absent for an entire season. The moment mostly works because there isn’t
much to Hodor aside from “hodor,” but the power of him dying relies on the fact
that he is a fan favorite more than anything else. His death and the backstory revealed from
it does introduce a really interesting thread about the powers of the Three Eyed Raven,
but that never gets developed, and once Meera leaves the show, Hodor’s sacrifice is forgotten. His death leads Bran to truly become the Three
Eyed Raven and eventually King, which is an interesting enough development on paper, but
in execution, Bran pretty much just stares at people for the rest of the series and does
nothing to prove that his powers make him uniquely suited to become King. Hodor’s death could have led to a lot of
interesting places, but the show moved too quickly to explore them. As for characters who die after stints of
being irrelevant, Margaery and Loras are prime examples. Both of them are important for a large portion
of the series, but they die after being on the backburner for a handful of episodes,
getting little screen time, and not having much of an impact on the story. Their deaths are the final straw that pushes
Olenna to side House Tyrell against the Lannisters, but the emotional fallout is never really
explored. Also, Cersei gets away with murdering them,
the high sparrow, her uncle, and a handful of other people, and no one left in King’s
Landing seems to care. She doesn’t undergo an investigation for
the Sept blowing up on the day of her hearing or anything like that. This is especially puzzling because the entire
idea of the Sparrows is that power comes from the many, but despite them indicating that
there are many who support the High Sparrow, none of these people even so much as challenge
Cersei for her actions. It is just forgotten about. In a show that has always been about consequences,
the lack of meaningful ones here make all of their deaths feel more about convenience
than anything else. Looking at the major characters further south,
pretty much all of them fall victim to the same issue. Dorne in general is under utilized in the
show, and the characters from there, aside from Oberyn, are all given less development
than Ghost, so when they started to die, I didn’t really care. Dorne is propped up as a major power in Westeros,
but the Martells and Sand Snakes aren’t given enough screen time or development for
that to really be felt. Doran Martell dies after pretty much doing
nothing in the show, and his death feels like the writers giving up on trying to make an
intriguing arc for him. The Sand Snakes aren’t developed enough
to be interesting or likable, so their deaths fell flat. Like, when Cersei poisons Tyene and forces
Ellaria to watch, while I understood why that would be traumatic for the characters involved,
I didn’t really care. Taking them out just seemed like a way to
have less characters for the show to worry about. The list goes on. Thoros comes back so that he can die beyond
the wall, mostly so that there is at least some human cost for their ill thought out
plan—and they were too much of cowards to kill Tormund, Benjen appears out of nowhere
to save Jon and then dies, ya know, because, Mance Rayder dies because the writers seemingly
didn’t want to get deeper into the magical elements of the story, which is a bummer because
the Mance plot line in the books actually shows off how smart Jon is, Trystane Martell
and Aero Hotah are taken out right after being reintroduced in a seeming effort to further
simplify the Dorne plot, Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun dies in the Battle of the Bastards because
someone on the good side had to, and the Blackfish, one of the coolest and most underutilized
characters in the series, makes a brief reappearance before dying in the Siege of Riverrun, mostly
because they abandoned the story thread from the book that involved his character. There are a handful of problems with killing
characters in this way, but the biggest is that it feels emotionally manipulative—a
way to get viewers to feel like a situation has high stakes by killing characters who
seem important, while not having to sacrifice the characters they have been putting the
most focus into. This leads to arcs ending at unsatisfying
times in a character’s progression, and it feels like the writers abandoning plot
threads in favor of having more time for the marquee characters. Maybe the best example of this is Ser Barristan’s
death. Despite still being a major player in the
books, he dies during a revolt early on in season 5, which surprised me because it happens
well before the show caught up to its source material. This choice, kind of feels like the writers
trying to make space for Tyrion as hand of the queen, but it leaves Barristan’s arc
feeling short changed. Also, none of the characters around him really
seem to care that much about it, and his part in Dany’s arc feels a little pointless. Another issue is that certain deaths became
predictable, which made a lot of the tension in the show evaporate. For example, with Ramsay Bolton, given the
arc of the story to that point, there was no question in my mind that Jon and his forces
would retake Winterfell. The Battle of the Bastards is shot in a suspenseful
way, but the battle and the tension that goes with it feels like a formality, something
that needed to get handled so the writers could move to the next plot point. Either Jon or Ramsay were going to die in
that conflict, and given the direction the show was going, everyone knew it wouldn’t
be Jon. This doesn’t mean Ramsay’s death is entirely
bad, it provides a much needed moment of catharsis for Sansa, but it feels inevitable. Littlefinger’s death does as well. His attempts of trying to turn Arya and Sansa
against each other, are half-assed at best, and at the end of the day, Bran, the all seeing
Three Eyed Raven, can settle any question of whether or not Littlefinger is trying to
play them. At no point did I think Littlefinger would
get away with it, and it seemed pretty obvious that he would die. In general, these deaths lack the layers of
ones from earlier in the series. Where so many of the deaths in season one
through four were of relevant characters that lead to emotional exploration and further
conflict, the ones in the later seasons were lucky if they had just one of those three
things. And even when they did, the impact rarely
seemed to reach the same heights. I do want to give credit where credit is due
and talk about some of the later deaths that stood out to me as being solid. The deaths of the men in the Night’s Watch
who were behind Jon’s murder creates a bittersweet moment that ends the longstanding feud between
Jon and Ser Alliser, and it causes Jon to leave the Night’s Watch. It is sad and satisfying, and sets the stage
for the Battle of the Bastards. Also, Tommen’s death is really well done. It is clear that at his core, he is a kind-hearted
person unlike most of his family, but he is young and naive and is led by those who are
more clever than him. Once Joffrey dies, there is a strong sense
that if someone could just get Cersei away from Tommen, the 7 Kingdoms might be able
to live in peace. His death not only pushes Cersei to rock bottom,
but it also means that the chances of there being unity between the Lannisters and any
other house is non-existent. Lastly, I really liked Olenna’s death mostly
because she dies as she lived: savage as fuck. However, regardless of whether or not these
deaths are done in a satisfying way, the biggest issue with them is that none of them are of
core characters. I am sure some people will disagree with this
assessment, but Jon Snow is the only major character who gets killed in season 5 to 7,
and that doesn’t count. It is fine to have deaths of minor characters. It is fine to have deaths meant to push forward
the progression of the main cast. However, it becomes a problem, especially
because Game of Thrones established itself early on as a show willing to kill anyone,
when it is only more minor characters who die. It seems like the writers decided they wanted
to keep all of the major characters intact until the end. This made it so death stopped feeling like
a threat that could happen to anyone, and started being something that happened to characters
who the writers felt were most expendable. The fear of death that hangs over the first
few seasons, slowly erodes away with each season. The main cast acts in increasingly stupid
ways, and make massive mistakes but they still live through them. The amount of times that the show has tried
to get me to think Jon is about to die is comical. He constantly puts himself in situations that
look to be insurmountable, but he gets through them with little to no issue. This is a far cry from where the show started. Consider Ned’s beheading. As he is being sentenced to die, Arya starts
running towards him while pulling out Needle. Based on all of the fantasy stories I’ve
read in the past and just how fiction typically works, I expected her to reach him, parry
Ser Ilyn Payne’s swing, cut her father free and escape. But that doesn’t happen; she doesn’t save
him. Even if she could get to him, she’d just
die. And that’s because Game of Thrones isn’t
that kind of story. It’s not about epic heroes. It is about people, and people die. However, the show has moved closer to being
an action adventure than A Song of Ice and Fire. Like, Jaime charges at a dragon and Bronn
jumps in the way to save him, and somehow both of them live. This is the kind of action that in the past
would have led to these characters being punished, but here there is nothing. It’s a bummer because that could have been
an extremely powerful end to either one of their character arcs. Bronn, the lovable cutthroat only in it for
himself decides to finally value someone else’s life over his and dies to do so. Or Jaime, reminded of the acts of the mad
king and unable to escape from Cersei’s hold over him, tries to repeat the act that
gave him the title of Kingslayer, in order to end the war and save his sister, and it
costs him his life. Given that the show ends Jaime’s arc in
a similar way—him dying because he couldn’t let go of Cersei, I think the show would have
benefitted from killing him earlier. It would have created a complicated conflict
between Tyrion and Dany, and given Cersei a more personal stake in the upcoming events. With that said, I would have preferred a more
complete redemption arc where he dies in the Battle of Winterfell saving Brienne, but really
anything would have been better than what we got. The deaths of the major characters, the ones
viewers have grown to love and hate mostly happen in the span of 4 episodes, and it is
too many deaths in such a short window for the show to properly explore them. I understand that the story needed to end
at some point and that the emotional fallout of every character’s death wouldn’t be
explored, but I can’t help but feel that if they had placed some of the deaths earlier
in the series, the pace of certain character arcs and the show in general would have made
a lot more sense. There are a handful of characters who do not
do a whole lot from season 6 onward, and it kind of just feels like their deaths are being
saved for the end. Had the show spread them out a little more,
the stakes would have actually felt higher throughout, and the fallout of some of these
deaths could have been further explored. The last season moves so quickly and has so
little room for character development that there is barely any time to process anything. In the span of 4 episodes, the Night King
is destroyed, King’s Landing and Cersei fall, Dany becomes the Mad Queen of Westeros
and then dies. Each of these conflicts could have had an
entire season building up to them, so to have it all happen so quickly is a let down. The Night King is built up as a massive, potentially
world-ending threat. He is the typical epic fantasy bad guy, an
embodiment of evil and destruction. There is no dealing to be done, no way to
change his mind or course. He must be destroyed. Given the tone of the rest of the series,
I feel like no matter what his death would be a bit of a letdown because him dying follows
the typical trope of good defeating evil—even though good took its sweetass time banding
together. For me, I think the only way I would have been satisfied with his ending is if he had won. I also think it would kind of be the most Game of Thrones ending possible: people were too busy squabbling over power and personal interest to save the world, so they lost. I get that would probably piss a lot of people off though. At the very least, his death should have led
to greater consequences than it did. The conflict with him is underwhelming because
it doesn’t seem to cost the heroes all that much. The characters who die are the ones most viewers
would expect. Imagine if Jon had died during the battle
while landing the final blow to the Night King or giving an opening for someone else
to. Not only would it be shocking and a solid
end to Jon’s story, but it would also create conflict for everyone else. Jon would not be there to try to ease tensions
between Sansa and Dany. Maybe Sansa would refuse to send Northmen
to King’s Landing, leaving Dany with very few troops and no way to take the city without
dragonfire. Tired of doing the right thing and coming
away worse for it, she gives in to her worst instincts. This would make the Night King’s conflict
lead into something greater instead of just feeling like a sidequest that the heroes needed
to do before finishing up the main campaign. As for Cersei, her death is unsatisfying for
a handful of reasons. First off she is not really that big of a
character in Season 8. Aside from sipping wine and looking out of
a window, she doesn't do much. She shows her fangs once by killing Missandei,
but we don’t get the scheme Queen who viewers loved...to hate. Also, despite setting up multiple
characters who seemed like they’d be the one to kill Cersei, the writers thought it
would be better to subvert expectations and let a roof do the job, which just isn't that satisfying. Lastly, her death ends up being portrayed
in a way where it seems like viewers are supposed to feel sorry for her, but that payoff didn’t
land for me because the season didn’t really build to it. Cersei in season 8 doesn’t really feel like
Cersei, and because of that her death has little emotional impact, positive or negative. Honestly, the only real sadness I felt in
that moment was that it was Lena Headey’s last scene in the show. Lastly, Dany. While I don’t mind the idea of her becoming
the mad queen, the show’s execution of getting her there is sloppy. Yes, she has always spouted the fire and blood
rhetoric, and she spends a lot of time destroying slavers, corrupt nobles, and murderous khals,
but those acts were always done out of necessity. They were done to people who deserved it. That is not the case in King’s Landing. She isn’t provoked, she doesn’t need to
do it, but she chooses to, and for me, it didn’t feel like a natural progression. She became a genocidal monster, a character
who is completely illogical. A character that didn’t feel like Dany anymore. So, at that point, Jon killing her became the only
way their arcs could end. It was set up in a way where it was the logical thing to do. It is a shame because with a little more time,
her turn and death could have been a lot more interesting. If she had been put into a situation where
destroying King’s Landing seemed to be the only feasible way to win it, her progression
would have felt more natural. Instead of acting solely on vindictive anger,
she’d be crossing the moral line she had always walked along in the past. I think this would make her death a lot more
compelling because it would be less clear that she has moved beyond the point of no
return, it would be hard to differentiate her actions from the actions of other kings
and queens who wage wars and send thousands to their deaths in the name of power. This would have caused me to actually ruminate
on how I feel about her dying instead of just thinking, “yeah, sure.” Dany is built up to be a revolutionary who
is conflicted about what the cost of freedom should be, but the writers decided to go in
the “Targaryen’s are Crazy” route, painting Jon's choice as black or white. For a show that spent so much time in the morally gray areas, this is disappointing. I wish the series had more time to explore
all of these conflicts and arcs to a more satisfying end. Between poor pacing and there just not being
enough seasons, the show ran out of track and it had to find an end, leading to things feeling abrupt. Where the first four seasons spaced out their
deaths and had them occur when the character dying was most relevant, the final four mostly
killed characters who were far less relevant to the story and held the major deaths until
the end. Game of Thrones became popular because it
was daring—it was exhilarating to watch because every character was in danger of being
destroyed by their mistakes. But that threat faded away, and so did some
of the magic of the series. The way death is handled in the later seasons
is not the only issue with the show, but it is definitely the thing that frustrated me
the most. There are still plenty of incredible moments
in those later seasons, and some of them do revolve around death, but the shifts with
how they approached killing characters—focusing more on simplifying conflicts and shocking
audiences with brutality, made Game of Thrones feel less like...Game of Thrones. Ultimately, the later seasons feel like a
different show, and I think this is a huge part of why people are so frustrated by the series. The show they became connected to—the one
about living with loss and trying to finding a place in the world—turned into one that
closer resembled the typical fantasy stories we’ve grown used too. One about nearly invincible heroes, constant
large scale battles, and good defeating evil. The show that was all about the slow burn
gave way for a faster-paced epic adventure, and while the direction of the later seasons
isn’t all awful, it lost the edge that set it apart. As I said before, there are many ways and
reasons to kill a character, and ultimately it comes down to the kind of tone a writer
wants to set and the risks they are willing to take. What I’ve learned from Game of Thrones is
that the death of a character is most impactful when it has multiple purposes, when it happens
to characters who are important to the overall narrative, when it gives viewers and other
characters the chance to process and grieve, and when the fallout of the death is lasting. It is most impactful when it feels like real
life, because then it is truly something viewers can relate to. And for a while at least, Game of Thrones did this better than any other show.
