After an uneven final season comprised of
only six episodes, fans were excited, concerned, and downright desperate to see how the Game
of Thrones saga would finally end. From the Iron Throne to the fate of Westeros
and the final showdown between Daenerys and Jon Snow, here's what the ending of Game of
Thrones means not just for the final season, but for the entire series. Beware: spoilers are coming! After the burning of King's Landing in the
previous episode, several main characters wander through the brutal aftermath, with
Tyrion Lannister, the Hand of the Queen, looking stricken as he walks down ruined streets and
sees the bodies of those Daenerys burned without mercy. As he and Jon Snow survey the destruction,
Jon and Tyrion separately set off to meet the queen. Jon's journey finds him at odds with Grey
Worm over the execution of Lannister soldiers. But soon after Tyrion sets off on his own,
he makes a horrifying discovery. In a truly heartbreaking moment, Tyrion finds
the bodies of his brother and sister and breaks down amid the rubble. With the rest of his house literally entombed,
Tyrion finds himself suddenly alone, and in that moment, his resolve to defy his queen
strengthens. Later, as the Dothraki and Unsullied celebrate
their victory, Daenerys makes a grand entrance, riding atop Drogon and landing in a perfect
shot with her silhouetted by his wings. While she gives a full-throated victory speech
in which she praises her army for taking down a tyrant and claiming the city as their own,
viewers know the truth: Dany is no better than the tyrant she aims to replace. In fact, she's probably a lot worse, as she
announces her plans to prolong the war and conquer the rest of the world. Daenerys has always bent towards justice,
but with this proclamation, it seems as if she's finally gone too far, and even her most
trusted advisors seem frightened by her endless hunger for power. In the aftermath of the siege on King's Landing,
during which Tyrion begged his queen to show mercy to those who couldn't defend themselves,
it seems as if the last remaining Lannister can no longer bring himself to follow Daenerys,
and has seen her for what she really is - or at least what she's ultimately become. Daenerys is already furious with Tyrion after
finding out that he freed Jaime - which ultimately doesn't even matter, considering that Jaime
and Cersei are both dead. But Tyrion has his own grievances with the
Mother of Dragons. As they confront each other atop a ruined
King's Landing, he admits that he freed his brother, but reminds her that she decimated
an entire city. Moments later, he tosses aside the badge that
identifies him as Hand of the Queen. Daenerys immediately has him arrested, but
his point is made, marking yet another advisor who leaves her side when she needs them the
most. Her transformation into a new version of her
father, the Mad King, who killed anyone who displeased him, is complete. As Tyrion sits in captivity, awaiting his
certain execution, he's visited by a visibly torn Jon Snow, who, despite his allegiance
to Daenerys, still obviously trusts Tyrion's counsel. Jon defends Daenerys at first, saying that
though he can't condone what happened, the war is finally over. But Tyrion persists, reminding Jon that Daenerys
isn't even close to finished, and the only way she can achieve her ultimate goal is through
even more death and destruction on a global scale. Tyrion also reminds Jon that he once had the
power to do what Daenerys did - specifically, to ride atop a dragon and destroy an entire
city - and he never would. Before she sacked King's Landing, Daenerys'
destruction often seemed entirely righteous - like when she freed slaves and killed their
masters - but as Tyrion points out, the murder of countless innocent men, women, and children
can't possibly be defended, and at this point, the Dragon Queen will stop at nothing to achieve
her goals. Though Tyrion recognizes that "love is more
powerful than reason," he still does everything in his power to convince Jon of the path ahead: "You've tried to protect people. Who is the greatest threat to the people now?" Jon - the true heir to the throne, having
received wise counsel from the Hand - knows that there's only one move left to finally
end the war once and for all. Jon finds Daenerys in the Throne Room, admiring
the throne she's worked so hard to win. As he asks her why she murdered children in
the streets of the capital, she tries to entice him with her vision of the "new world" the
two of them can build together. As they embrace, Jon proclaims that Daenerys
will always be his queen. Just when it seems like all hope for peace
is lost, he stabs her, holding her and weeping. This is the moment the series has been building
toward since the beginning. Ned Stark lost his head for being too honorable. In the end, Jon Snow betrayed his honor in
order to save it. He made the impossible choice: killing his
lover and queen, to whom he'd pledged his eternal loyalty, for the greater good of his
family and the world. After Jon becomes the Queenslayer, all is
silent for a moment, until Drogon reappears, coming face to face with Jon in a frightening
moment when it seems like the last remaining Targaryen might immediately face justice for
killing the Mother of Dragons. However, Drogon's anguish over the death of
his mother is directed not at Jon, but at something entirely different - specifically,
the Iron Throne, which he torches into a melted pile of slag in a stream of fire. The ultimate symbol of power in Westeros is
completely destroyed. Daenerys has always referred to her dragons
as her "children," and her final moments with Drogon are heartfelt, as he tries to nudge
her awake and screams in pain for his lost mother. After demolishing the Throne once and for
all, Drogon gently lifts Daenerys off the ground and flies away with her safely ensconced
in his claws, making for a fitting end to Daenerys' arc. She was reborn with all three of her dragons,
and even in death, she remains a part of her only remaining child. Moreover, Drogon identifies Dany's true killer
without uttering a word. It wasn't Jon who is responsible for the end
of her life. Instead, it was her unending quest to seek
the Iron Throne itself. It's like Cersei said way back in season one: "When you play the game of thrones you win,
or you die. There is no middle ground.” Since the beginning, the throne has represented
death. It was composed of the weapons of the king's
enemies, and men and women fought and killed for a chance to sit on it. Daenerys always wanted to break the wheel. Now that Drogon has destroyed the Iron Throne,
the wheel in Westeros has finally been broken. Weeks after Daenerys' death, Tyrion is led
out of his cell to face a new council, made up of familiar characters alongside a few
faces who have been absent from the show for several seasons. The Unsullied have taken King's Landing and
are holding Jon and Tyrion captive, and Tyrion must not only argue his case against Grey
Worm, but for the entire council. But before Tyrion's fate can be decided, the
lords and ladies of Westeros must choose a new monarch. As the group debates who should rule next,
Tyrion is asked whether or not he wants the job. He describes himself as the worst possible
choice, and no one really argues his points. In order to explain who he does have in mind,
however, Tyrion begins by telling the assembled that what unites everybody is the power of
a story, then identifying the person he says has the "best story" - Bran Stark, who has
journeyed beyond the Wall and back to become the all-seeing Three-Eyed Raven. Everybody seems a bit stunned by this unexpected
nomination - except for Bran, but now that he's the Three-Eyed Raven, looking surprised
isn't really his thing. But once Tyrion points out that because Bran
can't have children, the leader of Westeros will be chosen rather than receive it by birthright,
he receives a unanimous vote. After everything the Starks have lived through,
the eldest surviving Stark son is named Bran the Broken, First of His Name. In exchange, Bran chooses Tyrion as his new
Hand, bringing his arc to a fitting conclusion. As far as his own arc is concerned, Bran's
ascension to the throne may seem surprising given the path his story has taken throughout
the series. Moreover, in this final season, Bran doesn't
actually do much, aside from glower at other characters from his chair and say weird things. But if you remember the very first episode
of the series, Bran has a front-row seat to an execution, carried out by his father. The scene is meant as a lesson for Bran in
the rules of justice and leadership: namely that duty and honor justifies violence and
death. But now that Bran will take over as King of
Westeros in the wake of Daenerys's war crimes, it seems like a sure bet that he'll have taken
his father's lesson and will apply the inverse. Mercy, fairness, and justice trump duty and
honor, and are the only true path to peace and life. Since the beginning of the season, Sansa,
who has established herself as a fair leader as well as a sharp and shrewd strategist,
has bristled at the thought of the North falling under anyone's rule. Throughout Daenerys' reign, she argued for
the North to maintain its status as an independent territory with its own monarchs and wardens. When Jon told her about his true parentage,
she immediately shared the information with Tyrion, clearly hoping to keep control of
the North by not only keeping a tyrant from taking the throne, but by putting a half-Stark
regent in power. While that plan didn't pan out, Sansa ultimately
made sure the North was taken care of. During the council meeting, Sansa is hesitant
to cast a vote in favor of Bran, and as she turns to her brother and tells him that she
loves him and that she's sure he'll be a great king, she insists that the North remain its
own territory, and Bran grants her request. Thanks to Sansa, the North can keep its identity
and its independence, and since the North always remembers, its citizens will certainly
remember what the Lady of Winterfell did to protect them. As for the rest of the characters, each of
them is seen off properly, with arcs completed, stories told, and journeys finally finished. Grey Worm sets off for Naath alone, still
smarting after losing both Missandei and his queen. Bronn returns to claim his lordship of Highgarden
and becomes Master of Coin in Bran's administration, flanked by a small council that includes Brienne,
Davos, Sam, and Tyrion. Podrick Payne, now Bran's attendant, has been
knighted and made a member of the Kingsguard since viewers last saw him. Not only are several stories completed, but
some characters write out stories of their own, making sure the people they lost won't
be forgotten. After finding Jaime's unfinished entry in
the book listing Westerosi knights, Brienne completes it herself, capping it off by writing,
"Died protecting his queen." Meanwhile, Sam presents the council with a
book written by one of the Maesters called - what else? - A Song of Ice and Fire, in an obvious and
rather heavy-handed reference to the book series by George R.R. Martin on which the
series is based. Unlike Martin's series, however, this book
appears to be finished. Jon, for murdering the queen, is banished
back into the Night's Watch, a symbolic move, and the only way the council can seem to broker
peace with the Unsullied and get them to relinquish their hold on the city. Upon returning to Castle Black, Jon reunites
with Tormund as well as a large group of wildlings and his direwolf Ghost, who, despite missing
an ear, is thrilled to see his master once again. In the end, the series closes with shots of
the family with which it began - the Starks, who have scattered to various corners of Westeros
and beyond. Sansa is coronated at Winterfell, proudly
taking her seat as the citizens of the North raise their swords and cheer for the new Queen
in the North. Arya boards a ship headed for the unknown
lands west of Westeros, sailing under the Stark banner on a quest to learn what lies
beyond the part of the world where their maps end. Meanwhile, Jon sets out from Castle Black
with Tormund, Ghost, and a group of wildlings in tow. As they begin their journey to the far North,
some green growth can be seen peeking out from underneath the thick layers of snow. Throughout Game of Thrones' run, audiences
have always been told that "winter is coming." But now that the Night King is no more and
a new age has begun in Westeros, it seems as if the show's long winter may finally be
coming to an end. Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Looper videos about Game of
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