WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for the Season 7 finale of Game of Thrones
-
The biggest Game of Thrones finale to date is in the books - meaning the show's new plot gaps, strange logic, and unanswered questions have been immortalized as well. That means that for every shocking twist surrounding Jon Snow's true Targaryen lineage, there's the reveal to the audience that both Bran and Sam already solved this mystery without the show actually including it. Are they nitpicks? That's up for fans of Thrones to decide, but it doesn't change the fact that even a show like Game of Thrones can make some odd, downright weird choices.
In the spirit of fun (since we're as swept up in the Thrones intrigue as any other viewer), we're breaking down the Season 7 finale moments that had us most scratching our heads, rolling our eyes, and screaming uncontrollably at character decisions.
Needless to say, there will be plenty of SPOILERS as we break down Game of Thrones: The Most WTF Finale Moments.
Well This is Embarrassing...
By now even fans who typically overlook the details of character costumes will have noticed the differences in Westerosi regions, classes, and monarchs. We're not only referring to the lighter, looser, more intricately designed dresses Daenerys wore in the more ostentatious circles across the Narrow Sea, though they're among the most memorable. We're also referring to the character changes signified by fashion: Cersei's shift from royal fashion while maneuvering the aristocracy, loose, more informal robes once she stopped caring about others' opinions, and finally her black, high-necked, stark, all-business dress when claiming the throne in the Season 6 finale.
But when the delegates of Daenerys and Cersei's camps assemble in the dragonpit outside of King's Landing, viewers are likely to notice more substantial redesigns. Sure, Cersei sticking to the somewhat intimidating and streamlined black and silvers are sure to make the Lord of the Rings/Gondorian fans happy, and it's believable she would demand the same color scheme of her royal guards. But with Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys, Jorah Mormont, Euron Greyjoy, and countless others all giving up color to match, it's pretty clear that a major fashion trend has struck Westeros, and none are immune.
Honestly, Bronn and Podrick were dressed in Earth tones, and knew to excuse themselves. We'll just assume it's all intended to separate Jaime Lannister from the rest of the King's Landing crowd, and chalk the rest up to a dye shortage.
We're Officially Not Commenting on The Zombie Clegane?
It's hard to forget the battle fought between Gregor Clegane and Oberynn Martell back in Season 4, and Gregor Clegane a.k.a. 'The Mountain' actually plays an instrumental role in the fall of House Targaryen. And yet, his transformation into something of a Frankenstein's Monster, faithfully defending Queen Cersei's life remains one of the more... interesting adaptations from the novels to the HBO TV show. In the books, The Mountain is officially pronounced dead, his skull delivered to the Martells. Meanwhile, the massive knight joins the King's Guard as was shown in the series. With one key difference: the book has the knight's head concealed beneath a helmet. By contrast, the show took a slightly different approach of making it clear to anyone observing the knight that it is absolutely a putrefying human corpse walking under that armor.
We were hoping it was going to be noticed by somebody at some point, and the most obvious candidate was Clegane's brother Sandor a.k.a. 'The Hound.' As frustrating as it may be to see Sandor taller than his brother in the above shot, and Gregor rightfully towering over Sandor in all other coverage of the scene, it's even more frustrating that his purple skin and blood-clotted eyeballs are brushed aside instantly. Keep in mind: this is a universe with dragons and magic, and yet a frozen zombie is the most outrageous thing anyone has ever conceived of. To have Sandor note the zombie his brother has become, concede strange things have been done to him, and then conclude that "it doesn't matter"?
We'll let it slide for now, but if people are actually shocked when Gregor's true form is eventually revealed, we're calling shenanigans.
This Time, Bran Can Hear The Whisper?
We've already explained how the writers of Game of Thrones tricked the audience with some selective editing, and leaving what many would consider key scenes out of the Sam Tarly/Bran Stark revelation. No, we're not talking about the possibility that Sam stole Gilly's clue to the Rhaegar/Lyanna wedding, either. As valid as it may be to ask why Bran never actually looked at the relationship between Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen - assuming her death giving birth to his child was all he should bother seeing? - the real issue in the finale is the added detail that comes from... well, 'nowhere' might be too specific.
In the finale, Sam's revelation that Rhaegar and Lyanna were officially married cues Bran's investigation into their wedding, and even Jon's real name. It's then that we return to the moment seen in the previous young Ned/Lyanna flashback, only this time, we hear her clearly say that her son's name is 'Aegon Targaryen.' So what's actually going on here? Was Bran suddenly able to hear the name when he didn't before? Even worse, had he heard the name uttered the first time around, and the audience (seeing it through his point of view) didn't get to hear it?
That last option may be the one fans stick to, but it raises the question of why Bran would hear Jon Snow referred to as a Targaryen, and keep it to himself as unimportant. We feel for the writers needing to deliver the Jon Snow/Targaryen theory for fans who already know it, but it raises some serious questions.
Is This Level of Incest Even a Problem?
There is a very good chance that most people watching the finale went through a similar journey in its final scenes. First, the overwhelming anticipation of a major mystery being revealed - one surrounding Jon Snow's parentage. Next, the satisfaction of either learning Jon Snow was truly Aegon Targaryen, or having that long-held theory confirmed once and for all. Finally, the creeping realization that the love scene being shared between Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen... is between a man and his own aunt. Full blood relatives.
The fact that neither knows it is a fair defense, and being 'aunt' and 'nephew' would be worse if the age gap was greater. But the real problem here is that the show doesn't treat it as a horrible moment of incest, or even devious in the slightest (where other instances have not been so easygoing). And this is a world where brothers, sisters, cousins, and even children are sexualized by men and women alike - which means it's hard to even know if fans are supposed to be on board. Should this incest be called out? Should Jon and Dany's love affair come to an end because of it? Will anyone care, since fraternal twins have forged one of the story's strongest romances?
Ending a season on an epic incestuous love scene is one thing... now knowing if it's even a bad thing when watching it is something else entirely.
The Final Target is... Hard To Miss
There's no chance we're going to be insulting that Ice Dragon bringing down The Wall finale, but it's a decision made by the showrunners in the previous episode that has us a little confused (or underwhelmed, at the very least). Without the detail delivered in the sequence following Jon Snow's men North of The Wall, then this season finale shocker would have been everything it hoped to be: a shocking, unexpected, and catastrophic set-up for the long awaited war between the living and the dead. A war in which the people of Westeros are so outnumbered, their doom appears imminent.
However, the show already introduced the fact that if you kill one of the White Walker lieutenants, you kill all the other wights it created or summoned. True to his intellect and leadership, Jon Snow soon deduces the secret to defeating the Night King, the White Walker, the wights - everything. Simply kill the Night King, and his army falls. Why the writers decided to reveal this twist on the mythology (common in other horror traditions) prior to the finale has us baffled, since there's no payoff in this season, and without it, this finale would pack an infinitely greater punch.
As it is, the closing shot promising certain doom for every character can soon be met with a "Well, they just have to kill the Night King, and then the army doesn't matter." A Night King who is, presumably, as vulnerable to dragon fire and dragon glass as any other member of his army. Now if only he could be singled out from the army for Daenerys and her dragons to tackle directly... say, riding on a massive, screaming dragon? If that were the case, any efforts made to not attack him directly, even on a suicide mission, will be hard to justify in the coming conflict.
-
There's clearly more to love than hate with Game of Thrones, and we're eager to see how the show addresses these issues in the coming season (we're not holding our breath on the wardrobe question). Did any of these points bother you as much as us? Have any theories that could help explain it? Let us know in the comments.