I am either blessed or cursed with the ability to allow a book, show or movie to take its natural course without trying to guess where it’s heading, or how it might end. When I see people struggling with disappointment over a twist or turn of the plot because it’s not what they expected, I feel grateful for my malady, if that’s what it is. Game of Thrones has been an epic test of this skill I possess, as it seems all fans of the show, and even those who hate the show, obsess over how it might end, why a particular character met a gruesome finale or any number of intricate theories of interpersonal relations between the fictional personas we’ve come to love and hate. I just take it all in as it happens.
However, in a stunning plot twist of my life, just a few minutes ago, as I discussed the most recent episode (Season 8, Episode 4) with a neighbor as we watched our dogs sniff each other, I had a revelation. I saw the perfect ending for the show! In fact, the more I consider it, it’s the only ending that makes sense! Forget about who will win the Iron Throne, who will live and who will die, whether Jamie turns on his sister or joins her, whether Dany and Jon marry and rule together, or kill each other over who has the rightful claim. None of that will happen. Game of Thrones is not a happy show; there will no coronation of a new king or queen with an adoring populace throwing rose petals at their feet. Nor will evil be allowed to be the victor, because if that was the case, the Night King would have triumphed over the Battle of Winterfell. No my Faithful Readers, neither good nor evil will prevail, disputes over birthrights and succession will be irrelevant and fans of Jon, or Dany, or Tyrion or Bran will all be disappointed. Because all men must die, and in Westeros, everyone will die. And I mean everyone.
Some combination of dragon fire and stored up wild fire will ignite King’s Landing like a giant crematorium taking everyone with it. Valar Morghulis. No one survives. It will take a while for news of this catastrophe to reach the North, but they will eventually learn that they are as free as the free folk north of the now defunct Wall. The final scenes will likely show a melting Iron Throne before fading to a quiet room in the Citadel where an old Maester is closing the chapter on this particular history of Westeros.
I can just see the legions of fans staring at the credits, mouths agape in disbelief. It’s the only way.
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