This past Sunday we were blessed with a "Game of Thrones" season finale full of shocking moments, expected reunions, game-changing secrets and more than what our weak minds could tolerate. I am complete guilty of watching "The Winds of Winter" at least nine times so I could process everything that was happening in front of my eyes and I don’t regret it one bit.
It is by far the finale I liked the most out of all of them for the simple reason that finally things are starting to gain shape for my and fan favorite characters. Not only is our blonde queen is finally on her way to the world's most uncomfortable throne, but the Starks (and their cousin?) are finally having things their way without getting brutally slaughtered in the process. I can’t avoid mentioning how proud I was of the little king, though it kind of broke my heart to see Jamie’s face when he returned.
Let’s start by saying that Cersei is a total psycho; I love her for that. She is so corrupt that in her head killing almost 100 people instead of facing a trial for crimes that she knows she committed was the better idea -- way more appealing. It is important to keep in mind that Tommen thought it fair for the trial to happen, and in our innocent heads we may have thought the queen mother was going to do it, for her beloved son, but of course Cersei was Cersei, and that did not end well for the High Sparrow or for the Tyrell House, which were mostly unavoidable casualties, except for Margaery. We’re definitely going to miss that beauty.
It was definitely a hard time for the Lannisters, because not only did our not-so-bad king slayer have to go through a completely useless conquering trip and a very awkward dinner with Lord Frey but, as I mentioned earlier, he had to come back home to find out that his last living son was dead and his sister/love of his life didn’t look that affected by it either, at least not that we could see it. In my head though, what Tommen did, flying like a little bird and falling like a rock, was the bravest thing he did all through the show.
The moment we were all waiting for finally came; Daenerys is finally traveling to Westeros and with her the many many armies she has gathered during the years. What I loved the most about it was how she keeps forming alliances with female leaders who don’t want to be controlled or used by men, like Yara Greyjoy, and we even got a sneak peak of the connections she made on Dorne, including Olenna Tyrell. This entire group promises great things. As we can see, the only male in which she trusts is Tyrion, and we really can't blame her: not only he is the coolest guy in the Seven Kingdoms, but he has proven time over time that he is worthy of a spot by her side and this is exactly why she names him Hand of the Queen. Such a precious moment.
Traveling up north, Jon and Sansa are finally back home, but apparently they’ve outgrown who they were the last time they were inside those walls. We don’t hear childish conversations anymore, though one thing remains: family. I loved how even though they didn’t get along at all in the past, they still want to protect each other, and swore loyalty to themselves. On that note, I absolutely adored Lyanna Mormont; she’s such a badass! That speech was iconic and we have her to thank for the new White Wolf, the King in the North.
Honorable mentions go to Sam and Gilly for finally making it to the Citadale, his long-time dream made true but we don’t know much besides that yet. And to sneaky Little Finger for trying to seduce Sansa but getting straight out rejected in the end -- we can at least say he tried, again.
Finally, I don’t want to forget to mention the little sneak peaks that we got from the little Starks: Arya is finally back in the North, though she played a little visit to Lord Frey, and with the simple lines of “a Stark smiling down on you as you die,” she had a little revenge over the man who killed part of her family. Also, with the new three-eyed raven, also known as Bran Stark, the not-so-secret revelation has finally been made that Jon is not Ned’s bastard, but Lyanna’s, and, with that, the theory of R+L=J has been partially revealed. We can only imagine now how that information is going to play out in the future.
Iconic moments aside, I’ve been thinking about how show-runners have said that they plan on finishing our beloved show for good in just 13 more episodes and how the tension has built up so far. The twisted show which finds ways to introduce super awesome characters and then violently kill them in ways we didn’t know existed has finally given the public a breather. And even though it killed six very important important characters, we didn’t have to say goodbye to those who we’ve been cheering on since season one. In reality, and theories put to the side, as fans, we got to see how seasons and seasons of character development has resulted in great leaders and fighters being born.
Next season promises much thanks to a last episode with very simplistic dialogues that went straight to the point, some huge ideas being presented and all of the show’s cards laid on the table for us to enjoy.
