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How would you have ended it?


Techmaester

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I didn't see a thread on this so I thought I would make one: If you were the writer - how would you write episode 6 as an end to the series(no restrictions)?  Additionally if you could change episode 5 what would you change?

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I would end it "badly"(but very personally satisfying!) in the following ways(I'm sure they could be improved but you get the idea). 

- Daenerys will argue that the wheel can only be broken with an iron fist and after the Night King and her loses to Cersei she decided she can no longer afford mercy or a divided, bickering kingdom thus she used Kings Landing as an example to instill fear(this might require tweaking episode 5 a little to show a more precise but equally ruthless campaign with Daenerys directly flying to Red Keep and killing Cersei). She wouldn't be "mad". 

- Thinking back to the wars that followed the beginning of the series, Jon will not like but he will ultimately accept Daenerys explanation with the agreement it shouldn't happen again taking responsibility as Daenerys guide instead of being the passive actor he was in the past. He lets go of his apprehension about being with his aunt.  

- With Daenerys help Jon accepts his heritage as both a Targaryen and a Stark and claims himself as King which Daenerys accepts as his queen. With this the rest of Westeros rallies behind them ending mass conflict. 

- Jons cold restraint moderates Daenerys fiery idealism leading to improvements in Westeros without the degree of social breakdown seen in Essos.

- Bran acts as his counsel(lets suppose Bran isn't all powerful like they attempt to portray). 

- Sansa maintains her position as Queen of the North disliking but accepting Daenerys. 

- Arya goes and does what ever. 

- Tyrion will have been exiled for releasing his brother instead of being roasted as Daenerys understands his love for family drove him, a love she didn't truly experience until now.   

- The Unsullied maintain guard in Kings Landing while the Dothraki are sent home, being freed from any duty to their Khaleesi. 

- Fast-forward 2-3 years: Daenerys ends up pregnant but dies in successful child birth in Kings Landing. Drogon learns how to reproduce and Ghost and his sister Nymeria produce a litter of puppies.

- The final shot ends with flapping wings shown coming out of Valyria towards both Westeros and Essos

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Cheesy I suppose but this is the ending a lot of people wanted(and thus their expectations had to be subverted). While not the shows intention I always viewed the Night King as one of many future threats that only a united continent could fight against, thus Daenerys being a bit like a female Revan. The Three Eyed Raven plot gave Bran too much power - not sure what to do about that. 

 

 

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I like your version very much.

I've read other versions too, and come up with several of my own.

The one change I'd really like to see, because it feels like more in line with Dany's character, is whether she murders unscrupulously or whether changed to only kill innocents locked up in the Red Keep, she still feels remorse afterwards. In her vision, she doesn't touch the Iron Throne, instead she turns her back on it. I would like her to do this in the end. She gives no speech to her troops about conquering the world. When Jon enters the room, she is emotional. She tells him that she intends to leave. He hugs her, and she orders her dragon to burn the iron throne.

To get the same ending, she could then walk out on the top of the stairs to give her final orders to her troops. But someone throws a knife into her back, and she falls over. The assassin runs away, and is later revealed to be Arya.

(Earlier in the season, Jon would have had to be the one to kill the night king to give Jon something to do this season.)

Drogon picks up Dany's body and flies away, enabling a Revan-type of story like you mention. Jon goes north willingly after naming Bran his successor.
 

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Everything was fine, EXCEPT Jon living.

Since the show was already cheesy, I'd have it end with Jon stabbing Dany just in front of the throne, then laying her on the throne. He should have taken a deep breath and closed his eyes before Dragon fire burns everything.

A pissed Drogon flies away.

A civil war breaks out. The starks are least interested and retreat north proclaiming their independence.

That way the cringey court failure could have been avoided

I'd love to have it end with a voice over.

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Two ways for getting a real bitter sweet ending;

- Jon somehow convinces Daenerys to forgive Tyrion and forgive others, and then she finally starts to listen Jon and they get married in Dragonstone.

Or 

- Jon still kills Daenerys, and says he loves Sansa not Daenerys (Sansa is his cousin now) and they get married in the North,

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20 minutes ago, Vanadis said:

I like your version very much.

I've read other versions too, and come up with several of my own.

The one change I'd really like to see, because it feels like more in line with Dany's character, is whether she murders unscrupulously or whether changed to only kill innocents locked up in the Red Keep, she still feels remorse afterwards. In her vision, she doesn't touch the Iron Throne, instead she turns her back on it. I would like her to do this in the end. She gives no speech to her troops about conquering the world. When Jon enters the room, she is emotional. She tells him that she intends to leave. He hugs her, and she orders her dragon to burn the iron throne.

To get the same ending, she could then walk out on the top of the stairs to give her final orders to her troops. But someone throws a knife into her back, and she falls over. The assassin runs away, and is later revealed to be Arya.

(Earlier in the season, Jon would have had to be the one to kill the night king to give Jon something to do this season.)

Drogon picks up Dany's body and flies away, enabling a Revan-type of story like you mention. Jon goes north willingly after naming Bran his successor.
 


That would have been good to, particularly for ending it the same way without Jon being bad. 

 

10 minutes ago, robasp2 said:

Everything was fine, EXCEPT Jon living.

Since the show was already cheesy, I'd have it end with Jon stabbing Dany just in front of the throne, then laying her on the throne. He should have taken a deep breath and closed his eyes before Dragon fire burns everything.

A pissed Drogon flies away.

A civil war breaks out. The starks are least interested and retreat north proclaiming their independence.

That way the cringey court failure could have been avoided

I'd love to have it end with a voice over.


I agree that Jon should have died. I think he should have killed himself at the same time as Daenerys(murder/suicide - including some words about him failing her) instead of Drogon doing it to emphasized his loss in her death but your ending makes sense unlike the shows. 

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4 minutes ago, RYShh said:

Two way;

- Jon somehow convinces Daenarys to forgive Tyrion and forgive others, and then she finally starts to listen Jon and they get married in Dragonstone.

Or 

- Jon still kills Daenerys, and says he loves Sansa not Daenerys (Sansa is his cousin now) and they get married in the North, another happy ending.

GRRM confirmed it's a bitter sweet ending.

I'd like to hear your version of a bitter sweet ending.

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13 minutes ago, robasp2 said:

GRRM confirmed it's a bitter sweet ending.

I'd like to hear your version of a bitter sweet ending.

I used the wrong words, I should've said the real bitter sweet ending,

He said LotR was a bitter sweet ending, where Aragorn and Arwen get married, and Aragorn becomes king. The one we get isn't a bitter sweet ending I guess.

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The problem with much of the analysis I have seen elsewhere, and suggested improvements, is that the show died from a narrative cohesion point of view mid way through S7, with Dany inexplicable not taking KLs and the whole catch a Wight plot. I watched S8 without much enthusiasm and just for the battles really. GOT died for me then, not in S8Ep5. 

The way to fix things so that character actions make sense is to return to that point and start again. So Dany takes KL, and we have a few episodes devoted to the fall of Cersei, perhaps ones that give Cersei more to do than stand by a window drinking wine.

Season eight then by necessity at least one or two episodes longer and give us a proper battle against the NK, rather than the damp squib we have.  Leaving Dany in an even more desperate situation than in the show, in that she has the North and KL, but the vast majority of her army has been wiped out. Leading to the whole needing to rule by fear bit to bring the rest of the lords inline. If you are going to show the more ruthless and dangerous Dany, then have her torch another city that fails submit in time, creating a similar scenario. Personally I would then have preferred a more Michael Corleone ending as an increasingly dark Dany rules over all as many of our characters look at her with fear. That would have fit more the theme of the show and books that this isn't a fairy-tale and the strongest and most ruthless rise to the top.  

 

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18 minutes ago, JagLover said:

The problem with much of the analysis I have seen elsewhere, and suggested improvements, is that the show died from a narrative cohesion point of view mid way through S7, with Dany inexplicable not taking KLs and the whole catch a Wight plot. I watched S8 without much enthusiasm and just for the battles really. GOT died for me then, not in S8Ep5. 

The way to fix things so that character actions make sense is to return to that point and start again. So Dany takes KL, and we have a few episodes devoted to the fall of Cersei, perhaps ones that give Cersei more to do than stand by a window drinking wine.

Season eight then by necessity at least one or two episodes longer and give us a proper battle against the NK, rather than the damp squib we have.  Leaving Dany in an even more desperate situation than in the show, in that she has the North and KL, but the vast majority of her army has been wiped out. Leading to the whole needing to rule by fear bit to bring the rest of the lords inline. If you are going to show the more ruthless and dangerous Dany, then have her torch another city that fails submit in time, creating a similar scenario. Personally I would then have preferred a more Michael Corleone ending as an increasingly dark Dany rules over all as many of our characters look at her with fear. That would have fit more the theme of the show and books that this isn't a fairy-tale and the strongest and most ruthless rise to the top.  

 

Ooh that's good.

First Dany captures KL, Jon is disgusted but needs her for the WW.

Dany also agrees to help because her reign is in threat, not because of 'love'

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32 minutes ago, RYShh said:

I used the wrong words, I should've said the real bitter sweet ending,

He said LotR was a bitter sweet ending, where Aragorn and Arwen get married, and Aragorn becomes king. The one we get isn't a bitter sweet ending I guess.

Lol, that is true. He did say that about LotR

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My ending requires Jorah to have survived The Long Night and that Varys, in a final act before getting crispy-crittered, blabs that Jon is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne..

- Eps 6 plays out partly like it did until the throne room scene.

- Instead of Jon entering after Daenerys, its she who enters (with Grey Worm and Jorah) to find Jon Snow sitting on The Iron Throne (making her vision from The House of the Undying a literal metaphor instead of an ACTUAL vision). She coldly demands why he's sitting there to which he replies "I am the son of Rhaegar Targaryen, my Queen" before he stands up. She sits down upon the Throne only for it to cut her, which shocks her (basically, it judges her unworthy).

- Daenerys begins screaming in a rage at Jon, berating him and sounding completely unhinged.

- Jorah tries to calm Daenerys down, so she screams at him too. Jorah calmly points out that Jon is the actual rightful claimant to the Iron Throne by all the laws of the land and that Dany should be his Queen (which, in this version, she has rejected outright).

- Daenerys stands and lunges at Jon, drawing his dagger from its scabbard and tries stabbing him. He grabs her to try and keep from being stabbed while Grey Worm tries to stop Jon just in time for Jorah to stab Daenerys, who dies in Jon's arms.

- Grey Worm and Jorah battle, but Jorah prevails (Unsullied have a short stabbing sword, whereas Jorah is carrying a longsword) and Grey Worm dies.

- Cut to scene weeks later as Jon, now the head of The Great Council pronounces sentence on Jorah for killing his Queen whom he swore to protect. As it was Jeor Mormont's dying wish, transmitted to him by Samwell Tarly, Jon sentences Mormont to The Night's Watch which is to be reformed to act as a peacekeeping force between the 7 Kingdoms.

- Jon, as King of the 7 Kingdoms is to marry, his counselors determine that to placate The North, Sansa is to be his wife. Their marriage starts off as a political one (they're cousins) but indicate that maybe they will grow to love one another over time.

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Not my idea entirely but going back to the execution of the Tully men.  First Cersei would have already instituted trial by combat.  The Tullys would have demanded it from Dany and the line (not my line) “Fire is the champion of house Targaryen would have been uttered”.   Kings Landinv would be utterly destroyed and no longer fit as a capital. Jon would have been accused of treason for telling his lineage.  He would demand trial by combat and the same line uttered but Drogon would have torched her.   Some explanation is to why she is no longer the unburnt (Lisa of innocence?) from Brann.

Jon is offered the iron throne, declares he does not want it, and begins to leave. We see various people moving towards it but Drogon torches it and then flies off. Jon declares himself done as a piece in the game of thrones, notes that it can only harm people, and leaves for the north.  

Our parting shot plays the opening music but we see seven independent kingdoms with major players wearing crowns   We are shown Brann in a cave somewhere with roots forming around his feet

 

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32 minutes ago, JagLover said:

The problem with much of the analysis I have seen elsewhere, and suggested improvements, is that the show died from a narrative cohesion point of view mid way through S7, with Dany inexplicable not taking KLs and the whole catch a Wight plot. I watched S8 without much enthusiasm and just for the battles really. GOT died for me then, not in S8Ep5. 

 

Agreed. S7 was extremely problematic, so re-writing the last 2 episodes can only go so far. 

IMO nearly all of S7 was a waste of time. Winterfell did the pointless meddling kids catch Baelish thing when they could've used this time for Bran+Sam to learn/tell us lore, background, motivations of NK/WW. And Dany should've been able to easily take KL & IT at beginning of S7.  Then you could've had her character go down her dark path for 2 full seasons, in S7 she takes over major houses from all kingdoms and conquers with fire and blood (this would advance her dark path while also tying up loose ends w/ major houses).

Then you'd have S8 be all about WW and Dany being ruthless and  ruling/succession/future. Show Jon & Tyrion & Sansa struggling re: Dany because they know she's turning to darkness & death, but they also need her to defeat WW. 

To me, if you'd set this all up, then you could go 20 different ways with the ending that could be satisfying...Dany rules ruthlessly, or Jon kills Dany after WW defeat, or Bran is King because he defeated NK, or Jon gets elected by a great council, or any of these other ideas on here (all of which seem better than the ending we got).

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1 hour ago, RYShh said:

I used the wrong words, I should've said the real bitter sweet ending,

He said LotR was a bitter sweet ending, where Aragorn and Arwen get married, and Aragorn becomes king. The one we get isn't a bitter sweet ending I guess.

 

I thought that GRRM called the LOTR ending 'bittersweet' not due to the Aragorn/Arwen marriage, but due to the occupation of the Shire, the hobbits taking back the Shire and rebuilding, and Frodo's having emotional and physical wounds that don't heal and his having saved the Shire but having to leave it (and Middle-earth) in order to live.  Also, many of the Elves leave Middle-earth; the Fourth Age is the Age of Men.

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1 minute ago, Raksha 2014 said:

I thought that GRRM called the LOTR ending 'bittersweet' not due to the Aragorn/Arwen marriage, but due to the occupation of the Shire, the hobbits taking back the Shire and rebuilding, and Frodo's having emotional and physical wounds that don't heal and his having saved the Shire but having to leave it (and Middle-earth) in order to live.  Also, many of the Elves leave Middle-earth; the Fourth Age is the Age of Men.

Aragorn's marriage to Arwen is the sweet, as is Sam, Pippin, Meriadoc, Gimli and Legolas having good ends to their stories.

Its bitter because Frodo has to leave The Shire, the homeland he did everything to save. The High Elves are finally leaving Middle-Earth and those that refuse the final boat (sometime in the 4th Age) as Galadriel says, " We must depart into the West, or dwindle to a rustic folk of dell and cave, slowly to forget and to be forgotten". The Ents are doomed as a race since they will never find the Entwives. Dwarves will hang on for a little while, regaining some of their glory after they retake Moria, but they too shall perish eventually to be forgotten.

Of course, even Frodo's bittersweet ending is not hopeless. He is traveling to Aman with Bilbo, Galadriel, Elrond and Gandalf (who honor and cherish the two Ring-bearers). His journey is said, by Tolkien, to be purgatorial and not penal.

Naturally, this is not the ending style of Game of Thrones since its a Crapsack World to begin with and Benioff & Weiss decided the whole "subvert muh expectashuns!" means Jon gets the bad ending.

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Maybe you can consider the romance bit for bitterness in the ending of Lotr as a showcase for the departure of the Elves? Arwen chose to stay with Aragorn, staying while her family left and then Aragorn died as the kings of old used to, choosing to leave her when he decided his time was done.

She left Gondor to roam the emptiness of Galadriel's lands until she too died, alone and never to see her family again as she was barred from the promised land of paradise of the elves.

 

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I would have done the big pay off for the Jorah/Dany story. 

So basically on arriving in Winterfell, Sansa and the North make it clear they won’t let anyone without Northern blood rule them. At this point nobody realises Jon/Dany are together. Jon then learns his lineage and tells Dany. They realise they can never be together although Dany tries to convince him. He tells her that the North despise Targaryen incest and would never accept an incest baby abomination.

Then, Jon defeats the NK but dies in the process. Dany also learns that she’s fallen pregnant. She realises that she’s lost the man keeping the North and Vale on side and telling people who the father is would do nothing for her. It also means that her child will be a bastard and cause problems of its own.

Since Jorah liked Jon and he’d do anything for Dany, she asks him to lie about being the father and promise to raise Jons child. They then marry and this solves the Northern question since she’s married a northerner and they are going to have a non incest Northern kid.

So the entire series would end as it began with Jorah being Ned 2.0 and with a lie. Dany would have married for duty and saved the realm from another civil war. Also, Jorah would still get to pass Longclaw on to Jons child.

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2 hours ago, robasp2 said:

GRRM confirmed it's a bitter sweet ending.

I'd like to hear your version of a bitter sweet ending.

We just saw the ending. It was open ended. No confirmation on where the characters actually end up at the end and what is the future of various Houses and the kingdoms. So many unanswered questions. GRRM says the books end the same way so if they do there is nothing bitter sweet about them as I am having to dream up a fan fiction in my mind about the characters as to what they actually did. Why not have an epilogue like Harry Potter? 

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17 minutes ago, TheNecromancerofMirkwood said:

Aragorn's marriage to Arwen is the sweet, as is Sam, Pippin, Meriadoc, Gimli and Legolas having good ends to their stories.

Its bitter because Frodo has to leave The Shire, the homeland he did everything to save. The High Elves are finally leaving Middle-Earth and those that refuse the final boat (sometime in the 4th Age) as Galadriel says, " We must depart into the West, or dwindle to a rustic folk of dell and cave, slowly to forget and to be forgotten". The Ents are doomed as a race since they will never find the Entwives. Dwarves will hang on for a little while, regaining some of their glory after they retake Moria, but they too shall perish eventually to be forgotten.

Of course, even Frodo's bittersweet ending is not hopeless. He is traveling to Aman with Bilbo, Galadriel, Elrond and Gandalf (who honor and cherish the two Ring-bearers). His journey is said, by Tolkien, to be purgatorial and not penal.

Naturally, this is not the ending style of Game of Thrones since its a Crapsack World to begin with and Benioff & Weiss decided the whole "subvert muh expectashuns!" means Jon gets the bad ending.

Yeah if Jon is the Frodo here, he ends up in the middle of nowhere being a lumber jack in comparison. 

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