Game of Thrones 'finally over': Misjudged and hammy finale lacking emotional resolution

After 73 episodes, countless gruesome deaths and enough nudity to make Hugh Hefner blush, Game of Thrones is over.

Its final episode, “The Iron Throne”, was as unexpected and subversive as the best that the series has had to offer; and as misjudged and hammy as its worst. On the surface it is the resolution to the question that was asked in the first episode – who should rule the Seven Kingdoms? – but in reality it is something altogether more troubling. It is an episode that says far more about our world than the world of Westeros; about the need for closure, for endings, for "other creative opportunities and the possibility of making the transition to movies". It is a full stop planted before its emotional or creative time, according to The Independent.

The episode opens in the ashes of King’s Landing, the falling snow mingling with the fiery remnants of the city that stood. Tyrion, Jon and Arya walk through the wreckage, past the torched bodies of children, before Daenerys stands in front of her forces and declares the war, the conquest, far from over. Peter Dinklage (whose performance as Tyrion has been one of the reliable salves in this final season) is offered his moment for the Emmy reel, as he discovers the bodies of his siblings crushed by that old enemy, falling masonry, in each other’s arms. The show’s moral compasses can stand by no longer – Tyrion throws down his natty Hand of the Queen badge and is arrested for treason. With the Dothraki and Unsullied baying for more blood (both these groups have been treated horribly by the series, something that may look even worse in years to come) and Dany seemingly willing to provide it, Jon puts a knife through her heart.

It is credit to Emilia Clarke – whose acting has not always escaped negativity, to be polite – that she manages to pass off the hasty transformation of her character from liberator to swivel-eyed zealot. Her final scene, in the throne room with her eventual murderer, has all the deranged self-conviction of an evangelical preacher, and, for a moment, her character’s arc felt believable. Then Jon Snow shanks her and, once again, Game of Thrones changes gear.

The second half of this final episode is devoted to the question of: "What next?" Grey Worm (who anticipated him becoming such a key player in this final season?) wants justice for his Queen, gaoling Tyrion and Jon and insisting that they pay with their lives. They don’t, predictably, with Sansa riding into town at the last moment, along with the lords and ladies of Westeros, to help free her brother/cousin. This is late Thrones at its worst: cramming disparate characters into a single, ill-defined location for the sheer audience-gratifying thrill of seeing them together. They are referred to as representing the great houses of the kingdoms, but, in reality, it’s just a chance to remind us that Robin Arryn has finally removed his mouth from his mum’s tit, that Yara Greyjoy didn’t actually die at the start of the season, and that Dorne, well, exists (though full credit to Tobias Menzies as Edmure Tully for a scene stealing reappearance, about which I have no complaints).

They choose Bran as the next king, anointing him with an ableist slur: Bran the Broken, first of his name. This has long been the bookies’ favourite conclusion to the series, though it will please few casual viewers. Bear in mind that Bran went AWOL for all of the fifth season, at least in part because his storyline was so dull and his character so unappealing. Ah well, at least Sansa reclaims the North as an independent territory where she now rules as Queen. In the final dying embers of the episode, the show cuts between the Stark children as they disappear down their ordained paths: Sansa crowned and regal, Arya off to explore beyond maps, Jon returned to the Wall and leading the Freefolk home.