Game of Thrones Finale Was Actually As Reasonable As It Could Have Been

Summary:

• The end of Game of Thrones was a disappointment to most fans, but this ending is a logical conclusion to the story.
• Martin intended A Song of Ice and Fire to be a story about the Starks, each of whom eventually became ruler in the show.
• Fans have deciphered part of Martin's treatment, confirming that he planned to make Bran king all along.

Of course, everything could have ended differently. Game of Thrones could have been renewed for several more seasons. Daenerys could have killed a few more million people for their own good. Jon Snow could have claimed a right to the Iron Throne.

Tyrion Lannister could turn out to be a villain. And Cersei could survive and kill everyone, or almost everyone, in the finale. And there would still be enough disappointed viewers.

But reality burst into the final season of the epic drama in the form of a Starbucks cup and a plastic water bottle. These mistakes, a sign that the final episodes were filmed in a hurry, outraged audiences, as did the too-easy death of the Night King, the murder of Daenerys, and the unexpected emergence of democracy.

The GoT Finale Is In Line With What Martin Originally Came Up With

But what if we were to tell you that such an ending, although it turned out to be rushed, was an absolutely logical conclusion to the story, and moreover, a conclusion in the spirit of George R. R. Martin works?

If you take a closer look, you can see how this ending fits into the original plan of the author. First of all, we have the treatment that Martin sent to the publisher, when he still believed he could fit the whole story into three volumes.

It says: The five central characters will go through all three volumes, growing and maturing, changing the world and changing themselves in the process. In some ways, this trilogy is almost a generational saga that will tell the lives of these five characters. The five main characters are Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, and three Winterfell children: Arya, Bran, and the bastard Jon Snow.

A Song of Ice And Fire Is a Story About Starks

From the beginning, A Song of Ice and Fire has been the saga of the Stark family. Who do we see in the series finale? Arya, Bran and Jon. They were joined by Sansa, which could mean that either the show creators decided to give her a more important role, or Martin himself, while developing her character, realized that she was also meant to be a key character. The main thing is that the end of the saga was supposed to be about the fate of the Starks, and it was.

Sansa as ruler of the North is a completely plausible twist; In the books, she learns about political intrigue from Littlefinger, which paves the way for her to one day become a politician herself.

Arya sailing overseas? Exploring uncharted territory is also very much in her character.

Jon Snow sent to the Wall? Also a completely justified twist. The important thing is not that he goes to the North, but that he leads the Wildlings. This essentially means that Jon is now King-Beyond-the-Wall.

Throughout the fifth book, he helped the Wildlings as much as he could, and in the show, he also helped rid the North of the White Walkers, that is, he made it habitable again. Turning down the crown of King of the North and then the crown of Westeros, but becoming king nonetheless, is a fitting end to the arc.

Bran, who became king? This could have been predicted if you read the books. A step towards democracy is very much in Martin's spirit, and besides, it was clear from the books that Bran was being prepared for something very important. If one of the main characters is going to be king, why not the Three-Eyed Raven?

The end of Daenerys' story was widely predicted in the prophecy of the "third betrayal for love" and the legend of Azor Ahai, who must temper his sword in the blood of his beloved.

And finally, the Iron Throne, which was destroyed. Rivers of blood flowed because of that thing, and the right decision was to finally get rid of it. So, three of the Starks have become kings, which is too much for just a coincidence.

Martin's Initial Ending Deciphered By Fans

Now let's look at Martin's treatment again. At the very end, the last paragraph is crossed out, revealing the fate of the characters after the first book. Martin fans have spent a lot of time trying to at least roughly decipher this passage. And this is what they came up with:

“By the end of A Game of Thrones…to the iron throne with…premature death, Bran sits free. Yet his seat is hardly a comfortable one.”

Probably the author intended to put Bran on the throne all along. But apparently Martin decided to rework some of the ideas, and let's not forget that eventually he made the characters more complicated and expanded the storylines.

Yes, Martin announced that he had learned from the mistakes of the show and the ending in the books would be different from what we saw. But we can dare to assume that the ending of Game of Thrones is, for the most part, what George R. R. Martin himself originally intended, and a completely logical conclusion to the arcs of all the characters.

Sources: Watchers on the Wall, Reddit