Quick GoT thoughts - SPOILERS AS ALWAYS

I’m finishing up the first week of tour and verrrry short on sleep, but I did make time for the GoT finale (of course) and wanted to share a few thoughts.

The opening: KILLED ME. This had the scope and scale I felt was missing from the RW last week. (Though let me say, Michelle Fairley acted the hell out of that scene. Respect.) You can see this is the moment where Arya crosses over. She had started to hope again. She let herself begin to become a child again—eager to see her brother and be reunited with her mother. This is the wound tearing open, worse than the first cut, the loss more complete. I also love that they didn’t shy away from what she may become.

(A brief note on the RW: I am still thoroughly annoyed by the way they played out the Robb/Talisa story. When Talisa revealed her pregnancy, I hoped it was a real plot point not just a spectacularly hackneyed way to manipulate the audience. Guess not.)

Ygritte’s arrows: Consider me schooled, show. After last week, I thought you’d gone soft on me. (Also, her look at the end. Good stuff.)

Yes to even the briefest glimpse of Marie and hell yes to Jaime. NCW is working every glance and I love him for it.

I still don’t believe Shae’s character arc this season. “I love that girl. I would kill for her.” (or was it die? surely it was kill.) NOT BUYING IT.

Yara/Asha - loved the moment with her on the ship, but it didn’t quite feel earned. I know it must be an incredible challenge to tie up so many plotlines, but that was a moment where I really noticed it.

Tyrion & Tywin—holy wow. THIS is what it’s about: acceptance and rejection, ruler and ruled, father and son.

And finally… Dany. They end every season with Dany. Season 1? Mind blowing. Season 2? A little iffy. Season 3? Yikes. I can’t express how deeply uncomfortable I was with this image of the white liberator born aloft by her devoted followers, all of them crying out “mother.” I know Dany is Mother of Dragons and that the title is central to her own journey and loss. But it still positions a slave class comprised of people of color as children and that strikes me as a loaded and potentially ugly choice. I say “potentially” because it’s possible the show intends to address this head-on in future episodes, but that seems pretty unlikely. Race doesn’t get talked about in those terms in this world. (Race is problematic in the books themselves, but the show could have taken a different approach here.)

Also, from a narrative perspective, as cool as that final shot was, the whole thing felt off kilter. I’d hoped they’d choose to end with Lady Stoneheart.

Oh and on a positive note, GENDRY LIVES!!!