This post contains spoilers of the GOT finale.
There were many twists and big moments that are getting significant backlash for being too rushed. The two biggest ones were Daenerys going mad and Bran becoming king. Despite all the complaints, if you think about, both of these are appropriate twists for the series. Game of Thrones hasn’t been afraid to throw curveballs at us. Think of the Red Wedding or the origin of Hodor’s name. Both of these events shocked audiences and made us love the series even more. So why do we appreciate these surprises but hate the ones from Season 8?
It’s all in the preparation. We already knew Walder Frey was bitter when Rob backed out of the arranged marriage. So even though the Red Wedding was a surprise, in hindsight, it made sense. With Hodor’s name, you’ve seen Bran screw up warging before when the Night King managed to grab him during his solo warging trip. So even though the event shocked us, it made sense that Bran would screw up warging again.
But Daenerys going mad after more than seven seasons of “I’m not my father”? Bran becoming king after showing absolutely no interest in the throne? These are unexpected events that did NOT make sense within the context of the show.
Realistically, Daenerys going mad like her father was HIGHLY likely. I invite you all to check out the Film Theorists’ video on Youtube titled “Is Daenerys Going Mad?” The video explains that the Targaryen history of inbreeding has caused Daenerys to have most of her DNA be exactly like her father’s meaning that she is very likely to go mad just like her father did. The video also explains that insanity will happen pretty suddenly. During the majority of Aerys II’s reign, he was an ordinary ruler. Then all of a sudden, he snapped. We witness Daenerys’s snap moment in episode 5. Although this sudden change of character makes sense realistically, it does not jive well from a literary perspective.
Seeing your favorite character suddenly die, such as in the Red Wedding triggers a very different emotional reaction than seeing your favorite character turn evil. Think of the difference between seeing your spouse die as opposed to having your spouse leave you for another man/woman. In both cases, you have lost your spouse for good. But in the case of death, your sorrow is slightly eased with the love and respect for that you still hold for your spouse. With a divorce, the grief is exacerbated with the feeling of hatred and betrayal. This is what’s happening when we see Daenerys go mad and this is why we hate it so much.
Again, realistically, her madness makes sense and could make for a good twist. But the execution was very poorly done. How could the writers have prepared us better for this moment? D&D have defended their prep work by saying that we, the audience, should have known this would happen since Dany has often declared that she will take the throne with “fire and blood.” That is NOT good enough. We assume when she says that she means she will only slaughter Cersei’s armies NOT the civilian bystanders of King’s Landing.
The writers should have eased us into hating Daenerys. She’s only killed her enemies and people that we did not care much for (like Randyll and Dickon Tarly). She should have killed (or at least attempted to kill) a supporting character who didn’t deserve her rage (I would think maybe Gilly or some other innocent supporting character). But the kill shouldn’t come out of anywhere. It should have been the result of a misunderstanding that Daenerys took way too personally. The event should be similar to Theon attempting to kill Bran and Rickon before he takes Winterfell. An event like this would help the audience ease into feeling hatred for this character.
Now let’s talk about Bran becoming the king of the six kingdoms. I do like the reasoning behind having Bran become king. He is an underdog and, more importantly, he has no birthright to inherit the Iron Throne. This really would break the wheel as Daenerys had intended, but I could think of other more suitable characters who could take the throne without a birthright. Any other person sitting at that counsel could have done it (Yara, Edmund, Sansa!). But why does BRAN of all people get it? Because he can tell “a good story.” Tyrion’s dialogue during the nomination was infuriating. Why SHOULD we care that Bran can tell a good story? Yes, keeping the entire history of humanity is a critical job. But you would think that person would be the Grand Maester or something. NOT the king.
The preparation that was missing for this twist to work was showing HOW knowing the entire history of humanity would make Bran a good king. He needed to show that he could use this information to be a wise and effective leader. The show had a perfect opportunity to utilize this in The Long Night and missed it. Bran knows everything about the Night King. He could have used this knowledge to help create a better battle strategy. Instead, he uses this information to volunteer himself as bait…. The key to being a good king is wisdom (thanks Tommen). Bran has that wisdom! He just needed to use it!
Another missed opportunity: his warging abilities! What has he actually used his warging for so far? To calm Hodor down? To help Jon through one small wildling attack? To fly and watch and do nothing?! He has this incredible ability that could have helped win battles, possibly even the whole war! Imagine if he warged into Ghost or Rhaegal during the battle with the wights. That would have been so helpful. Bran had the tools and abilities to prove that he could be a good leader and, therefore, a good king. But unfortunately, his character wasn’t given the right lines or story to implement those tools.
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