Jon and Tyrion negotiate on Game of Thrones
Photo Credit: HBO
Tonight’s thoughts on the season 7 finale of Game of Thrones
are brought to you in part by fire and dragonglass…
More than anything what hooked me on George RR Martin’s “A
Song of Ice and Fire” novels was the removal of Ned Stark’s head. While I had
been very much enjoying “A Game of Thrones” to that point it was that moment
that really told me that I was reading something special. My feeling is that
many feel the same way as it is as shocking as any death ever put into a
fantasy novel. At that point the message was sent that anyone could die, even
the main character.
For me though Ned Stark’s death signified more than anyone
can die at any moment but rather became the ultimate thesis statement for the
story ahead. See Ned Stark was the one true hero of “A Game of Thrones.”
Everyone else, no matter how likable, had flaws and for the most part none of
them were fit to be the hero of this story by traditional fantasy standards.
Ned was the traditional white knight, the character who when you read the opening
passages of the book, or watched the first few episodes of the television show
you thought would be the one who would somehow save the day. By lobbing his
head off George RR Martin not only made no one safe but he sent the message
that this series was anything but traditional fantasy. It was not about the big
conquering hero and their legion of villains, it was about all the people in
between. Everyone from that point on lived in a world dominated by shades of
grey. This was the story of complicated, flawed people each trying to make the
best for themselves and the world. While there were characters that leaned
towards the good and there were those who leaned towards the bad the battle
lines were messy at best. There was no white knight to save the day anymore. We
were in fascinating new territory.
Even when Martin’s novels became much too long and
ultimately a bit of a slog they never lost their complexity. What kept me going
through the long stationary passages of “A Feast of Crows” and “A Dance of
Dragons” was the continued love for the strange and flawed characters he had
created. No matter how slowly it moved or how frustrating it was the story
always maintained its messy shades of grey. Game of Thrones was never about the
battle of an overarching good and evil it was something far more complex and
human.
That is until the last stretch of season 7 of Game of
Thrones which culminated in the most frustrating finale “The Dragon and the
Wolf.” By rushing towards its endgame Game of Thrones has lost a lot of the
complexity that made it and its characters a joy to watch. The story has now
been distilled into good and evil. The show’s most interesting characters, take
Tyrion Lannister for example who at one point was one of my all time favorite
characters of any genre, have been flattened for the sake of moving the plot forward.
The characters have been divided into two camps, those who stand with Jon Snow
Targaryen and Dany, and those who stand with Cersei. Of course, there is
also the zombies which serve less now as a metaphor for death and more as a McGuffin
that gets the good guys on the same side for the climactic showdown. This is no
longer the rich show it once claimed to be this is simple conventional fantasy
driving at a pace that is too lightning quick to live up to the complexity it
once aspired.
That is not to say Game of Thrones has ceased being a good
show as there are still ways in which the show continues to thrill even at its
most frustrating. Individual scenes, as they always have been, continue to be a
delight. The argument between Tyrion and Cersei, the reuniting of Arya and
Sansa, and the ultimate collapse of the wall were great individual moments. The
show continues to be a magnificent spectacle the likes of which are not seen on
television that is entertaining in its own spectacular way.
On the other hand though spectacle is not hard to find and
on its own is interesting only to a point. It is the connective tissue,
character and plot that make the ultimate difference. Throughout the latter
half of season 7 of Game of Thrones has made a mockery of this connective
tissue. Plot elements have seemed rushed and often poorly written. The plan Tyrion
and Jon set out on in order to convince Cersei to fight with them is dull at
best. The way the show cheaply had us believe that Arya and Sansa were fighting
only to swerve us at the last minute was straight out of the worst of the
pro-wrestling playbook. Jamie betraying his sister was at best rushed, and at
worst a total reversal that felt like it only existed to convenience the plot.
Let alone the show continues to commit the cardinal sin of constantly
pretending to kill off its core characters without ever going through with it
(which I thought reached its annoyance peak last week but boy was I wrong as it
was done terribly not just once but twice in the finale), leaving death to no
longer feel important. Instead of being a complex fantasy adventure full of
dynamic characters and consequences to actions Game of Thrones has become a
show solely about its individual “cool moments” at the behest of anything
actually mattering.
“The Dragon and the Wolf” and the rest of the back half of
the shortened season 7 has ultimately destroyed the intense investment I have
had in this story since the removal of Ned Stark’s head. It feels like nothing
that I enjoyed about the show ultimately matters to its creators anymore. The
show has betrayed so much, its timeline, the complexity and richness of its
characters, and the intelligence of its plot to “get to the good parts already.”
And while the good parts of Game of Thrones continue to make the show
entertaining and I am in for a penny in for a pound for its conclusion the show’s
reliance on spectacle over everything else has removed any semblance of it
being the great and subversive story it once was.
Some other musings:
- I know this point is belabored but somehow, someway, they managed to make Tyrion Lannister one of my favorite characters of all time into an utter one-dimensional bore. Even when Peter Dinklage is at his best, such as in his verbal showdown with his Cersei, the character has been so distilled to his basics that he is no longer fun to watch. How as is that even possible at this point?
- Jon
SnowTargaryen continues to be frustratingly stupid to the point of ridicule especially throughout the negotiations with Cersei.
- Is it possible we are going to get two children of incest next season? That seems possible given all of the talk of Dany not being able to have children and the easy parallel it creates.
- On that note one of the biggest problems of the season is that Dany and Jon have the chemistry of a rock and a tree and as such it is really hard to root for them to be romantically involved. It’s not Padme and Anakin levels of bad, but its not all that far off either.
That’s it for me I’m sad to be writing all of this about a
series I have had such strong feelings for.
That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?
