[Game of Thrones S08E06] "Finale" review.

All series must die! But Game of Thrones cannot truly end until I have posted my review of the final episode. And even after that, I plan to do a broader post about the series and its themes. There will of course be SPOILERS, here, yes, SPOILERS!

Here goes:

Overall, this was a considerably better episode than I expected it to be, given what came earlier in Season 8. It did not, by any means, redeem all the mistakes of the last 2 seasons. But it cleaned up at least some of the mess.

1. It was a bold choice to have the conflict with Daenerys get resolved within the first 15 minutes of the episode and devote the rest of the time to the postwar settlement. But, overall, the choice was an effective one. It highlighted the series' (and books') emphasis on the need for institutional solutions for the dangers of political power, not just replacing a bad ruler with a seemingly good one.

2. The decision to kill Daenerys in private was the first good choice Jon Snow made in a long time. It was pretty much the only way to defeat her without a series of additional bloody battles.

3. Daenerys' statements before her death shed some light on her motivations for her recent horrific actions. She does not seem to be mad, nor is she motivated purely by anger. She seems to think that what she is doing is the only way to "break the wheel" and truly liberate the world. Tyrion offers a similar interpretation of her motives. Still, it doesn't really work. It's one thing to kill people who, as Tyrion puts it, stand between her and her goals. But killing large numbers of innocent civilians who did NOT stand in her way - in a city that had already surrendered - still makes no sense. In addition, Daenerys doesn't seem to have any ideology of what liberation means other than abolishing slavery and eliminating "tyrants." (defined relatively narrowly as getting rid of brutal monarchs). Both goals have already been achieved by the time she wipes out King's Landing. Unlike, e.g., the communists, she does not have any comprehensive vision of how society should be restructured, which necessitates massive coercion (or if she does, she never reveals it). As I have said before, there were ways to make Daenerys a plausible villain in this season. The producers just chose a bad one.

4. The transition to a regime in which the great lords choose the king is the first step towards imposing institutional constraints on royal authority. If the lords can install the king, it's a short step from that to deciding they can remove him, too. I am also happy the lords did NOT accept Sam Tarly's seeming suggestion to choose the king by democratic election. That may be more just than aristocratic rule, but it would be unrealistic given the setup of the show.

5. Choosing Bran as the new king is an interesting move, though it makes a certain sense. A king who is effectively all-seeing could be a wise ruler. At the same time, the fact that he is no longer truly human and no longer, as he puts it, wants anything, suggests he is unlikely to fall prey to the temptations of power. It's also a subtle signal that no normal person can be trusted with this kind of power.

6. Making the North independent is another important institutional constraint on power. Sansa as Queen in the North is also a good (if obvious) choice. But the portrayal of Sansa as an obviously good ruler is in some tension with the show's overall message that people can't be trusted with power. Sansa-Tyrion shippers will be disappointed that the two characters did not get back together. I am not one of them, and so was not.

7. Brann the three-eyed- Raven by definition knows more than I do. But I am not convinced that making Tyrion the Hand of the King made sense. Tyrion himself admits his history of awful decisions should be disqualifying. There are surely better options, such as Davos Seaworth, who has been much more sensible over the last few years. But perhaps Tyrion gets chosen because no other living character knows as much about Westeros politics as he does, even though he often fails to put his knowledge to good use.

8. Sending Jon back to the Wall is a kind of poetic justice. He doesn't deserve to be punished for killing Daenerys (which was a just action, given the circumstances of her - however implausibly - becoming a mass-murderer). But perhaps he does deserve it, in a sense, for his history of truly awful decisions up to that point.

9. The otherwise well-handled postwar settlement has two major plot-holes: 1) what happened to the Dothraki? We see the fate of the Unsullied. But the Dothraki would seem to be a more serious menace. Unlike the Unsullied (who will go where Grey Worm tells them), the Dothraki are not disciplined and are used to raping and pillaging. This seems like a problem that the new king should pay some attention to. Yet it gets completely ignored. 2) what about Essos? With the death of the Daenerys (if not before) her empire in Essos should be falling apart. It seems unlikely Daario Naharis can hold it together. Instability there can easily spill into Westeros (and has in the past).

10. Fans of Bronn the mercenary will be pleased to see that he made out like a bandit! One of the very few true winners of the game of thrones.

11. While this was a good episode given the circumstances, I still agree with those fans who say Season 8 should be redone with competent writers. Season 7, too.

Valar Morghulis! But, hopefully not Valar Dohaeris.