TV Review: GAME OF THRONES: Season 8, Episode 6: The Iron Throne & Series Post Mortem Analysis [HBO]

The Unsullied’s Missed “I’m Negan” Moment

The Unsullied leaving King’s Landing, the city Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) and Queen Daenerys died to conquer, for some land they have never seen is one of the most inexplicable decisions in the Game of Thrones TV series. The Unsullied need to be led and need a purpose. Protecting Daenerys’ legacy is that purpose. Daenerys spells out her vision and specific targets to her soldiers before she is murdered. Just because Daenerys is dead doesn’t mean The Unsullied can’t carry out that vision and attack those targets. A soldier’s duty doesn’t die with their commander. An example of this is Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Gerold Hightower standing guard outside the Tower of Joy in Oathbreaker after Rhaegar Targaryen had been killed and Robert Baratheon had won the Rebellion. Even though they were aware of those two facts, Ser Dayne and Ser Hightower still followed Rhaegar’s order to not let anyone pass into the Tower. That is unflinching loyalty. That is the type of ingrained loyalty The Unsullied possess. It was drilled into each and everyone one of them.

The reason why The Unsullied and the Dothraki, led by their new leader Grey Worm, did not carry out Queen Daenerys’ mission and execute her vision is because David Benioff and D. B. Weiss wanted to end Game of Thrones with Season Eight. If The Unsullied and the Dothraki indicated that they were going to carry out Queen Daenerys’ world-wide wheel breaking-mission, Game of Thrones‘ fans and HBO would have been clamoring for Season Nine. Benioff and Weiss didn’t want that. They also did not want anyone else taking over their creation for a hypothetical Season Nine.

Benioff and Weiss needed Jon Snow’s victory over Queen Daenerys’ Bond villain plan to be complete. If Jon killed Daenerys and then The Unsullied went and did exactly what she would have done, The Unsullied’s own “I’m Negan” moment, Jon’s selfless act in the Throne Room would have been empty. He would have killed the person he ‘loved’ for nothing. Benioff and Weiss don’t want that. They want Jon Snow’s sacrifice to be for something, to be furtive, so they strip The Unsullied of their zealous nature and their Good Masters-instilled loyalty to received and implied orders.

A fantastic, apocalyptic, fiery ending (or beginning) to The Unsullied’s storyline is completely whipped away, replaced with Daenerys’ army loaded onto ships, bound for a pathetic, ordinary, peaceful existence “over the rainbow.” Terrible choice, terrible writing, and a boring end to one of best soldier story-lines created for television. Missandei wanted dracarys, Queen Daenerys granted that request, and Benioff and Weiss (through Grey Worm) snuff it out.

The Queen’s Funeral Cop-out

Drogon flies away with the corpse of Daenerys in The Iron Throne because Benioff and Weiss did not want to have a grand and elaborate funeral for the Queen of the Seven Kingdom. They wanted to be done with her, her legacy, and any thought of her, as they did with this TV series.

Drogon Burning the Iron Throne

When Drogon targets and burns the Iron Throne, an inanimate object, instead of the killer of its human mother, the protectionism of Jon Snow is on full display and Game of Thrones descends further into narrative lunacy. The Iron Throne is a piece of furniture in the room. Why does Drogon burn it? Drogon doesn’t even know what the Iron Throne is. The burning of the Iron Throne is symbolic, the viewer gets that, but what is painfully obvious is that said burning doesn’t make any sense.