# Game of Thrones 8.06 "The Iron Throne" 5/19/2019 Show Discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204 "2019-05-19T21:21:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/301 "2019-05-20T18:41:07Z")
Anybody else find it strange that Daario and the Second Sons were just kind of dropped into the void. I was sure they were going to show up before the end. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/302 "2019-05-20T18:41:07Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > Was it just me, or did they make Greyworm much less sympathetic this episode than in all previous seasons? It started last episode with him attacking the surrendering Lannisters. Dude went crazy at the loss of Missandei. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/303 "2019-05-20T18:45:55Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > It started last episode with him attacking the surrendering Lannisters. Dude went crazy at the loss of Missandei. After their two confrontations (first at the fight with the surrendered Lannisters, then at the execution of the Lannister soldiers), I was sure that Jon and Grey Worm would duke it out. A good, hard beatdown would have done both of them good. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/304 "2019-05-20T18:46:38Z")
I’m disappointed Jaime didn’t survive being stabbed in both kidneys and a tower being collapsed on him so Queenslayer could be added to his resume. just kidding ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/305 "2019-05-20T18:47:04Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > I don’t have the context for this. Why did Sansa feel entitled to order her uncle like that? Sansa has an Army ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/306 "2019-05-20T18:48:05Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > After their two confrontations (first at the fight with the surrendered Lannisters, then at the execution of the Lannister soldiers), I was sure that Jon and Grey Worm would duke it out. > > A good, hard beatdown would have done both of them good. HA. I don’t think a “They Live” fight was gonna beat some sense into their heads ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/307 "2019-05-20T18:48:12Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Because she didn’t like him and knew nobody else did either. He was set up from the beginning to be an incompetent blowhard. He’s probably Warden of the North now that the Actual North went independent. And Robin Arryn is Warden of the East. The Six Kingdoms are totally boned if they get invaded by anything more dangerous than an angry dragonfly. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/308 "2019-05-20T18:53:51Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > With this entire season, the problem hasn’t been where they ended up, simply how they got there. > > Bran is king? I can see GRRM making a case for that. I know there are other players in the books that didn’t make it into the TV show, but you get the sense that this is a war of attrition, and book Bran may have spent time building a coalition to make his rise to power believable in a world where all of the powerhouses have bludgeoned themselves out of the picture. What’s not believable is the idea that a small council of lords can just up and decide who’s king in Westeros. That’s not the world we’ve seen – remember “Anyone who says ‘I am the King’ is no King”, and Cersei’s “Power is power” lines. Bran might make a great king, and everyone there could agree on that, but Ned Stark would have also made a great king and his head ended up on a stick. Because that’s what happens to good men in Westeros who aren’t willing to play the game. Bran has not played the game, he doesn’t get to win. > > I have other examples but this show is getting me too riled up, I gotta step away. This was the last episode for me, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/309 "2019-05-20T18:54:41Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > He’s probably Warden of the North now that the Actual North went independent. And Robin Arryn is Warden of the East. The Six Kingdoms are totally boned if they get invaded by anything more dangerous than an angry dragonfly. I wonder if Robin still likes watching people fly out the moon door. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/310 "2019-05-20T19:13:26Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Anybody else find it strange that Daario and the Second Sons were just kind of dropped into the void. I was sure they were going to show up before the end. Speaking of dropped into the void, what the hell was Howland Reed doing all this time? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/311 "2019-05-20T19:17:30Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Anybody else find it strange that Daario and the Second Sons were just kind of dropped into the void. I was sure they were going to show up before the end. Like Richie Cunningham’s older brother Chuck on Happy Days:D ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/312 "2019-05-20T19:17:55Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Not only in Westeros but in King’s Landing, still pissed off and _with nothing to lose_. The only kingdom with an semi-intact army was the North. Mmm–not quite, I think. Gray Worm is a consummate soldier/battle leader, but a battle in foreign territory, absent a queen, and after having come through multiple super-nasty battles might not be his ideal situation. He’s great at commanding his soldiers, but I don’t recall seeing him take much initiative. With Dany dead, the dream of “breaking the wheel” was gone. The only reason he still had for battle was justice. And in that council scene, he looked to me like he wanted an out, where he didn’t need to risk all his men for justice. He didn’t want the war any more than the Westerosi barbarians did. > [@Acsenray](#): > > “Please sit, uncle” was a very well-delivered line Best line of the episode, and it was the moment I was certain that Sansa would be Queen of something. > [@Telperion](#): > > On the bright side, I guess they’re a natural fit for Star Wars since they cribbed Dany’s death scene from Force Awakens. Not really. Force Awakens: dude flirting with evil confronts his father. His father, knowing that he will die, moves the death forward in an ambiguous fashion–maybe in order to remove some of the guilt from his son? it’s unclear why he acts the way he does. Anyway, bad dude kills his father in order to complete his journey to the dark side. GoT: Lady who’s gone full Darkside confronts her nephew/boytoy. Boytoy, knowing that she’s gone Sith, begs her to turn back toward the light. She refuses, unambiguously, so he makes out with her and then stabs her. Anyway, nephew kills his auntie/lover in order to prevent her evil from spreading death. I guess they’re both stabbings, but storywise they’re extremely different. > [@Caldris\_bal\_Comar](#): > > You are talking about the same armies that twiddled their thumbs in Kings Landing for several weeks against all reason and logic, yes? The Unsullied that executed prisoners who opposed their queen, but kept the guy who _killed_ their queen alive? The Dothraki who, having been named Dany’s bloodriders in their entirety, were bound by their cultural obligation to kill Jon and then themselves? If they weren’t going to kill anyone before the council, why would they decide to go rogue afterwards? > > There was no in-universe reason for the whole of Westeros to sit in suspended animation for however long it took to round up some nobles to have a council. With both competing monarchs dead, and their closest advisors either dead or imprisoned by hostile forces, their was a power vacuum that should have collapsed into chaos in hours. Again, I think the Unsullied didn’t want war. Gray Worm executed people based on Dany’s orders. Without those orders, he may have been unclear what to do: he’s not someone used to initiating action, but rather he’s someone that really, really wants a leader to follow. As for the Dothraki? Imagine you’re Gray Worm. Are YOU going to be the one to tell the Dothraki horde that the queen died? Maybe they were just like, “Uh, she went riding off on Drogon, didn’t you see him go? Yup, don’t know where she is.” Other than that, though, I dunno. Definitely they could’ve explained the Dothraki better, instead of just having them being a whooping barbarian horde. > [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > This was the last episode for me, too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/313 "2019-05-20T19:20:55Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Not really. > > Force Awakens: dude flirting with evil confronts his father. His father, knowing that he will die, moves the death forward in an ambiguous fashion–maybe in order to remove some of the guilt from his son? it’s unclear why he acts the way he does. Anyway, bad dude kills his father in order to complete his journey to the dark side. > > GoT: Lady who’s gone full Darkside confronts her nephew/boytoy. Boytoy, knowing that she’s gone Sith, begs her to turn back toward the light. She refuses, unambiguously, so he makes out with her and then stabs her. Anyway, nephew kills his auntie/lover in order to prevent her evil from spreading death. > > I guess they’re both stabbings, but storywise they’re extremely different. I was thinking more in terms of the stabbee talking about how they can fix this together and going in for a hug that ends fatally, but thank you so much for pointing out that a father and an aunt aren’t identical, captain obvious. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/314 "2019-05-20T19:25:00Z")
One thing that bothered me was how easy Jamie and Cersei were to find. When they died it seemed the whole castle collapsed on them, when Tyrion found them it looked like all they had to do was move a little to the side and they would have been perfectly fine. Well, Cersei at least, Jamie was still super stabbed. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/315 "2019-05-20T19:29:47Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > I agree, and I think giving the Golden Company elephants would have been extremely on the nose, which is why they didn’t. > > I’m not complaining though because I like Tolkienish endings. The true GoT ending, I think, would be Dany winning the throne, immediately offing Jon and Tyrion, and then going up and nuking Winterfell. I guess GRRM got soft. They could have worked a more GRRM style ending into this one. Just these changes: 1. Jon dies by dragonfire after killing Daenerys. 2. The council meets, and agrees to everything like they did. 3. We get a scene of Yara walking back to her ship with one of her commanders, who says, ‘Why did you agree to all that?’ She says, ‘There is a time and place. Bran Stark won’t be king for long. He isn’t ruthless enough. And we need time to rebuild our fleets and our economy. But don’t worry - The Iron Islands will be free’. 4. Another scene with a couple of other lords from the council plotting as they walk away. 5. Tyrion waits for his new members of the small council - Edmure Tulley, The Archmaester who didn’t believe Sam, and skeevy looking representatives of the other kingdoms - their condition for allowing Bran to become king. Infighting starts from the first meeting. Being Hand really is going to be punishing. 6. The final scene is simply Tormund and Ghost going north with the Wildlings. In the meantime, you can see the last of the Night’s watch leaving Castle Black going south. The gate stays open, and the Night’s watch is no more. Brienne remains with Sansa in the North, and Ser Davos becomes Arya’s captain. Sam is ruling at home, and they could show him writing a book at night, without even showing what it was. Let the audience guess that it’s ASOIAF. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/316 "2019-05-20T19:31:27Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > One thing that bothered me was how easy Jamie and Cersei were to find. When they died it seemed the whole castle collapsed on them, when Tyrion found them it looked like all they had to do was move a little to the side and they would have been perfectly fine. Well, Cersei at least, Jamie was still super stabbed. That bugged me too, I thought they got hit with tons of rubble. I guess they needed to have Tyrion find them, so they only got covered with a single layer of bricks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/317 "2019-05-20T19:33:31Z")
**[Moderating]** > [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > When the council ridiculed Sam’s suggestion that the people choose their king, I told my wife “I didn’t know they were all Republicans.” What, Westeros’ politics aren’t ugly enough as is, so we have to drag real-world politics in? Not in this forum. This is an official Warning for political potshots. ---
**Author:** ![HammerJoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a6a055/32.png) [@HammerJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HammerJoe)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/318 "2019-05-20T19:34:46Z")
In the end the big villain is Bran… He knew what Danny was going to do in KL and didnt say anything so that he could become king. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/319 "2019-05-20T19:34:50Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > They could have worked a more GRRM style ending into this one. Just these changes: I really did not see a Tolkien ending at all. That small council scene could have easily been episode one of a brand new show. The north is independent, the iron islands are pissed, you can bet Dorne is too, the reach can’t be happy about having Bronn as a leader. The feeling I got from that ending is that the game is going to continue unabated, not that everything is well. Everyone is tired of war… for now, but the board is set up and ready to go. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204/320 "2019-05-20T19:36:34Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > One thing that bothered me was how easy Jamie and Cersei were to find. When they died it seemed the whole castle collapsed on them, when Tyrion found them it looked like all they had to do was move a little to the side and they would have been perfectly fine. Well, Cersei at least, Jamie was still super stabbed. Hell, they could have survived by just wearing helmets. It looked like the brick layer on top of them was only one or two bricks deep. And there was no open air above them, So I guess we are supposed to believe that it was just spalling from the ceiling or something that fell. Or maybe the floor above them collapsed, but clearly mot the whole keep. But we know why they did it that way - we needed to see their dead bodies or people would still be arguing over whether they are alive or dead. But speaking of that - this is a world where the dead can be resurrected, and Drogon flew Daenerys away to who knows where. She could easily show up again, which a knife wound to the heart just like Jon’s. That would be so cute, and give them one more thing in common. GRRM would never write that, but TV people would. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-06-the-iron-throne-5-19-2019-show-discussion/834204.md?page=17)