WARNING: This post contains a LOT of spoilers for the Game of Thrones finale. If you’re not caught up, come back once you’re ready to properly debrief.
After eight seasons and literally millions of deaths, the final outcome of Game of Thrones all came down to a council meeting. Not quite the adrenaline-pumping drama to which we’ve become accustomed from the HBO epic, but hey, we shouldn’t complain that a bunch of politicians finally discovered the meaning of civility.
But before we get into that, a super quick recap of how we got there.
True heir to the Iron Throne, Jon Snow, fatally stabbed his aunty/lover/Queen, Daeneyres Targaryen, because she’d massacred an entire city with her fire-breathing dragon. He then apparently turned himself in, despite the fact that her grief-stricken reptile took off with her body, meaning he definitely could have gotten away with it (‘Yo, the throne was melted when I got here. Honest.’).
With Jon in prison, someone – presumably Grey Worm – alerted the leaders of the various Westerosi kingdoms that they should probably have a long-overdue catchup about what’s unfolded in Kings Landing. (TO: Heirs of each house who haven’t been murdered yet. BCC: Bran Stark; Arya Stark. SUBJECT: Now what?)
And so they gathered, in their monochromatic tunics, to decide Jon’s fate. Weird start though. Dany’s old Hand, Tyrion Lannister who – despite being on trial for high treason against the slain Queen – took command of the meeting and convinced them to just, you know, pick a new monarch.