Jennifer Vineyard

“Game of Thrones” fans are experiencing all of these stages of grief, from the outrage at a hasty conclusion, the petitions for a do-over of the final season (or two) and the questioning of what it all means. Fans and critics alike are arguing over Daenerys’ turn, whether it was truly bad, earned, or misunderstood, and if a new system under Bran would actually be worse for Westeros.

Before the ink dries, keep the pages open and read on.

‘The Real Reason Fans Hate the Last Season of “Game of Thrones”’ [Scientific American]

“The overly personal mode of storytelling or analysis leaves us bereft of deeper comprehension of events and history. Understanding Hitler’s personality alone will not tell us much about rise of fascism, for example. Not that it didn’t matter, but a different demagogue would probably have appeared to take his place in Germany in between the two bloody world wars in the 20th century. Hence, the answer to ‘would you kill baby Hitler?,’ sometimes presented as an ethical time-travel challenge, should be ‘no,’ because it would very likely not matter much. It is not a true dilemma.”

‘“Game of Thrones” Has No One to Blame but Itself’ [Slate]

“Brienne paused to think about how to narrate Jaime’s final regression in part because her struggle was ours, too. She nails it in five words: ‘He died protecting his Queen.’ Yes, this leaves out a great deal (Brienne is a historian willing to write herself out of it). But she has an excuse: She’s writing something more like a medieval chronicle than a history, and chronological lists of events don’t have to connect one to the other. Causality doesn’t have to be explained. No theory of politics need be attempted. Character hardly needs plumbing. Annals and chronicles have typically been seen as less analytical than ‘histories,’ which more explicitly (and narratively) attempted to connect causes to effects.”

‘“Game of Thrones”’ Series Finale Close-Up: The End’ [Rolling Stone]

“There’s more to anyone’s story — whether it’s Bran’s, Sansa’s, Tyrion’s or Hot Pie’s — than what happens to them. There’s how they respond in the moment, how it shapes them in the future and what it means in the larger context of the world in which they travel. And there are so many different levels to telling the story of a television fantasy epic. On some of those levels, ‘Game of Thrones’ was a jaw-dropping success that’s forever raised the bar for what can be done in this medium. On others, it fell maddeningly short.”

‘“Game of Thrones,” The Iron Throne’ [Los Angeles Review of Books]

“Everything this show knew about deep and complex human drives — drives to sex, to pleasure, to power — are grafted onto these women, so that in their deaths something new can take shape. So even as, in the future of Westeros, interesting men are becoming rulers, and interesting women have seats at the table, these acts of gender reimagining are taking place on the backs of the most conventional gender norm of all, one particularly wrenching to see played out this week: The norm that makes women the emblems for the furious, unmanageable parts of the human psyche that are incompatible with democratic reason.”

‘“Game of Thrones” tapped into fears of revolution and political women — and left us no better off than before’ [The Independent]

“So justice prevailed — but what kind of justice? The new king is Bran: crippled, all-knowing, who wants nothing — with the evocation of the insipid wisdom that the best rulers are those who do not want power. A dismissive laughter that ensues when one of the new elite proposes a more democratic selection of the king tells it all. And one cannot help but note that those faithful to Daenerys to the end are more diverse — her military commander is black — while the new rulers are clearly white Nordic. The radical queen who wanted more freedom for everyone irrespective of their social standing and race is eliminated, things are brought back to normal.”

‘Daenerys was right: King’s Landing had to burn’ [Vox]

“The elective monarchy is a recipe not only for weak governance while the monarch is on the throne, but for rounds of civil war, foreign intervention, and possible secession in the period immediately before and after the monarch’s death. ‘Game of Thrones’’s new world order is going to lead, in the long term, to much more killing than a proper Targaryen Restoration featuring a healthy dose of law and order and centralized control.”

‘Evil or Incompetent: The Bran Stark Edition’ [The Ringer]

“‘Why do you think I came all this way?’ Bran said when Tyrion asked whether he wanted to be king. It seems like Bran knew this was going to happen all along. That makes him more Simba than symbol, and it also raises a strange question: If Bran knew that thousands of people would die for him to become king, is he, like Tickle Me Elmo, secretly evil? Or is he just blisteringly incompetent?”

‘“Game of Thrones,” “Lost,” and the Problem with Knee-Jerk Finale Rage’ [Vulture]

“Everyone wants stories they enjoy to solidly land all their wheels on the runway and glide to a satisfying stop. But the last moment is not the only one that matters. If you enjoyed most of ‘Game of Thrones’ up until this past season, then you didn’t waste eight years of your life watching it. It just didn’t end the way you wanted it to. Frankly, that is not a TV show’s job. A TV show’s job is to move you and transport you and make you believe in the world and characters it has built. ‘Game of Thrones’ definitely struggled on that last front in its eighth season, but that shouldn’t negate what it accomplished and how enthralling it was for so many years.”

‘What Survives After the “Game of Thrones” Finale’ [The New Yorker]

“Get ready for the zombie horde: a deluge of high-priced epics, spinoffs, and rip-offs — serialized narratives in the ‘Thrones’ tradition, duly larded with sexposition and gravitas, fur vests and exotic weapons, each of them aiming to hit the demographic sweet spot. Most of these shows will miss, but something will hit. The real Iron Throne may be the sort of appointment TV that ‘Game of Thrones’ represented, something that I do think will survive. Technology alters television, but credulous, passionate, argumentative fanhood adjusts. You can’t melt that with a dragon.”

This article originally appeared in <a id="261f7329-0752-39bd-a9b4-3c7704eb66c0" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/27/arts/television/game-of-thrones-final-season-theories.html">The New York Times</a>.

Still pondering the end of 'Game of Thrones'? Here's what to read about it

It’s hard to come to terms with death, even if said death is the end of a television program that loomed large in your imagination. Perhaps there is no way to do it without some denial, anger, bargaining, depression and (hopefully) acceptance.

After everyone else at the Great Council voted for Bran to be the king of Westeros in Sunday’s “Game of Thrones” finale, his sister Sansa announced, “The North will remain an independent kingdom, as it was for thousands of years.”

It was a bold, unexpected move — to everyone except maybe Bran.

It might also have prompted a little buyer’s remorse for a few other members of the council. Yara Greyjoy once bargained for Iron Islands independence with Dany — a concern that seemed suddenly to have taken flight like a dragon in mourning. The new prince of Dorne also leads a region that once enjoyed independence; judging by their raised eyebrows, they might both have just realized that they missed an opportunity.

If so, they didn’t say much, and so Bran was declared king and lord of the newly reconfigured “Six” Kingdoms. But the leaders of those kingdoms could just as well have made the same claim Sansa did.

According to the books, before Aegon Targaryen united Westeros under his rule, seven kingdoms enjoyed independence for thousands of years: The Kingdom of the North, the Kingdom of the Mountain and the Vale, the Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers, the Kingdom of the Rock, the Kingdom of the Stormlands, the Kingdom of the Reach, and the Principality of Dorne.

And within those kingdoms, there were more kingdoms. (The Reach, for instance, once comprised four kingdoms.) Some refer to this period as the days of the Hundred Kingdoms.

Then, after Aegon’s Conquest, Westeros was divided up into nine provinces that were each part of a greater realm: The North, the Vale of Arryn, the Iron Islands, the Riverlands, the Westerlands, the Stormlands, the Reach, the Crownlands and Dorne. Despite this, it became the style to refer to it as the Seven Kingdoms. The term endures, even if it is imprecise.

The North, though, is generally considered one of the first and oldest of these domains. Its people are the descendants of the First Men (as Jon and Ygritte reminded each other when discussing who settled above and below the Wall). They spoke the old tongue, worshipped the old gods, keep the old ways (such as respecting guest right) and faced the White Walkers some 8,000 years ago. That’s why Northmen saw service in the Night’s Watch as honorable, whereas the rest of the realm perceived it to be like a penal colony.

And Northern children were told stories about the Long Night, White Walkers and the Children of the Forest. The North remembers, and the North bands together for its survival, not for nationalism.

Dorne should also remember. Dorne was one of the “kingdoms” that resisted Targaryen unification, which is why Tywin was so eager to recruit Oberyn Martell as a judge for Tyrion’s trial and a member of King Tommen’s Small Council. “We are not the Seven Kingdoms until Dorne returns to the fold,” he said.

So is that what happened here? Or did the new, unnamed prince of Dorne retain his title and his ancient principality its independence? It would seem rather strange for a region that fought so long for its freedom to give up now.

This article originally appeared in <a id="f16d4dec-aee9-3f76-a920-3e5f9c7c51ab" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/20/arts/television/seven-kingdoms-game-of-thrones.html">The New York Times</a>.

The North isn't the only kingdom with a claim to independence

(This article contains spoilers for Season 8, Episode 6 of “Game of Thrones.”)

<h1>“All men must die,” as the saying has it on “Game of Thrones” — some just go sooner than others. Or bloodier. Or better cooked.</h1>

Much of the anticipation leading up to the final season was about who would live or die, and whether the show would return to its signature habit of taking out major characters in shocking fashion. In that respect, at least, the divisive Season 8 did not disappoint, even if the execution of the executions occasionally inspired lamentations from “Thrones” devotees. (Even if you weren’t a fan, it was hard to avoid hearing about the deaths of the Night King in Episode 3; Missandei in Episode 4; or the Dragon Queen herself, Daenerys Targaryen, in Sunday’s series finale.)

Here, we look back at the notable deaths of the final season, ranked from gut-wrenching to gratifying, and hear from some of the actors who portrayed them.

Missandei, Episode 4

A kind and thoughtful translator and former slave, Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) was captured at sea and once again clapped in chains — and then beheaded when Daenerys refused to surrender to Cersei. If only Dany had valued her friend’s life more than her supposed birthright! Missandei’s murder threw a switch within both Dany and Grey Worm, who apparently took her last word, “Dracarys,” as permission to go on a killing rampage. (Going out on a limb here, but Missandei probably meant that they should torch Cersei, not thousands of innocent people in King’s Landing.)

Lyanna Mormont, Episode 3

During the Battle of Winterfell, a child took down a giant. Even as little Lyanna Mormont (Bella Ramsey) was being squeezed to death, she used her last breath to stab a giant wight through the eye, saving countless others. “I wasn’t expecting to even come back for Season 8, so the fact that I got to come back and die, and the death I got, it was insane,” Ramsey said in an interview.

Theon Greyjoy, Episode 3

Theon Greyjoy struggled with his identity, torn between two families. This caused him at one point to betray the Starks and take Winterfell on behalf of the Greyjoys. But after much torture and soul-searching, he endeavored to redeem himself by protecting the Starks. He gave his life to defend Bran in the godswood from the Night King, who in turn stabbed him. In a touching tribute, Sansa attached a Stark direwolf pin to Theon on his funeral pyre; he was a Stark when it mattered most.

Jorah Mormont, Episode 3

Disgraced and exiled, Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) found his mission in life serving Daenerys. He lived and died for Dany, defending her against multiple wights during the Battle of Winterfell. More than anyone, he believed in Dany’s gentle heart, and that belief might have helped quell her less-gentle impulses.

Melisandre, Episode 3

The witchy woman Melisandre (Carice van Houten) turned up at the Battle of Winterfell to aid Team Living with flames and pep talks. But as she told Davos, she knew she would be dead before the dawn. Whether it was because her sudden power surge came at a high cost or she just finally succumbed to old age, Melisandre’s death was eerie, elegant and poignant. She took off her glamour necklace, walked out into the field and collapsed. “In a way, it’s a sort of sacrifice,” van Houten said. “I mean, suicide sounds a bit too strong, but it is. She’s old. She’s done.”

Sandor Clegane, Episode 5

Sandor (Rory McCann), better known as the Hound, lived through a lifetime of violence, starting when his older brother, Gregor, pressed his face into a fire. It ended with the Hound finally facing that brother — and the fire, too, as he pushed Gregor through a crumbling wall of the Red Keep and into a fiery blaze. But it was the Hound’s touching moment with Arya beforehand, when he urged her not to follow in his footsteps, that gave his final moments emotional weight.

Beric Dondarrion, Episode 3

Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer) died and was resurrected many times. No wonder he didn’t feel like himself anymore. That made him sometimes hard to relate to (to say nothing of all his Lord of Light proselytizing), but Beric sacrificed his life in the end to save Arya, allowing himself to be mauled by wights in the halls of Winterfell. “He knows he has to die,” Dormer said. “Beric is tired of fighting, but he knows he needs to do one last thing before he goes.”

Dolorous Edd Tollett, Episode 3

One of the first to die during the Battle of Winterfell, Edd gave his life to protect his onetime Night’s Watch brother Samwell Tarly, who despite his earlier incarnation as Sam the Slayer, collapsed under pressure and was easily overwhelmed by the army of the dead. Poor Edd was stabbed in the gut and was briefly resurrected as a wight later on.

Ned Umber, Episode 1

While trying to ensure the safety of his household and vassals at the Last Hearth, little Ned Umber (Harry Grasby) was waylaid off screen by the army of the dead and turned into a wight — and the centerpiece of a creepy body-parts art installation by the Night King. Beric set fire to Ned’s reanimated corpse, which means that Ned technically died twice.

If all he had done was spread the truth about Jon’s lineage, Varys (Conleth Hill) would have died a tragic death. But our favorite Spider wove a poisonous web, and it seems very possible that he was trying to poison into Dany’s food. She was within her rights to execute him for treason. Still, dragon fire is an awful way to go.

Jaime and Cersei Lannister, Episode 5

Cersei (Lena Headey) and Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) came into this world together as twins, and they exited the same way, cradling each other as they were crushed by the collapsing Red Keep. As icky as their incestuous union was, they did love each other, against all odds. Not even the love Jaime felt for Brienne, his better half, could keep him from Cersei’s side; and as Brienne realized, he died protecting his queen — an evil queen to be sure, but Jaime loved her anyway. And Cersei loved him back, apart from the bit where she sent an assassin to kill him.

Euron Greyjoy, Episode 5

The mad pirate king Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbaek) went out with a smile on his face, thinking that he had killed the Kingslayer. There was no need to quarrel with a romantic rival, not when the war for Cersei’s heart had been won in the womb. But we’ll say this for Euron: He was never boring in battle. “The final scene, I wanted some kind of poetic justice for him,” Asbaek said. “Something elegant, like a ballet dance.”

Daenerys Targaryen, Episode 6

We have now known two versions of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) — the girl we watched become a feminist icon, and the tyrant she became in her final act. By the time Jon Snow stabbed her during their last embrace, we knew she had to die. And like Tyrion and Arya, we knew it had to be now, before Dany kicked off her world tour. But like Jon, we were conflicted: Couldn’t she be reasoned with? Sadly, no.

Gregor Clegane, Episode 5

Does it count as a death if the subject is already dead? Up until his final moments, we had no idea whether the reanimated Gregor (Hafthor Julius Bjornsson), better known as the Mountain, had a mind of his own anymore. But disobeying and killing his creator, Qyburn (Anton Lesser), signaled to us that some of the original Gregor was inside somewhere. And that remaining bit of Gregor had to pay for all his cruelties, which included killing a man for snoring.

Qyburn, Episode 5

Dr. Frankenstein was the true monster, and so was Qyburn. Despite his kindly veneer, the would-be maester directed most of his efforts to propping up an evil queen. And so when the Mountain did his signature conk smash with Qyburn’s head against a wall, it was a moment of pure joy.

The Night King, Episode 3

He never spoke, so we never got to really understand him. But when Arya jumped out of nowhere to attack the Night King (Vladimir Furdik), we thought she was done for — until she startled us by suddenly catching her falling blade and stabbing him. And thus she took out the entire army of White Walkers and wights. The world’s greatest existential threat, destroyed by a fiercely competent woman.

This article originally appeared in <a id="5bf201d9-e993-478a-b86a-a2be73aaaf15" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/20/arts/television/daenerys-dead.html">The New York Times</a>.

Ranking the deaths in the final 'Game of Thrones' Season

Here, we look back at the notable deaths of the final season, ranked from gut-wrenching to gratifying, and hear from some of the actors who portrayed them.

But doesn’t the show owe us some degree of resolution to its major mysteries, and a judgment on the new villain its onetime hero has suddenly turned out to be?

This is a tall order for one episode, but here are some things we really want to know:

What’s going on in Daenerys’ head?

There are so many theories about why Dany “snapped” and scorched King’s Landing.

People in Westeros might say it was because of a Targaryen predisposition toward mental illness (although most purported earlier examples had other explanations). The showrunners claim the havoc-wreaking was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but Dany actually telegraphed it in words and actions long before. Or maybe the cause was Varys’s poison, if it had the time to take effect after all. (Basilisk blood, in the books, is easily hidden in cooked meat and produces violent madness.) Or it could be somehow connected to her ineffable, magical bond with Drogon?

Whatever the case, Dany now needs to provide us with an explanation — in words, not just unhinged facial expressions. Can she explain why the city’s surrender to her wasn’t enough to stay her hand? Does she realize that her picture will now be positioned in the Westerosi dictionary next to the word “overkill”? Is she too far gone to care? Someone (Tyrion? Jon? Grey Worm?) needs to talk to her about this.

Who can oppose her?

“Who’s lord of Storm’s End now?” Dany wondered during the post-battle feast at Winterfell, before she bestowed that title upon Gendry. This was a necessary honor: too long had power vacuums kept the various kingdoms in disarray. (We didn’t even know there was a new prince in Dorne until the last war-council meeting.)

So who is in control of what right now? Sansa Stark rules Winterfell, of course, in the absence of Jon Snow, the Warden of the North, making her the de facto leader of the North. Meanwhile, Sansa’s cousin, Robin Arryn, is not only Lord of the Eyrie but Defender of the Vale and Warden of the East (although Lord Royce has been the commander of Robin’s forces and generally acting on his behalf). Theoretically, Sansa’s uncle Edmure, as Lord Paramount of the Trident, could return the Riverlands to Tully control; his status is unclear, however — is he still being held prisoner by House Frey?

A legitimized Gendry Baratheon, now lord of Storm’s End, would rule the Stormlands, while The Reach would most likely be the preserve of House Tarly. Sam’s mother, Lady Melessa, might have been acting as Warden of the South after the deaths of Randyll and Dickon; if Sam heads back to Horn Hill, can he finally ascend to the lordship he had been denied? And what about Tyrion Lannister — might he not also still want to claim Casterly Rock as his birthright, and with it, the title of Warden of the West? And finally, Yara Greyjoy should have the Iron Islands under her command by now.

Before Dany destroyed King’s Landing, she should have been able to count most of these Houses as allies (save the Tarlys). We don’t know who Varys wrote to, or how many ravens he was able to send before his death — or if his “little bird” Martha knew to send them after. But if word spreads of Dany’s genocide and Jon Snow’s lineage, many of Dany’s alliances will crumble. The question is, would that make a difference? Even if the other regions are able to assemble fresh forces (and that would be difficult for those who just fought alongside Jon Snow), it might not be enough. One dragon can wipe out an army.

If Varys were smart — which he generally was — he would have also notified the Citadel, the Iron Bank, the House of Black and White, the Red Temple — any institution in Westeros and Essos with any sort of influence or power. Remember Varys’s riddle: Power resides where people believe it resides. There are effective ways to resist tyranny (and dragons). But if Dany is to be eliminated quickly, an assassin might be required. Someone she trusts, and who can get past the fearsome Drogon.

Will Arya change her face?

Arya Stark went to assassin school in Braavos, where she picked up some very useful skills. But she hasn’t utilized one of the most important ones in quite a while. Which is to say, where are all her faces? Did she bring any with her from Winterfell? How was she expecting to get past Cersei, her original target? And if she decides to select a new target, does she have spare faces to help out?

Will Tyrion face one last trial?

Twice in this series, Tyrion Lannister has been accused of crimes — murders and attempted murders — that he did not in fact commit. In attempting to defend himself against such charges, he usually resorted to trial by combat. But if Dany accuses him of treason — for freeing his brother Jaime, her prisoner — Tyrion actually would be guilty. How will he talk himself out of this one?

Will anyone break the wheel?

Dany promised to destroy the metaphorical wheel of power in order to create a better world. But she never said how she intended to do that. (Somebody should have asked.)

If she were to be defeated, will Jon pursue his claim or abdicate the throne? Will the throne be destroyed? (Hopefully Drogon will live long enough to melt it.) What about the idea of monarchy? What form of government could best replace the current one?

Will anyone suggest, as Tyrion once did, adopting the democratic methods of the Night’s Watch or the Iron Islands? Will anyone dig back in Westerosi history and suggest the re-establishment of a Great Council? Or how about glancing at the political setup in Essos, across the Narrow Sea? Or maybe something altogether new ...

What do the common people think?

For all of the actions taken on behalf of the “common people,” it’s rare that the commoners themselves are consulted. Which leaves us to wonder: How much do they really know about what has happened? Do they even know who Daenerys Targaryen is? Did they consider Queen Cersei a tyrant?

These are people who once rioted in the streets (in Season 2) and ripped the High Septon limb from limb when they thought the monarchy was failing them. How do the survivors of the Sack of King’s Landing, if there are any, feel about it now? (We can probably guess the answer to that one.)

How much did Bran know?

Did Bran Stark know about the blood bath in advance?

He has had troubling visions since Season 4, including Drogon cruising over a smoking King’s Landing and an ashy throne room (which matched Dany’s own vision from Season 2). Both Bran and Dany had glimpses of the future, but perhaps didn’t recognize what they were seeing at the time. (What turned out to be ash looked in these visions like snow.)

Unlike Dany, though, Bran has had a chance to pause and rewind. Did he watch more of the horror unfold? Did he recognize what Dany was going to do, and if so, why did he not share this information with anyone? Was it an ethical dilemma for him? (If so, we need to see him wrestle with that.) Also, could Bran actually intervene in the timeline? Or, remembering the repercussions with Hodor, would he choose not to meddle?

How could he justify remaining silent about a disaster that has claimed thousands of lives, while at the same time nudging Jon Snow into a position where he could claim the throne afterward? What is Bran’s agenda?

Do prophecy and magic even matter?

For that matter, what good is an ability to see into the future in this world? Melisandre’s visions, when she backed Stannis, also caused disasters — but they nudged Arya to kill the Night King as well.

Cersei’s downfall can in part be attributed to her obsession with Maggy the Frog’s fortunetelling (which turned out to be mostly accurate); if Cersei hadn’t perceived Margaery Tyrell to be the promised threat (instead of Dany), perhaps she wouldn’t have accumulated so many enemies.

Dany, too, obsessed about a witch’s words — she thought they meant she would never have children again. How much did that perhaps erroneous belief shape her path and enable her savior complex? The Prince/Princess Who Was Promised, the Stallion Who Mounts the World — are these prophecies real, or is it dangerous to believe in any such cryptic concepts, real though they might actually turn out to be?

Melisandre attributed Beric Dondarrion’s many resurrections to the Lord of Light, who she said kept the man alive for a purpose: to save Arya at a crucial moment, so she could then defeat the Night King. Well, if that’s true, why did the Lord of Light bring dead Jon Snow back to life? Does the Lord of Light even exist? Or have the priests and priestesses of the Red Temple mistakenly attributed their own magic to a god? And let us not forget all the people worshipping the old gods, who turn out to be a psychic network that uses the weirwood trees to spy on everyone. Would this make Bran a god? Where is the line between magic and religion, and which is the most powerful?

Although faith never died out in this world, magic did — until the events of this story, which saw its resurgence. Why did magic return to the world when it did? And what will it take to restore balance in this world?

'Game Of Thrones' 8 questions the series finale must answer

With only one episode remaining, it’s unlikely “Game of Thrones” will tie up every loose end for us.

'Game Of Thrones': 8 questions the series finale must answer

“Game of Thrones” fans don’t just watch the show, they theorize. About everything. About prophecies or would-be prophecies from even the most minor characters. About plotlines and details from the books that aren’t even hinted at on the show. About unresolved mysteries and the unifying Theories of Everything that may explain them, no matter how outlandishly.

Now that we’ve nearly reached the end, here are a few remaining theories that may help clarify some of the show’s remaining mysteries or predict its final moments, in order of plausibility:

— The Prince or Princess Who Was Promised

Azor Ahai was an ancient hero whom followers of the Lord of Light believe is destined to be reborn as the Prince or Princess Who Was Promised. Melisandre believed this was Stannis, then she believed it was Jon, then she seemed to believe that Jon and Daenerys together might have something to do with it. The rest of the Red Temple priests and priestesses have been preaching all along that this is Daenerys.

According to prophecy, the revenant Azor Ahai is meant to prevent the Long Night, just as the original did thousands of years ago. One could argue, then, that Arya fulfilled that role, having killed the Night King. Still others believe that it will be a child born to Jon and Dany if she’s not as infertile as she thinks. (And if Jon ever decides he’s OK with incest. And if she lives long enough to find out).

But Azor Ahai had to sacrifice his beloved, Nissa Nissa, in order to defeat the darkness last time. Prophecy says the coming hero would have to do the same. If Jon is the new Azor Ahai, that might mean he would have to kill Dany. He certainly has reason to now.

— There Is a Dragon Under Winterfell

What do you think is heating the castle? According to canon, it’s the natural hot springs in and around Winterfell, which are used to geothermically heat its structures. But some fans think that system is heated by a dragon who’s just hanging out underground. That seems unlikely.

Others believe a related theory based on a visit by Queen Alysanne Targaryen to Winterfell; rumor has it that her mount left a clutch of eggs behind. Perhaps during the post-battle cleanup, someone will find them.

— Bran Is All Brans

Bran Stark has been rather busy, according to some fans, altering a number of timelines and inhabiting the space of multiple Brandon Starks, including the infamous Bran the Builder, who gave Westeros the Wall. As with the “Bran is the Night King” theory that was so popular before the Night King died, this doesn’t seem to be where the show is heading.

— Tyrion Is a Secret Targaryen

This is fueled by some fans who believe King Aerys II impregnated Joanna Lannister, Tywin’s wife, making Dany and Tyrion half-siblings. Aerys certainly lusted for Joanna, and he apparently took some liberties with her during Tywin and Joanna’s wedding-and-bedding ceremony. But did they have an affair, as Aerys’ wife seemed to suspect? Or did he rape Joanna?

It’s impossible to know, but if Tywin had any reason to suspect that Tyrion wasn’t his child, he probably would have carried through with his plans to kill him as an infant. At any rate, this is a theory that Peter Dinklage himself has debunked.

— Varys Is a Merman

How did he travel so fast between Pentos and Meereen? He swam, some fans say. Conleth Hill, who plays Varys, said in a recent interview that they may have smoked too much marijuana.

“I still don’t get it,” he said. “Does it mean people think I have a fish tail? Varys stands up on dry land.”

— The Valonqar Prophecy

Was Cersei’s death — in the arms of her (ever-so-slightly-younger twin brother) Jaime — the fulfillment of a prophecy once uttered by a woods witch? We saw part of that prophecy in Season 5, when that witch, Maggy the Frog, predicted that Cersei would wed the king, not the prince; that she would be queen until a younger, more beautiful rival came along to cast her down; that the king would have 20 children and she would have three; and that her children would die: “Gold will be their crowns, gold their shrouds.” [Cackles witchily.]

Maggy’s prophecy continues in the books, however: “And when your tears have drowned you,” she says, “the valonqar shall wrap his hands around your pale white throat and choke the life from you.” Valonqar is a High Valyrian word for “little brother” (or male cousin), and so some readers interpreted this to be about Jaime. Cersei thought it was about Tyrion.

Jaime’s hand was at Cersei’s throat during their mutual death scene, but he definitely didn’t choke her, voiding this aspect of the prophecy according to any but the loosest, most figurative interpretations.

This article originally appeared in <a id="5739fb14-e36d-35f3-a6c1-dec6b1521ebc" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/arts/television/thrones-theories.html">The New York Times</a>.

'Game of Thrones' Theories ranked: Which are still in play?

This article contains spoilers for Season 8, Episode 5 of “Game of Thrones.”

Cersei made a curious comment during Sunday’s episode of “Game of Thrones,” explaining why she lingered so long at her perch in the Red Keep to observe the coming siege.

“The Red Keep’s never fallen,” she tells Qyburn. “It won’t fall today.”

But Cersei should know better. Her reign as queen began in part because the Red Keep did fall long ago, thanks in part to her father. It is only fitting that Queen Cersei begins and ends, in a way, with a sack of King’s Landing. History repeats itself, and Westerosi history is no different.

In that earlier siege, Ned Stark took command of the rebel army that surrounded and then entered King’s Landing during Robert’s Rebellion. (His adopted son, Jon Snow, led the vanguard this time, offering another historical reverberation.) Tywin Lannister’s forces — some 12,000 men — joined them.

In preparation, King Aerys II — Daenerys’ dad — hid wildfire around the city. Some of the green blasts seen going off during this most recent sack could have been old hidden caches from the Mad King’s day or new barrels that Cersei placed in strategic locations, perhaps a defensive strategy to fight dragon fire with wildfire.

Several people tried to reason with King Aerys regarding his plan to burn innocent people alive — as Tyrion tried to reason with King Aerys’ daughter by urging her to accept a surrender. But when King Aerys disagreed with his advisers, he burned them alive. Dany’s burning of Varys is a little more justified; he did commit treason, and she had warned him in Season 7 that death by fire was the penalty.

Still, there are echoes of her father’s actions here, as well as echoes of Tyrion’s father, Tywin. In both sacks, a Targaryen monarch is betrayed by a Lannister who disagrees with Varys as to the correct course of action.

The previous go-round, Tywin pretended to be King Aerys’ friend and ally, despite a previous falling out. He came to the city gates with a force of 12,000 men and requested entrance. Varys tried to counsel King Aerys to keep the gates closed to Tywin, but Grand Maester Pycelle, always a Lannister stooge, advised King Aerys to open the gates, and his advice won out. Varys, in both Sacks, tried to reason with Targaryen monarchs who wouldn’t listen to his advice, who didn’t share his concern about protecting the people. The result was that Tywin Lannister’s forces began killing the men, women and children of King’s Landing, and raping the women.

It was precisely that needless rape and slaughter that prompted Jorah Mormont to advise Dany to use the Unsullied as her armed forces.

“I was in King’s Landing after the Sack, Khaleesi,” he told her. “You know what I saw? Butchery. Babies, children, old men. More women raped than you can count. There’s a beast in every man, and it stirs when you put a sword in his hand. But the Unsullied are not men. They do not rape. They do not put cities to the sword unless they’re ordered to do so.”

At least that used to be the case.

King Aerys had stayed inside the Red Keep, as Cersei did. He sent his pregnant wife, Queen Rhaella, and their son Viserys to Dragonstone for safety but refused to allow Prince Rhaegar’s wife, Elia Martell, and their two children to go to Dragonstone as well, keeping them as hostages in Maegor’s Holdfast, where Qyburn advises Cersei to hide.

Maegor’s Holdfast, however, provided little refuge for Elia and her two children. That’s where Tywin’s men, including Gregor Clegane, did their dirty work, killing the little prince and princess, smashing the head of the littlest one against a wall before raping and killing their mother. Squashing heads became Gregor’s signature move, which he repeated Sunday with Qyburn.

Jaime Lannister rushed to Aerys’ side, an act that earned him the lifelong nickname Kingslayer. He was there again Sunday when another reigning monarch died — to comfort this time, not to kill.

Cersei’s marriage to King Robert was meant to seal the Lannister-rebel alliance and help hold the realm together after the Sack. But it’s going to take a lot more than marriage to repair the damage after this one.

This article originally appeared in <a id="28719b57-7945-3320-aadd-1cde65d40d42" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/arts/television/red-keep-game-of-thrones.html">The New York Times</a>.

At the Red Keep, 'Game of Thrones' history repeats itself

Euron Greyjoy was the mad pirate king of “Game of Thrones,” one of the few characters who seemed to be enjoying himself, even if it was at the expense of others. (RIP, Rhaegal.) After Dany took revenge and burned down his fleet in Sunday’s episode, he jumped ship and managed to come ashore at just the right time and place to have it out with his romantic rival, Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), in a knockdown slugfest that left the Kingslayer mortally wounded and Euron presumably dead on the rocks.

In a phone call Monday, the actor Pilou Asbaek, who plays Euron, chatted about his character’s strangely happy ending. Following are edited excerpts from that conversation.

Q: You told me in an interview once that every time you do a Euron scene, you try to pick something new that you want to reveal about him. What did you want to reveal this season?

A: OK, so the first one in Episode 1, I wanted him to be casual with his family. To say: “You know what? You’re my niece. You’re here, and it’s OK.” I wanted him to be cool about it. The second scene, I wanted him to be a bit more provocative toward Cersei, because up until that point, he’d only been provocative toward Jaime. “My heart is nearly broken,” all that (expletive).

And then in her private chambers, I actually wanted him be as honest as he could be. I would have loved to examine that side of him much more. And the battle scenes, those are just physical, so that’s difficult to do, although you can do it as a madman, the guy who is a complete psycho with a smile and the laughter. And the final scene, I wanted some kind of poetic justice for him. Something elegant, like a ballet dance.

Q: Do you think it’s a happy ending? He at least dies with a smile on his face.

A:I think he’s the only one with a happy end. The character was so lucky. He got to go to bed with the queen. He got to kill a dragon. And he almost killed Jaime Lannister. So out of my five scenes this season, three of them were spectacular or fun. First of all, the way they’ve written those scripts, so much is put into it. You can just relax, enjoy it, be in it as much as possible and wait for that moment for your character to shine. It’s so well-written that every single character has at least a couple of those moments … until they die.

When we did the table read, the only thing I told ( series’ showrunners, David Benioff and Dan Weiss) was, “Guys, I don’t want to die.” And they were like, “No, he gets stabbed by Jaime Lannister.” And I was like, “I’m not going to close my eyes.” And they were like, “Why?” And I said: “Because I want to do a spinoff! I want Euron to go on his ship Silence, and we follow him as he travels the world, as he finds the magical Dragonbinder horn, and he becomes a mysterious lord of the night!”

Q: The book plot that the show skipped, in other words. Perhaps they can still revisit that as they develop ideas for prequels.

A:I would have loved to have done that story, to do something closer to the book version, even as a miniseries. I’m so thankful for every single second I got with Euron. Just to do one minute on “Game of Thrones,” actors would die for it. I am so thankful I got to do three seasons — not many scenes, but the scenes that I’ve done, I’ve been the driving force. When I became a part of “Game of Thrones,” I didn’t know which way the character would go. I just knew to do the best work I could possibly do and to enjoy it.

But of course, to build a character, you need more time and space. So I denied dying. David and Dan were super cool with it because they thought it was fun. They were like: “Dude, you get stabbed by a sword through the chest. You’re going to die.” And I was like, “Eh, wait and see.”

Then I had a long discussion with (the episode’s director, Miguel Sapochnik) a couple of days prior to shooting the scene, and he was like: “You know what I feel when I read the script? I feel like he’s the only one who is kind of happy, because he feels like his life has been fulfilled.” So I was like: “You know what, Miguel? I like that. I’m going to go out with a smile.”

Q: Euron seems especially pleased with the idea that he might have killed the Kingslayer. Has he been obsessed with Jaime Lannister all along? Why does he care?

A:It’s a fascination. Jaime is one of the male leads, and I’m a supporting role, so my story line is reflected in the main characters’ story line. You need to find ways to connect the characters and fill out those gaps. And I think David and Dan thought it would be fun if Jaime Lannister and Euron Greyjoy had a fight. And maybe they just thought: “You know what? Maybe it’s fun that (the actor playing Euron) is Danish, and 15 years younger, and they know each other. Maybe (Coster-Waldau) will be irritated!” You never know with David and Dan because they’re pranksters. They’re tricksters.

Q: They called it “Dane Bowl” on the behind-the-scenes feature.

A:Dane Bowl! That’s what it said in the script, too. “Two men enter, one man leaves.” Except one of them doesn’t want to accept that he’s dying! (Laughs) Those scenes were tricky because of the tide, so we couldn’t shoot it chronologically, which is always irritating when you’re doing fight scenes where you’ve rehearsed the choreography for weeks.

It’s very interesting, choreography. The more you rehearse it, the more natural you can make it look. It’s like saying a line. If I told you “I love you,” but I hadn’t rehearsed it, it would be too emotional. But if I say it a million times, I devaluate the sensitiveness of it, and then it sounds real. It’s the same thing with choreography. When you practice it a million times, you can make it look spontaneous. Practice equals spontaneity.

But it’s one thing to do it in some room in Belfast and another on a real beach, with real rocks. Fighting for two days, you get tired, and when you get tired, you make mistakes. So we got injured. Nothing dramatic, you know, but it hurts to bump your head on a rock or kick a sandbag.

Q: What do you make of the fan video depicting Euron as the Bowmaster not only of everything in “Game of Thrones” but also of all geek fandom?

A: That is so (expletive) fun! The guy who did that is a genius. Someone emailed it to me and I was like, “Dude!” I know people who take this world very seriously, and they have to, because a lot of people spend a lot of energy on it, but that was fun. I thought it was hysterical. I even shoot up the Death Star! Now I’ve done “Star Wars.”

This article originally appeared in <a id="56f4c6bd-471d-37c6-a51f-1bf6150d2e42" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/arts/television/euron-greyjoy-jaime-lannister-got.html">The New York Times</a>.

How Euron Greyjoy was impaled by Jaime's sword but still wound up smiling

This interview contains spoilers for Season 8, Episode 5 of “Game of Thrones.”

For his service forging dragonglass weapons key to Winterfell’s defense, Daenerys bestowed Gendry with legitimacy and a lordship on Sunday, giving him the Baratheon ancestral seat of Storm’s End. She might have done a bit more than that, given that a legitimate Baratheon could be a rival for her claim to the throne. In a phone conversation this week, actor Joe Dempsie shared his thoughts on Gendry’s ambitions and the controversy surrounding his character’s love scene with Arya. These are edited excerpts from that conversation.

Q: Congratulations might be in order now that Gendry’s been legitimized and made Lord of Storm’s End …

A: Yeah, it’s sort of been a roller coaster, right? I don’t think the title necessarily means that much to him, but the recognition that comes with it and the fact that he’s been legitimized does. It probably means the world to him, the acknowledgment that he belongs. Gendry’s story, leading up to this point, has been searching for his place and his purpose in this slightly pompous world, and I think he finally got it, to an extent. And then he got all excited and carried away with himself, didn’t he? [Laughs.]

Q: We’ll come back to his proposal to Arya, but first, let’s examine what it means for him to be legitimized. I’m not sure if Dany thought it through, or perhaps she did, but she just gave Gendry the best claim to the Iron Throne.

A: Outside of Jon Snow, do you think? Ahead of Jon Snow?

Q: Yeah. The Targaryens were removed from office, so to speak, and the line of succession since has been derived from King Robert. That’s why Joffrey, Tommen, and then Cersei were able to make claims. And Gendry, unlike Joffrey and Tommen, is actually King Robert’s son.

A: So he’s the linear heir to the throne, now that he’s been legitimized. I think by recognizing the potential threat he causes, Dany’s attempting to neutralize it. What none of us really know yet is how much does Dany know about Gendry? Did she do any research? Because she’s taking a huge risk. In Season 8, we’re really seeing the effect of what all this yearslong obsession for the throne has done to Daenerys, you know? You can see it in Jon Snow’s face, every time she expresses her concern about their secret. Only it’s not that much of a secret anymore, is it? More people know about it now, Jon Snow’s true parentage. But she seems far less concerned about the fact that she’s his aunt, and far more concerned about what this will do to her claim to the throne.

Q: If you found out that the woman you were dating was your aunt, wouldn’t you be more bothered by the accidental incest?

A: Especially if I was in love with her. “What are we going to do about this? I’ve already fallen in love with you, and you’re my auntie.” And you can see that in Jon Snow’s eyes. “Really? That’s the thing that’s bothering you right now? What it’s going to do to your claim?”

Q: Jon keeps saying he doesn’t want to be king, but what about Gendry? I’m not sure he realized, before this, that he could be a lord, let alone a king. If he realized he could have a claim, would he want it?

A: My instinct tells me no. Varys said in the episode this week that maybe the person best suited to rule might be someone who doesn’t actually want to. I think Gendry has spent such a large part of his life being kind of passed around as a pawn, and control over others isn’t something he’s ever craved. Maybe he’s not quite bright enough to rule, but he certainly understands the plight of common folk in a way that not many past leaders of Westeros have. So I think he would be a very compassionate leader.

Gendry’s been searching for his place in the world, and he had this innate feeling that he was destined to be a part of something bigger or more important. He wanted his life to have meaning. He found that when Davos found him in King’s Landing in Season 7. He was like, “This is it. I didn’t know what it was that I’ve been waiting for, but I’ve been getting ready for it.” His part in the Battle of Winterfell fulfilled that desire for his life to have some meaning. Being legitimized solidified that for him. I don’t know that there’s a craving for greater power, but we’ll have to wait and see. It all depends on what kind of a character Gendry really is.

Q: When they first brought you back to the show, you said you pumped up at the gym in anticipation of a shirtless scene, and then you were disappointed there wasn’t one. You got to have that this season.

A: Yes, I did, didn’t I? [Laughs] Be careful what you wish for. But it was great to work with Maisie [Williams] again. I think it’s been a really well balanced and a deftly told story about two people who haven’t seen each other in a long time, who have changed a hell of a lot in those intervening years, being reunited and rediscovering each other. And then also having to go through the most kind of arduous experience in Episode 3, and what that does to your psyche.

Q: What did you think about the audience reaction to Gendry and Arya’s love scene before the battle? What was your take on it when you first discovered it was in the works?

A: When I first read it, I was slightly cautious about it, because I’ve known Maisie since she was 11 or 12 years old. And so it was always going to be a slightly strange thing, to try to wrap your head around knowing you would be imminently shooting a scene like that with someone you’ve known since they were so young. By the same token, Maisie was 21, she’s 22 years old now. She’s a grown woman and a fantastic actor, so we were just completely professional about it.

The scene itself was kind of fun — we made sure to keep the mood light. For my experience, it was not an arduous scene to shoot, and I hope Maisie felt the same way about it. I hope she felt the atmosphere was familiar and supportive and safe. The reality is, though, she doesn’t need me to look after her. She’s spent way more time on that set than I have over the years. The level of respect she has from everyone is sky high, and I think everything was done the way she wanted it.

It’s an interesting conversation that started around it, though, with the audience discomfort. The conversation kind of forces you to confront some hypocrisy. I was 11 once, and then I got older, and then I started having sex, and that’s absolutely fine. That’s part of my expected journey through life. We all go through it. We all sort of bristle when we feel patronized about it, when someone suggests we’re too young to be doing something. But when it’s somebody else, we find it uncomfortable to watch.

Q: When the Arya/Gendry shipping first started in Season 2, it had another layer to it because she was a minor at the time. She’s an adult now.

A: Yeah, exactly. That was the reality of that situation. I did a show called “Skins” a number of years ago, and my character Chris was naked, taking drugs, having sex with his teacher, and no one batted an eyelid. I think I was about a year or two younger than Maisie was, when I was shooting this? The difference is, the audience didn’t watch me grow up on screen. It wasn’t like I played this character from the age of 11 or 12, and all of a sudden I was 19 and doing all of this incredibly adult stuff.

When Maisie was a minor, and I was an adult, it seemed completely ludicrous to expect me to have an opinion on Arya/Gendry shipping other than, “Well, it’s never going to happen. It’s not possible.” And I was forced to confront my own initial discomfort this time around. OK, now it’s technically possible — let’s not be patronizing to Maisie. Some people were saying, “Oh, they should never have asked Maisie to do that.” But why? If I was a new actor to the show, playing a new character who was 31, and Maisie was 21, then it wouldn’t be a thing.

It’s just because I’ve been on the show for so long, and I’ve known her for all this time that it becomes slightly odd. And I understand that. I understand people being uncomfortable watching someone they’ve feel they’ve seen grow up on screen take part in things like that. I get it. But once you confront it rationally, I don’t see how you can have much of a problem with it. And it’s important to guard against that concern spilling over into a form of prudishness that actually risks removing the agency from a fully grown adult, you know what I mean?

Q: Afterward they have completely different reactions — Gendry fell asleep and Arya didn’t seem thrilled.

A: So much of Gendry’s story has been so incredibly meme-able over the course of eight seasons, and that shot was certainly one of them! [Laughs.] Afterward, possibly it’s the realization that she’s not, at least not now, capable of that kind of love, because of what she’s been through. While Gendry obviously had a great time and is just getting some sleep! [Laughs.] It’s a very common scenario.

Q: And yet, his next move is to propose.

Gendry, the bastard boy whose existence helped prove that Queen Cersei’s children were not fathered by King Robert and set into motion the War of the Five Kings, is a bastard no longer.

Jennifer Vineyard

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