re: Let's discuss THAT meeting in the series finale of Game of Thrones

It made no sense. House Arryn was pledged to the north.
So did they leave with the north?
The iron islands were vassals of the river lands but kept in check by house Stark. Who are they with?

The ending made no sense. Sansa being queen would have made more sense.
Hell Daario showing up and taking over the Targaryen wouldn't have been worse.

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People overthink this stuff. Look..... Sansa has been pushing for the North’s independence for a while. The rest of them are just glad Cersei and the Mad Queen are gone and have a lot of faith in Bran to lead....... it’s pretty simple if you let it be.

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Lots of them have been pushing for independence from one another. That’s why they had all the wars, it doesn’t make any sense to grant anyone independence especially your fricking sister. That just looks awful and would cause wars for independence immediately.

The simple answer is why this was done is D&D and maybe GRRM wanted to give Sansa a happy ending. That’s it, it makes no sense logically.

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People overthink this stuff.

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The show was so popular because it involved thinking.

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Sansa has been pushing for the North’s independence for a while.

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So have plenty of the other lands and houses.

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have a lot of faith in Bran to lead

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Why? Based on what?

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Gendry makes sense because Dany legitimized him and named him Lord of Storms End. So you have Gendry representing the Stormlands, Edmere representing the Riverlands, Yara the Iron Islands (which prior to the events of the show were ruled by the Riverlands), someone from Dorne, Royce and Sweetrobin from the Vale, Sansa and Bran from the North, and no one representing the Reach or the Westerlands (I guess Tyrion?).

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Agree with all of this although Sam is actually representing House Tarly, probably one of the strongest houses left in The Reach since Tyrell has been wiped out.

I suppose Brienne is there as the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard?


I didn’t really have an issue with any of the people chosen to be at the council, although there would have obviously been more involved.

But yeah the way it went down was absurd.


I suppose Yara could have potentially pledged fealty to the North, or even remained loyal to the crown for Bran, wanting to honor Theon’s mission to make up for his past transgressions against House Stark and Bran himself. But we needed to hear that thought process and see it play out. Certainly some silly sparring scene with Arya a few minutes before didn’t need to be added if that’s how they were trying to play it.


I suppose if Yara and the Iron Islands remained on board Dorne could have then decided it wasn’t worth it to fight for independence on their own.

But we have no inclination as to what that thought process was. As bad as all the Dorne stuff was, they could have at least laid some foundation for certain families being more loyal to the crown or something. Hell, even offer up one of the Sandsnakes as a bride to Gendry or something since we know he’s looking for a wife anyway showing what is keeping them in the fold.

I honestly thought Arianne would make a brief appearance if they were doing a wrap scene like that showing that she was able to gain control of Dorne, and since she was planning to have Myrcella assume the Throne in the books, it could have made some sense that she still had interest in remaining part of the seven kingdoms.

Given Ashara Dayne’s rumored history with Ned, Arianne could have even seen honoring Bran as appropriate. They could have even introduced Edric Dayne as a potential partner for Sansa. Hell he even fits her description of her dream husband as he is tall, blond, honorable, kind, and a brave warrior.

Given all of the history between the families, and Jon himself, Ned could have been a perfect bridge to Dorne and the North. Of course, with the North out of the kingdom, that doesn’t work as well


The Dorne stuff was literally worthless after Oberyn and should have been left out entirely imo. There was simply too much backstory for it to be done properly, and at this point it’s probably what is keeping GRRM from being able to bring it all together and finish the books.



All of that wasted time in season 5 should have been spent moving more characters into place so that it didn’t feel as rushed in just a few episodes and laying foundation with character development for the way things would play out.

It truly is like they had no overall outline and just tried to fill 10 hours each season without a clear vision of the endgame for the series in mind.

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A more reasonable scenario, after Samwell's democracy suggestion was laughed off, would have been to have each of them become independent nations while setting up a system where they continually meet to discuss trade and work on keeping the peace.

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this was my prediction in a small pool that was set up in my group of friends.

I stayed away from spoilers so I got super pumped when Drogon melted the throne leading me to think that I was right.....

then the "council" happened...

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Drogon tries to burn Jon after he kills his mother. Jon is unburnable because he is a targaryen and rides Drogon out of the city leaving kings landing a pile of ruble. 

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If you actually watched the show. That wouldnt make sense. Jon's burned himself before early in the show and not every targaryen is resistant to fire. Hot take genius.

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People overthink this stuff. Look..... Sansa has been pushing for the North’s independence for a while. The rest of them are just glad Cersei and the Mad Queen are gone and have a lot of faith in Bran to lead....... it’s pretty simple if you let it be.

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exactly why seasons 1-4 were great

letting things be simple and stupid

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It was like some silly fan fiction that would include Sam, Gendry and Ser Brienne to sit on a post-war council that would decide the fate of a prisoner and who would be the next King.

Even if they had no vote, WTF are they doing up there?

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Well, to be fair-

Sam, the Tarly Heir, which likely is the highest ranking survivor from the Reach (Tyrells are gone).

Gendry- he was legitimized by Dany as the head of House Baratheon, in front of Grey Worm. Of all the various lords present, he would be maybe the one Grey Worm would trust the most; Yara (Iron Islands) dealt with a divided house (Euron), and they are not even the head of an area, they are within the Riverland's domain. Dorne dude- unknown to anyone, and they never sent the promised troops.
The Sansa alliance is associated with the Queenslayer, and the Lannisters were the opposition a week ago.

Brienne- officially with Davos to support the Stormlands (Gendry), I assume. But let's remember- she vowed to protect the Stark children, and they are meeting with a war criminal (Grey Worm). She's there in the event Grey Worm gets crazy.

I agree, Dorne and the Iron Islands would have pressed for independence. Dorne was never conquered by a Targarean, they joined via marriage. There's nothing for them now in Westeros, they probably have better trade agreements with the Free Cities in Essos. And they have an intact army to maintain their independence.

Iron Islands have been rebelling, and currently have more esteem than the Riverlands houses. Yara should at least have spoken up to make her house more important, and called Edmure out if he protested. Drawback is they're physically isolated. If it were me, I'd have pushed to elevate to take over the Lannister lands (and frick Tyrion, he's a prisoner), or the Reach (which had no ruler left). Both make geographic sense.

Vale should have joined the North, and frick anyone who protests. At this point they're joined at the hip politically, they are the bulk of the remaining Northern armies.

From a distance, this REALLY doesn't make sense. Sure, the realm is wartorn and weary, and needs a break.

But come on, the guy's own sister, the one person who knows him in that group, wouldn't bend the knee. How do you inspire the rest to do so?