Nothing will top the Game of Thrones photo Sophie Turner posted on her Instagram. Nothing. Nobody post behind-the-scenes photos ever again, Sophie Turner cannot be topped.
The photo is of the three Stark siblings. There's Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) and Sansa Stark (Turner), taken at the meeting of all the great houses in Westeros. It was the last scene they shot. And it's not just any photo, it's begging for you to spot the out of place elements. There's Williams sunglasses, Hempstead-Wright's legs and Turner's Juul vape. And the water bottle. Is it the water bottle that made it into the scene? Who knows.
Sophie Turner, who portrayed Sansa Stark on "Game of Thrones," is none too happy about a petition calling for the final season of the HBO series to be redone.
"All of these petitions and things like that — I think it's disrespectful to the crew, and the writers, and the filmmakers who have worked tirelessly over 10 years, and for 11 months shooting the last season," she said. "Like 50-something night shoots. So many people worked so, so hard on it, and for people to just rubbish it because it's not what they want to see is just disrespectful."
The actress said she was not surprised by some of the viewers vitriol.
"People always have an idea in their heads of how they want a show to finish, and so when it doesn't go to their liking, they start to speak up about it and rebel," Turner said.
Turner was happier about how her character ended the show -- as reigning Queen in the North.
"I loved it. It's the only place that she really, truly feels safe," Turner said. "It's the place that she's the most capable of ruling. She would be a fair and loving ruler, and it's what she's been striving for this whole series: to go back home, to protect her home. And finally she has that."
Update 05/21/2019: George R. R. Martin has again addressed how his final two books in the Song of Ice and Fire saga will differ from the ending of Game of Thrones.
In a post saying goodbye to the HBO show, Martin discussed his long-awaited conclusion to the written version of the series, and addressed the biggest question first: will the ending be the same? His answer is non-committal: "Well… yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes."
His point is to say that, while he's working towards a similar end goal to the makers of the show, they had six hours of TV to work with and he'll likely have 3,000 pages of manuscript (and will add more if necessary). The media involved allow for different kinds of expression and explanation.
He also points out that having so many characters who either weren't introduced or died in the show will make for major differences: "if nothing else, the readers will learn what happened to Jeyne Poole, Lady Stoneheart, Penny and her pig, Skahaz Shavepate, Arianne Martell, Darkstar, Victarion Greyjoy, Ser Garlan the Gallant, Aegon VI, and a myriad of other characters both great and small that viewers of the show never had the chance to meet".
He concludes by pointing out that it's folly to ask if the show or the books are the 'real' ending to the story: "How about this? I’ll write it. You read it. Then everyone can make up their own mind, and argue about it on the internet."
Exit Theatre Mode
Update 04/15/2019: Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin has offered further insight into the difference between his planned final books and the HBO TV series.
During an interview with 60 Minutes, he said that the show, created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, “would have to run another five seasons” for it to be completely faithful to the story he has lined up for the final books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.
The show will be very close, though, thanks to “several days of story conferences” that took place at Martin’s house in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “I don't think Dan and Dave's ending is gonna be that different from my ending because of the conversations we did have,” he said.
“But they may be on certain secondary characters, there may be big differences,” he explained, saying that “there's no way to get in all the detail, all the minor characters, all the secondary characters.”
He joked that people will fight on the internet about which ending is better, which is certainly the inevitable outcome of all this.
Original story: George R. R. Martin confirmed there will be changes and additions to the ending of his A Song of Ice and Fire series when compared to HBO's Game of Thrones.
In a piece by Rolling Stone that focuses on GoT actresses Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner, Martin spoke about how the show's creators, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, had to make their own way with the story after the past couple of seasons began outpacing his writing.
“I’ve been so slow with these books,” said Martin. “The major points of the ending will be things I told them five or six years ago. But there may also be changes, and there’ll be a lot added.”
Exit Theatre Mode
Martin’s words suggest that the general ending to Game of Thrones will be similar to what he has planned for his final novel in the series, A Dream of Spring. However, as has been the case throughout the show, there will be notable differences between the two.
Heard asked a judge in Virginia to dismiss the lawsuit, prompting the new declaration from Depp.
"I have denied Ms Heard's allegations vehemently since she first made them in May 2016 when she walked into court to obtain a temporary restraining order with painted-on bruises that witnesses and surveillance footage show she did not possess each day of the preceding week.
"I will continue to deny them for the rest of my life."
Depp added: "I never abused Ms Heard or any other woman.
"She was the perpetrator, and I was the victim. While mixing prescription amphetamines and non-prescription drugs with alcohol, Ms Heard committed innumerable acts of domestic violence against me, often in the presence of a third-party witness, which in some instances caused me serious bodily harm."
In a statement to People magazine, Heard's lawyer Eric George said: "The evidence in this case is clear: Johnny Depp repeatedly beat Amber Heard.
"In light of the important work done by the #TimesUp movement highlighting the tactics abusers use to continue to traumatise survivors, neither the creative community nor the public will be gaslit by Mr Depp's baseless blame-the-victim conspiracy theories."
Depp and Heard started dating after meeting on the set of 2011 comedy The Rum Diary. They married in Los Angeles in February 2015.
The BBC has contacted Depp and Heard's representatives for comment.
Heard obtained a restraining order against Depp after accusing him of abuse in May 2016, which he denied.
Sunday's Game of Thrones finale, arguably the biggest moment in episodic TV this century, is over. After eight years, eight seasons and several dozens of hours, the epic-fantasy drama is behind us.
Season 8 has been controversial, and is perhaps encapsulated best by last week's episode, The Bells. It ended many of Game of Thrones' longest running and most important plots, including the deaths of Cersei and Jaime Lannister as well as Daenerys Targaryen's descent into Mad Queendom.
OK, let's do this. For the final time, you are now watching the throne. (For the final time until the prequel, that is.)
Here's your official warning: The full recap below features spoilers.
The Dragon and the Lion
The roughly 90-minute episode was split into two parts. The climax of part one was the death of Daenerys Targaryen at the hands of Jon Snow.
Episode 6, titled The Iron Throne, started with Tyrion and Jon walking through a destroyed King's Landing, the streets of which were decorated by burned and bloodied bodies. They're not stoked by what they see. They split up, with Tyrion venturing into the Red Keep dungeons, where he finds Cersei and Jaime. He crumbles with grief over the bodies of his siblings, who were killed by a different type of crumbling.
Jaime and Cersei died with surprisingly little ceremony last week, but Tyrion's weeping gave their endings a little extra gravitas.
Jon chances upon Grey Worm and his squad of Unsullied executing Lannister soldiers. The war is won, Jon says, and there's no reason to kill these men. Grey Worm, who now wears a permanent scowl and is extremely hateable, says he's acting on the orders of the Queen. The two get into a testosterone-fueled confrontation before Jon decides he needs to speak to Daenerys.
Before either Tyrion or Jon can make their way to Daenerys, who's fresh off her descent into villainy, she gives a victory speech to her forces by the steps of the Keep. Jon and Tyrion stand behind her. Somebody please cue the ominous music.
Sweet... victory?
HBO
"War is not over until we liberate the world," she announces in eastern tongue, "from Winterfell to Dorne." That last line is Jon's first clue that there's something not quite right about this new Dany. She proceeds to make Grey Worm her Master of War. I cannot stress how punchable Grey Worm has become.
The crowd of Unsullied and Dothraki cheer. Tyrion approaches Daenerys, and she accuses him of freeing Jaime.
"I freed my brother and you slaughtered a city," he replies. He takes off his Hand of the King badge and throws it to the ground. You may recall the first "take off my badge and throw it away" move was pulled by Ned Stark in season 1, protesting King Robert's demand that an innocent Daenerys, then in Essos with no army nor dragons, be killed. Daenerys, who used her army and dragon to pillage the city, demands he be taken away. Circles man, it's all about the circles.
Jon goes to see him. (This is an insular, linear episode, with one scene following the story of the previous one, which is strange for Game of Thrones.) Jon, who is now absolutely incapable of reading a person, is still on Team Daenerys. Her best friend and her dragon both got killed, he says. How could she not be a little fiery?
"You love her," Tyrion says. "I love her too... not as successfully as you." I guess that explains that scene in season 7 when Tyrion looks on with tremendous thirst as Jon enters Daenerys' cabin. (That's not a gross euphemism, they were on a ship!)
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Game of Thrones season 8 finale: Our watch has ended
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"Love is the death of duty," Jon says, a callback to his great-great uncle, Maester Aemon, who said that to him in season 1 after Jon's not father, Ned Stark, was executed. "Sometimes duty is the death of love," Tyrion retorts. "You are the shield who guards the realms of man."
Tyrion is asking Jon to kill Daenerys, but Jon won't have it. Tyrion asks what Daenerys will do to Jon, the rightful heir to the throne, and his sisters, who know he's the rightful heir. Sansa will never bend the knee, he warns. "She doesn't get to choose," Jon says.
"No, but you do," Tyrion exclaims, "and you have to choose now."
People love talking smack about Game of Thrones, but this was an A+ scene. HBO, if you end up remaking the season, please leave this scene in.
Jon walks over to the Red Keep to see Daenerys. Drogon is standing guard. Drogon eyes down Jon, but decides he's cool. Daenerys, in a scene almost identical to her Qarth vision in season 2, surveys the Red Keep. She grabs hold of one of the Iron Throne's swords. Jon approaches.
Jon pleads with her to pardon Tyrion. She says she can't. "We can't hide behind small mercies," she says. This is a different Dany from last episode; she's assured of her actions, but not in a crazy way. Jon says they're trying to build a world of mercy. Trust me, Daenerys reckons, she knows what is good. They embrace. She tells him they'll break the wheel together.
"You are my queen, now and forever," he whispers solemnly. They kiss -- and Jon stabs her. With a dagger. To her heart. Which she needed to live.
This was actually a deeply affecting scene. Though she refused to free Tyrion, Daenerys showed off her warmer side as she tried to bask in victory alongside Jon. This made her petrified rictus of betrayal all the more poignant. Jon, crying, lays her down. Our last vision of Daenerys is the grieving look she gives her most trusted ally.
Daenerys' death roused more than my feeble emotions, as it also awoke Drogon. He flies into the Keep, surveys the scene and gets his dragonbreath ready. Jon prepares for his second death, but Drogon doesn't burn him. Instead he melts the Iron Throne. Drogon picks Daenerys up with his claws and flees.
Game over.
Drogon breaks the wheel.
HBO
Brandon the Broken
The second part of the episode was essentially epilogue, and takes place weeks after Daenerys' death.
It begins with Grey Worm leading Tyrion to King's Landing's Dragonpit, where Jon and Co. brought the White Walker to Cersei in season 7. There we see a gathering of Westeros' great lords: Bran, Arya and Sansa Stark are all there. Samwell Tarly is there. Robin Arryn and Yohn Royce of the Vale are there. Ser Davos Seaworth and Ser Brienne too.
We even reunite with Ser Edmure Tully, (Catelyn Stark's brother) who was taken hostage and used as a Lannister pawn after his infamously crimson wedding ceremony back season 3. All the faces you know and love.
Sansa asks where Jon is. Grey Worm says Jon must pay for his crimes, and he's pretty keen to execute Tyrion as well. What happens to Jon and Tyrion is up to the King or Queen, they decide, but there is no King or Queen.
Welp, all of Westeros' lords are here, so Tyrion asks why they don't just talk among themselves and pick a ruler? The supremely mediocre Edmure stands and starts listing his credentials, but his niece Sansa tells him to sit down. Sansa is great, and in a just world would be the one to hop, hop, hop onto the throne. Samwell suggests the people of Westeros vote, but he's quickly laughed out of the discussion.
What unites people? Tyrion poses that question to the bunch. Yeah, armies, gold and flags are cool, but have you tried stories? As he soliloquizes about tales and common folk or whatever, the camera pans around the group. You can bet whoever it stops on will be the new Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. (I had my fingers crossed for Sansa who, as mentioned, is great.)
Who has a better story, Tyrion asks, than Bran Stark?
A new era.
HBO
Bran was pushed out of the top story of a tower and lived. He was paralyzed, but learned to fly. He went beyond the wall and became the Three Eyed Raven. Now, he knows all the stories of man. He's perfect.
Tyrion asks Bran to consider it. "Why do you think I came all this way?" Bran says with all the warmth and excitement we've come to love him for. The Lords and Ladies all vote for Bran Stark -- except for Sansa. She loves him, but the North will remain an independent Kingdom, she proclaims. No Stark knees will be bent today. Bran agrees, making his first act as ruler one of naked nepotism.
It's agreed. Bran Stark is now Brandon the Broken, Lord of the Six Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm.
I watched this episode with five people and it was around this time that I heard all of their hearts breaking in quick succession. It was a symphony of cardiovascular failure. I don't imagine this will go over well with the "remake this season" crowd, but hey, we've had worse Kings.
Bran can have no children, and so his Rule cannot be passed down. Tyrion tells Grey Worm that this is the wheel-breaker that their Queen would have wanted.
Bran's second order of business is to make Tyrion his Hand. Tyrion says he doesn't deserve it, that he's not as wise as he thought he was. (Nice to hear him admit this, because he sure has been a chump this whole season.) Bran says Tyrion doesn't want to be Hand, but he doesn't want to be King, so it's a perfect combination. Grey Worm is furious and demands justice.
"He just got it," Bran decrees. "He's made many terrible mistakes. He's going to spend the rest of his life fixing them."
King Stark.
Helen Sloan/HBO
A Dream of Spring
After the scene in which Bran the Broken is anointed, Tyrion, now the Hand, goes to see Jon, now the prisoner. I couldn't help but think their dialogue was directed at the audience as much as it was to progress the story.
Jon learns that he's being sent to The Wall to take the black. In the absence of Wildlings and White Walkers, the Night's Watch is now a home for "bastards and broken men." The Unsullied wanted him dead, while Arya and Sansa wanted him to walk free.
"No one is very happy, which means it's a good compromise I suppose," Tyrion says. This line reminded me of Inglorious Basterds, which ends with Quentin Tarantino, through Brad Pitt's character, telling the audience: "This might be my masterpiece." The next exchange between Tyrion and Jon struck me as showrunners D.B Weiss and David Benioff talking directly to their audience, elements of which have become hostile to them..
Jon: "Was it right? What I did?" Tyrion: "What we did." Jon: "It didn't feel right." Tyrion: "Ask me in 10 years."
From here the remainder of the episode was like an extended credits scene where we got to see the characters' happily-ever-after moments.
The new Small Council.
HBO
Jon says his farewells to the Starks. He tells Sansa that the people of Winterfell could have no better ruler than Ned Stark's daughter. He tells Arya to visit him at the Wall. She says she won't -- because she's sailing "west of Westeros," where the Known World ends. Jon apologizes to Bran for not being there for him in his time of need. "You were exactly where you were supposed to be," Bran says. Classic Bran.
We then see Ser Brienne reading The Book of Brothers, in which the deeds of the great Kingsguard knights are recorded. Jaime was thoroughly owned by Joffrey back in season 4 for his sparse entry in the book, but Ser Brienne sees to it that Jaime's deeds were known. She records his exploits over the years, and ends it with: "Died protecting his Queen."
Next up is a small council meeting, headed by Tyrion. It starts with Grand Maester Samwell presenting Tyrion with a tome, a written history of The Great War and The Last War. The name of this tome? A Song of Fire and Ice. Bronn, who just two episodes ago had threatened Tyrion with death, is now Master of Coin. Ser Davos is Master of Ships. They, along with Ser Brienne and Ser Podrick, talk about rebuilding the city and quarrel over whether they should prioritize ships or brothels. Maybe we don't deserve peace after all.
The show closes as we follow the Stark kids to their new adventures.
Sansa adorns her mother's colors and wears the crown of Winterfell as a crowd dubs her the Queen of the North. Arya sets sail to the west of Westeros in a Direwolf-branded ship.
Jon is greeted by Tormund Giantsbane at the wall and, putting to rest one of the darkest storylines in TV history, is reunited with Ghost. This is not a drill: Jon is here to murder his Queen and pat his wolf -- and he's all out of Queens to murder.
The only ending that matters.
HBO
The first scene of Game of Thrones saw brothers of the Night's Watch venturing north of the wall, where they were murdered by White Walkers. The last ever shot of Game of Thrones was Jon, along with a squad of wildlings, riding north of Castle Black into those same woods.
Were you satisfied by the conclusion? If not, don't fret. George RR Martin should have the final books completed in the next two or three... decades.
And if you want to see the memes and the straight fire from Twitter, read on.
Spoilers incoming!
So that was definitely an episode of television. I don't know where to start. Let's break it up by sections.
The opening of this episode was strong. We had Dany turn up with an absolutely show-stopping entrance...
And after a bit of discussion and a walk through the carnage, Tyrion Lannister gave up his brooch. He didn't wanna be the hand/sheriff no more.
Then there was a lengthy, but also pretty well-acted scene where Tyrion Lannister and Jon Snow reasoned out the pros and cons of absolutely stabbing Daenerys Targaryen in the back for her insane war crimes.
Jon Snow did the same tortured "what should I do with this moral quandary" face he's been doing for eight long seasons, and then he did what he always does: the right thing. In this case murder by loving knife in the belly.
That was bad enough (the stabbing I mean). Then the worst part: Drogon's mourning period. Which involved a lot of fire and a complete melting of the Iron Throne.
Drogon is mourning. I am mourning. I'm a mess! Drogon said if my mother can't sit on it, no one can. F*ck all yall. #GameOfThronesFinale
At this point, things seemed good. Good episode, decent-ish writing, good performances. This was the high point of the episode. The Dany death scene was great, Drogon's reaction was great. Sweet, we're getting the Jon Snow ending, right?
Wrong.
This is the point where things went off the rails.
Bran Stark -- perhaps the most irritating character in the show's long history was now the owner of a completely melted Iron Throne. He got the throne by everyone just sort of agreeing he should be king in one of the weirdest scenes in Game of Thrones history.
As you might expect, people were upset. Wrote one Twitter user: "I really spent 8 years watching this show for bran to be king, dany dead and jon back at the nightwatch???"
And from that point on we were in epilogue mode. Jon Snow was back in the newly established Night's Watch. Arya decided to go on high-seas adventures. The north became its own kingdom, meaning Sansa got to be queen in the north. Sure, whatever. That makes sense.
But as the credits rolled, there was an empty sense of disappointment. That's it, the show is over. Are we going to get a spin-off with Arya Stark as assassin on the high seas or Jon Snow adventuring in the north? Maybe, but this wasn't the ending we were expecting. It all feels a bit strange.
George RR Martin has apparently joined forced with FromSoftware, creators of the git gud Soulsborne collection of videogames like Bloodborne, Dark Souls, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. But don’t assume it’s going to be set in the world of Game of Thrones, as rumours have it that this game - titled Great Rune, supposedly - is set in the Norse world, exploring Norse mythology and all its dark legends.
Martin himself confirmed in a blog post that he’s “consulted on a videogame out of Japan”, yet before this official confirmation there were already reports of the collaboration surfacing earlier this year. But we won’t have to depend on rumours for long, as other sources say that the game is going to be shown off at this year’s E3… can I get a hell yeah? As it’s focus is the Norse mythos, like God of War and the rumoured Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok, a big part of the game is going to be exploring its open world on horseback, a big change from previous FromSoftware games which traditionally have you fighting and running around on foot.
Whisperings began circling on the internet in early 2019 and went into a lot more detail about what players can expect: you’ll be invading kingdoms and stealing the powers of their rulers after a FromSoftware-style battle, which will then serve you well when you have to fight other kings. All I can say is that I hope Martin hasn’t forgotten that he’s also got the Game of Thrones book series to finish, as after thatGame of Thrones ending there’s a hell of a lot of things people are going to want to Martin write (and justify) in his own words…
Here’s the other E3 2019 games you can expect to see this year, or look below to see our review of Sekiro!
