I have mixed thoughts about the finale. The first half was so quick and full of so many fan moments that it almost felt like it was fan fiction, but the second half was very well done and they pulled off two hyped up scenes very well.
I have a feeling
Brienne didn't actually kill Stannis
because it wouldn't make sense for him to die after everything that happened last episode. Plus there's the famous rule that if you don't see the body or the kill itself, don't assume the person's dead.
The Arya scene was a little bit rushed, but overall it was very effective. Although the very end confused me - how is it possible that she saw
her own face on that man?
Isn't the whole point of the Faceless Men that they take DEAD people's faces?
I'm happy they remembered the
Sam going to the Citadel
plot because I was hoping that's what he was going to do this season. But better late than never.
Dany's scene was almost straight out of the book, so no complaints there. It just felt a little off because in the book, the reader goes hundreds of pages with no idea of where she is, while in the show, the viewer finds out in the next episode.
The Sansa/Theon/Myranda scene was great. Seeing
Myranda fall to her death
was so gratifying! Although I feel like a lot of non-readers are going to be confused about
Theon and Sansa's jump, and presume that they killed themselves or something
The Jaime/Myrcella scene was kind of messy. That conversation was SO unnecessary and it didn't really make sense that Myrcella would even know. Plus, while I like how Ellaria was still plotting, I think
Myrcella dying
happened too early in the series, and should have been saved for next season at least. I would have much preferred a final Dorne scene like the one in the books where
Doran unveils his huge scheme
.
Cersei's scene was by far the best scene of the episode and one of the best scenes of the series. Lena Headey is always a phenomenal actress and probably my favourite actress on the show, but this was one of her best acting jobs ever. Seeing her deteriorate emotionally at such a slow pace was so powerful, and she somehow made it that you felt bad for Cersei even though you're supposed to hate her. She BETTER get an Emmy win for this episode
Nothing much to say about the Jon scene, as it was also pretty much straight out of the books (except I guess they're not doing the whole
pink letter
thing). But the "Previously On" segment trolled so hard by implying that
Benjen
would be returning
I'll also point out that they pretty much confirmed the theory that
Melisandre will revive Jon
by having her conveniently return to Castle Black 30 seconds before the main scene.
Overall, the episode was a bit messy at times (which is to be expected when they're packing so much plot into 60 minutes), but it was still pretty good as a whole
