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Introduction:

It seems that one of the persistent features of being in the Game of Thrones fandom is becoming wrestling with recurrent waves of anger and incredulity. The last time I wrote one of these essays was back in the tail end of Season 5, which seems like a muffled cry indeed compared to the torrents of online opinion about the events of the penultimate episode, let alone the Battle of the Bastards or the Wight Hunt.

That being said, I do think the reaction to the penultimate episode was as strong as it was because it felt like the summation of a huge number of plotlines that failed to cohere in a satisfying manner, and because (for the moment) it’s the only conclusion we have access to.

But I think there is a reason for fans who were let down by Episode 5 to have some hope: there’s good reason to guess that the endgame in King’s Landing will be very, very different from book to show.