A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

In a final season largely defined by fierce debate and division among fans, the Bryan Cogman–penned “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” was a precious unifying force, a collective love letter to the characters who’ve occupied such an outsize place in our hearts and minds for the better part of a decade. Tormund’s Giantsbane origin story reminded us to laugh. Arya and Gendry’s lovemaking reminded us that we’ve watched many of these people grow from children into adults. Jaime’s trial and weirwood-side chat with Bran reminded us that we must all confront our demons. Sam gifting Jorah Heartsbane and Sansa greeting Theon like family reminded us that once we confront them, we can find some version of peace and purpose, if not absolution. Jon’s confession to Daenerys reminded us that we can’t run from who we are. And in one of the signature scenes of the entire series, Jaime’s knighting of Brienne reminded us of the incomparable power of finding someone in this world who sees you clearly, trying to change for that person, and letting that person change you, too. The ultimate conclusion of Jaime’s arc in the ensuing episodes at once robs this moment of some of its power and creates a time-capsule-like effect that extends to the hour as a whole: For many viewers, this now feels like the episode in which we really said goodbye to the characters we so deeply cherished. They embraced life in the face of death, and we embraced all that we’d shared with them. As Podrick sang “Jenny of Oldstones” and the accompanying gutting montage flashed on our screens, we felt, to an almost existential degree, the truth of the words Pod delivered: We never wanted to leave.