The last season of the Game of Thrones has prompted public outcry and culminated in a petition (signed by almost 1 million outraged viewers) to disqualify the entire season and re-shoot a new one. The ferocity of the debate is in itself a proof that the ideological stakes must be high.

The dissatisfaction turned on a couple of points: bad scenario (under the pressure to quickly end the series, the complexity of the narrative was simplified), bad psychology (Daenerys’ turn to “Mad Queen” was not justified by her character development), etc.

One of the few intelligent voices in the debate was that of the author Stephen King who noted that dissatisfaction was not generated by the bad ending but the fact of the ending itself. In our epoch of series which in principle could go on indefinitely, the idea of narrative closure becomes intolerable.

It is true that, in the series’ swift denouement, a strange logic takes over, a logic that does not violate credible psychology but rather the narrative presuppositions of a TV series. In the last season, it is simply the preparation for a battle, mourning and destruction after the battle, and of the battler itself in all its meaninglessness – much more realistic for me than the usual gothic melodramatic plots.

Season eight stages three consecutive struggles. The first one is between humanity and its inhuman “Others” (the Night Army from the North led by the Night King); between the two main groups of humans (the evil Lannisters and the coalition against them led by Daenerys and Starks); and the inner conflict between Daenerys and the Starks.

Game of Thrones characters who died in the battle at Winterfell Show all 7 1 /7 Game of Thrones characters who died in the battle at Winterfell Game of Thrones characters who died in the battle at Winterfell Eddison Tollet/Dolorous Edd One of the most loyal and comical characters on the show, Lord Commander Dolorous Edd was stabbed by a wight after saving his fellow Night's Watchman, Samwell Tarly. And now his watch has ended. HBO Game of Thrones characters who died in the battle at Winterfell Lyanna Mormont What a legend. Fans were sad to see Lady Mormonth go, but she definitely got one of the most epic deaths in the episode. After refusing to run from a charging wight giant, the dying girl uses a final ounce of strength – even as the giant is crushing her body in his hand – and stabs him right through the eye. Her death was later confirmed when the Night King raised her as a wight. Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO Game of Thrones characters who died in the battle at Winterfell Beric Dondarrion It was a pretty safe bet that Lord Beric, who had died and been resurrected by his loyal friend Thoros of Myr a whopping six times, would meet his final death in this episode, given that Thoros wasn’t around to save him anymore. He was stabbed multiple times by wights as he held them off to save Arya and The Hound. HBO Game of Thrones characters who died in the battle at Winterfell Theon Greyjoy Theon has enjoyed one of the best character arcs in the history of Game of Thrones. After first appearing on the show as a sycophantic brat at Winterfell, he was kidnapped and tortured into becoming “Reek” for the amusement of Ramsay Bolton. Once he was rescued, he managed to redeem himself after a long journey back to Winterfell (saving his sister along the way), where he pledged to fight alongside the Starks and protect Bran. He kept his word, fighting off dozens if not hundreds of wights before the Night King and his posse turned up. Bran called him “a good man” and thanked him, upon which Theon charged at the Night King knowing his death was inevitable. HBO Game of Thrones characters who died in the battle at Winterfell The Night King Technically he was already dead, but the Night King still counts given the entire build-up to episode three had been about destroying him. Right as he reached for his sword to kill Bran, Arya comes out of nowhere and attempts to plunge Littlefinger’s Valyrian steel dagger into his back. He catches her by the throat, but Arya is too smart for him. She drops the dagger into her free hand and stabs him in the stomach instead, triggering the deaths of all the wights and Wight Walkers the Night King created (literally all of them). HBO Game of Thrones characters who died in the battle at Winterfell Melisandre At least fans were prepared for this one. Given her knack for predicting future events, Melisandre saying she would die “tonight” at the Battle of Winterfell gave fans a pretty good idea of what to expect. Her final prophecy did indeed come true: after she used the power of the Lord of Light to help the Army of the Living, Melisandre walked into the battlefield, removed her magic necklace, and embraced her death. HBO / Helen Sloan Game of Thrones characters who died in the battle at Winterfell Ser Jorah Mormont Jorah Mormont had fully redeemed his betrayal of Dany by the end of episode three (some would argue he did when he saved her life back in series six). After she fell from Drogon as he was overwhelmed by wights, Jorah saved her from imminent death and ultimately died of his injuries right as the White Walker army was defeated. It was one of the most moving scenes of the episode, with Dany mourning while Drogon watches over them.

This is why the battles in season eight follow a logical path from an external opposition to the inner split: the defeat of the inhuman Night Army, the defeat of Lannisters and the destruction of King’s Landing; the last struggle between the Starks and Daenerys – ultimately between traditional “good” nobility (Starks) faithfully protecting their subjects from bad tyrants, and Daenerys as a new type of a strong leader, a kind of progressive bonapartist acting on behalf of the underprivileged.

The stakes in the final conflict are thus: should the revolt against tyranny be just a fight for the return of the old kinder version of the same hierarchical order, or should it develop into the search for a new order that is needed?

The finale combines the rejection of a radical change with an old anti-feminist motif at work in Wagner. For Wagner, there is nothing more disgusting than a woman who intervenes in political life, driven by the desire for power. In contrast to male ambition, a woman wants power in order to promote her own narrow family interests or, even worse, her personal caprice, incapable as she is of perceiving the universal dimension of state politics.

The same femininity which, within the close circle of family life, is the power of protective love, turns into obscene frenzy when displayed at the level of public and state affairs. Recall the lowest point in the dialogue of Game of Thrones when Daenerys tells Jon that if he cannot love her as a queen then fear should reign – the embarrassing, vulgar motif of a sexually unsatisfied woman who explodes into destructive fury.

But – let’s bite our sour apple now – what about Daenerys’ murderous outbursts? Can the ruthless killing of the thousands of ordinary people in King’s Landing really be justified as a necessary step to universal freedom? At this point, we should remember that the scenario was written by two men.

Daenerys as the Mad Queen is strictly a male fantasy, so the critics were right when they pointed out that her descent into madness was psychologically not justified. The view of Daenerys with mad-furious expression flying on a dragon and burning houses and people expresses patriarchal ideology with its fear of a strong political woman.

The final destiny of the leading women in Game of Thrones fits these coordinates. Even if the good Daenerys wins and destroys the bad Cersei, power corrupts her. Arya (who saved them all by single-handedly killing the Night King) also disappears, sailing to the West of the West (as if to colonise America).

The one who remains (as the queen of the autonomous kingdom of the North) is Sansa, a type of women beloved by today’s capitalism: she combines feminine softness and understanding with a good dose of intrigue, and thus fully fits the new power relations. This marginalisation of women is a key moment of the general liberal-conservative lesson of the finale: revolutions have to go wrong, they bring new tyranny, or, as Jon put it to Daenerys:

“The people who follow you know that you made something impossible happen. Maybe that helps them believe that you can make other impossible things happen: build a world that’s different from the shit one they’ve always known. But if you use dragons to melt castles and burn cities, you’re no different.”

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Consequently, Jon kills out of love (saving the cursed woman from herself, as the old male-chauvinist formula says) the only social agent in the series who really fought for something new, for a new world that would put an end to old injustices.

So justice prevailed – but what kind of justice? The new king is Bran: crippled, all-knowing, who wants nothing – with the evocation of the insipid wisdom that the best rulers are those who do not want power. A dismissive laughter that ensues when one of the new elite proposes a more democratic selection of the king tells it all.