For me, TV shows are kind of a measuring stick of time where I create notches of memories. I remember the times I would stick myself in front of the television in my parents’ apartment to watch whichever Star Trek show was on. Even now, when I come across reruns those moments of myself, frozen in time, rise to the surface and I can remember the red Safeway Select Cola and the chocolate chips as I watched the U.S.S. Enterprise spin out and explode into the blackness of space. It was traumatic and shocking. Several characters I loved were instantly dead.
Luckily, in that instance, all my favorite characters came back to life in the next few moments and by the end of the episode, all was right with my fictional universe. But not all franchises can say the same.
The end of Game of Thrones comes with its own measuring stick. Eight years is a big gap of time for anyone to get wholly invested in something. When I was doing research for this piece, I utilized my Facebook community to get thoughts on the end of Thrones. Now, let me begin by saying I’m not exactly a popular person that people flock to. I’m not being mean to myself here, it’s just the truth. I’ve gotten used to the fact that just because I put something out there in the world it doesn’t mean people will think anything of it. And that’s okay. But when I asked my community what their thoughts were on the second to last episode of Game of Thrones the comments section lit up.
I had people reach out to me that I hadn’t spoken to in years to express their like or dislike. It was a fascinating thing to watch. I loved the response but I was also confused. When I mentioned this to a friend of mine she said something like, “Eight years is a long time! People have gotten invested and they have very intense feelings about it.”
She’s not wrong. I can still remember sitting on the couch in my old house when the Red Wedding happened. My hands clasped over my mouth trying to muffle my horrified scream as events unfolded. I was filled with rage over the death of this fictional family. I still can’t watch that episode.
Despite the slight lackluster end of the series, it’s fair to say that the show bookended itself properly. Despite the shoddy writing from the creative staff, the show did one thing that I can’t fault it for. It gave the Stark Family the victory that fans have long waited for.
Back in Season One, the show proved one thing: everything is temporary and nothing lasts forever. When Nedd Stark was beheaded, the show’s story shattered a family, but in doing so, also created a sprawling storyline that has been the foundation of a spectacular journey for young, green characters to rise to ranks of adulthood.
Arya Stark, Sansa Stark and Jon Snow are three coming of age stories set in the backdrop of a two feuding families that slit throats left and right.
The Stark family storyline has been the meat and potatoes for the majority of the franchise and is probably the most rewarding part of seeing this series end. It is one of the things the writers stayed true to in Season Eight. For many fans, I believe that has grounded them. Despite being a fantasy, family is one of the most relatable and honest topics you can draw upon.
Coming into the finale, I was nervous that after all this, Game of Thrones was going to become the new Dexter or the new Lost.
Luckily for myself at least, the memories I have this season, despite its faults, didn’t kill the thing that made it most relatable.
