Movies & TV / Columns

Thoughts on Game of Thrones’ End And The Future of the Franchise

May 20, 2019 | Posted by Steve Gustafson
Game of Thrones Finale Tyrion Image Credit: HBO

It’s done. The journey is over and we can now sit back and nitpick all the things we didn’t like and brag to our friends about the things we would have done better when it comes toGame of Thrones.

This column is a cheat because I’m writing this hours before the finale airs. I can only speculate how the finale will come off but judging by the posts on social media, the expectations are too great to meet and disappointment is inevitable.

Still, I have space to fill so let’s talk about Game of Thrones stuff.

Leading up to the finale, people were, surprisingly, confused about Daenerys’s actions in destroying Kings Landing. Nevermind that she told everyone what she was going to from the start and they’ve been dropping clues along the way. We can only hope the last episode did a little something to appease the people that need everything written out clearly for them.

Like any ending, we want to know what happens to those we grew to care about, to love, to follow to their stories completion. Jon, Sansa, Arya, Tyrion, Bran….well, maybe not Bran. It seems like they have plenty of characters to juggle and finding the right way to end their arc is a big task.

The most important question is sitting on the throne when the episode end? The obvious choice is Sansa but will they go that route? Will they pull Jon in or maybe Gendry gets a last minute boost? Or maybe a different swerve altogether?

After all this is done, attention will turn to the spin-offs that are in some phase of production. HBO has at least three spin-off series planned that are based on the books of George R.R. Martin, led off by a prequel series that’s rumored to have already started shooting and could air sometime in 2020. Martin, who has informally been referring to the prequel as “The Long Night,” is an executive producer.

According to HBO, and Martin’s personal blog, the prequel show will take place near the end of the Age of Heroes, which was anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 years before the events of the current Game of Thrones series.

HBO released a summary saying: “Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend, only one thing is for sure: It’s not the story we think we know.”

Nothing else is really know about the other two spin-offs but feel free to guess in the comments below. But until then, we can celebrate or brood about the finale. What did you think?