Here's What Fans to Say About That 'Game of Thrones' Ending

Jordyn Taylor
Photo credit: HBO
Photo credit: HBO

From Men's Health

Warning: The following post contains spoilers for the Game of Thrones finale. If you don't want to know what happens, turn back now!

That's a wrap for Game of Thrones. After eight seasons, the epic HBO fantasy series aired its final episode on Sunday night, and fans finally found out who "won" in the end: Bran Stark. The finale also tied up the surviving characters' storylines in neat little bows, although it did fail to address a plot hole or two.

As with the rest of the season, fan reactions to the finale were...mixed, shall we say? (Which is frustrating, because Game of Thrones is pretty incredible.) Here's what people thought of the series' highly-anticipated ending.

The first big event of the Game of Thrones finale? Jon Snow killing Daenerys Targaryen after a very compelling lecture from an imprisoned Tyrion Lannister. Jon finds Dany alone in the throne room-which is awfully convenient, given how she's often surrounded by her staff!-and pledges his allegiance to her. As they kiss, Jon pulls a fake-out and fatally stabs Dany in the chest.

A lot of people saw Dany's death coming, but assumed Arya would have something to do with it, given Melisandre's "green eyes" prophecy. With Cersei dead, Dany was the only green-eyed character left for Arya to kill. Unfortunately, that became a plot line that just...never really went anywhere!

The saddest part of the scene might have been Drogon, Dany's CGI dragon, trying to wake his mother. It was definitely reminiscent of arguably the saddest scene in cinematic history: Simba trying to wake Mufasa in Disney's The Lion King.

With Dany dead (and the Iron Throne burned by Drogon's fire breath), it was time to decide on a new ruler! Somewhere in and around King's Landing, representatives from the remaining noble houses (along with their plastic water bottles) gather for a big important meeting. One of the most notable fan reactions was to Robin Arryn, the Starks' creepy breast-feeding cousin who...SOMEHOW BECAME HOT?

But let's get down to business. When Tyrion is brought out before the panel, he convinces them to elect as leader the person among them with the best "story." Which, in his opinion, is...Bran Stark? The guy who makes zero facial expressions and hardly ever uses his time-traveling powers in helpful ways? Surprisingly, everyone agrees to vote "aye" for Bran, except Sansa, who asks to rule the North as an independent kingdom. (But not before creepily reminding everyone that Bran can't father children!)

Bran asks Tyrion to be his hand, and the last Lannister reluctantly accepts.

All hail Bran "The Broken," ruler of the six kingdoms. Should we maybe come up with a better name for the guy? Apparently not-we have more storylines to complete! Brienne of Tarth documents Jaime Lannister's good deeds in the Book of Brothers, inspiring an incredible new Game of Thrones meme.

Jon, imprisoned for killing Dany, learns that Bran is sending him to the Night's Watch-or rather, a lifetime of bro'ing out with Ghost and Tormund beyond the Wall. Before he leaves, he says goodbye to his surviving siblings-at which point we learn that Arya plans to explore whatever is "west of Westeros." Um, can we get more of that content, please?!

Back at Winterfell, we see Sansa stepping into her new role as Queen in the North. Fans were all about it:

And up at the Wall, in arguably the most emotional scene of the entire finale, Jon Snow is reunited with Tormund Giantsbane, a bunch of other wildlings, and...Ghost! Finally, after his lackluster goodbye to the direwolf in episode four, Jon gets to give his very good boy a much-needed pat.

The episode ends with Jon and the wildlings riding off into the forest. Hope there's not another Night King in there-remember that guy?

Sure, people had issues with the finale Game of Thrones season, but one fan pointed out that the Starks' new roles make for a "perfect ending, if you think about it."

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