it all would come down to what jon decided to do. it was his choice. becoming lord commander was not something he asked for, neither was defacto leader of the wildlings. now, on top of everything, the last male targaryen heir to the iron throne? he didnt ask for any of it. fate was thrust upon him at every turn and when finally faced with a choice that only he could make, he decided to take tyrions advice and act quickly and swiftly, just like when he hung his predecessor to lord commander and his conspirators. jon had never been afraid or reluctant to duel out justice when it was called for, but he has been a reluctant leader. a brave fighter but a humble diplomat. he allowed himself to love again after ygritte and not only did the woman turn out to be his sister but another tyrant leader and threat to his family. a threat to his crown! he was the only one who could kill daenerys but did he ever imagine in a million years that he would end up where he began? being sent back to the nights watch, exiled from westeros with his secrets intact. maybe he thought that it would turn out differently, just a little glimmer in the back of his mind that lured him with the thought of being king, all he had to do was do what he had always done, which were the needs of the many over the needs of the one.

thank goodness for school, for i have learned that a quality of good feedback is to give it promptly. as promptly as jon ruminated tyrions advice. now that i have written out that summary and processed some of the information i can see where the show wanted to go. where maybe the eventual novel will go, if its ever finished (im sure he will finish it, possibly). but the rumors were true, this finale felt rushed. if they werent contractually obligated to deliver the final season then maybe they could have ended it earlier, with the toasting of kings landing or even later, with jons fated choice. assassinating daenerys and drogon carrying her to their ultimate destination. have a final, possibly even shorter ninth season that fleshes out the aftermath and explains some of these choices. i thought arya had given up the fight after being convinced by clegane that her role was over. still, she wanted to save that family, unable to save herself. then after losing them, the horse appeared. she could have disappeared to start a life with the blacksmith who knows! i dont need to know! so she stuck around? why? she didnt serve any purpose! why did no one fight for jon at the hearing? not even bran/not-bran! i suppose the raven was sick of living underground in the roots of a tree for thousands of years. and i get it he was in his throne the entire time it was destiny all of it! these are arguments the producers can make. but it needed more breathing room, man. i know why sansa decided to keep the throne in the north for herself but couldnt there have been a conversation about it with someone? with brienne maybe? instead of so many long shots of people looking grim and dramatic and why did brienne stay in kings landing isnt she sworn to sansa? these are the things i understood but i want to see them give me my candy!

im lost where am i oh jon. poor jon. he is so sad in the prison, like shit if only i wasnt such an introvert and could talk to other girls besides crazy redheads and my siblings. so his destiny was to lead the wildlings to a new land. again, thats fine, i get it. i understand all of it! but it could have been done better. even an episode or two more instead of having dinklage orchestrate the entire affair with his bumbling inner circle of survivors. jon reminds me of toranaga from clavells shogun. the entire novel he would argue everyone on how he didnt want to be shogun, supreme military ruler of japan, superseding even the emperor himself, when at the end he revealed it was all a ruse and that his plan worked and he, would finally become shogun! jon didnt have a plan, he just acted. a wildling trait. you could have taken out the entire subplot about him being a targaryen! he could have been devout to dany right up until she roasted kings landing, and then his simple convincing to act so callously could have been more plausible. now hes just poor sad jon, king of a dwindled and forgotten force, not to mention renegade from his nights watch duties! that wall isnt going to rebuild itself, says king bran. jesus christ.