[Spoilers for Game Of Thrones season 8, episode 4.]
Last night’s episode of Game Of Thrones wanted us to question the heroism of Daenerys Targaryen, a character long assumed to be one of the few truly virtuous people with a shot at ruling Westeros. Instead, Jon Snow was the one who ended up looking like an unstable monster when he unceremoniously ditched his direwolf buddy, Ghost, before riding off to war.
The scene, which was just one small part of Jon saying goodbye to a bunch of human characters (all less important than Ghost), might’ve come and gone too quickly for the show to wring real drama from it, but Twitter, which never lets a cute dog or cat go unnoticed, has been wallowing in misery ever since.
Because Jon—who should definitely be the next character to meet a gruesome end as punishment for his crimes—wouldn’t say goodbye with the level of respect owed to such a faithful companion, others have been doing it on behalf of the show.
There are many different reasons to be upset by what happened. Ghost, a giant albino wolf, is much cooler than stupid dragons and thus far more deserving of Thrones’ CGI budget; the send-off could at least have been tearfully protracted enough to serve as a fond farewell for a cast member beloved by any viewer with a soul; and, most of all, Jon should have been chastised for treating his supposed best bud like he’s disposable.
Sure, Jon leaving his wounded direwolf pal behind is meant to show him fully embracing his newly discovered Targaryen heritage at the expense of his Stark roots. That doesn’t mean he isn’t a total asshole, though.
Even worse, now that the show is dividing its characters’ loyalties between an increasingly authoritarian Daenerys and the kind of guy who does the medieval fantasy equivalent of throwing a stick into the woods and peeling out in his car, Game Of Thrones’ ending appears too grim to bear at all. The realm, it seems, will be ruled by either a tyrant or a bad wolf dad. Both are equally horrible prospects.
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