A Bittersweet Ending

My thoughts on the nature of George R.R. Martin's ending to A Song of Ice & Fire and HBO's Game of Thrones

[TheNetherlandDwarf]

I'm 100% calling Arya sailing off to the West as Martin's nod to Tolkien.

[illicitconfusion]

everyone dies... the Nights king sits on the iron accidently cutting himself on a valyrian steel sword, killing himself.... bitter sweet.

[margaretchoffel]

the sweet part will be men will win out, the White Walkers defeated, and Sam as the Granmaester will tell the story about the Prince Who Was Promised, Jon Snow, now king... However the other part of the ending is said to be "bitter" as opposed to "sad." Sad and bitter are not the same things, the first is about mourning and perhaps sacrifice, but one can feel proud... But bitter is something else... It leaves a bad taste in the mouth.. 1] I think the Starks will be gone.. Jon will rule as a Targaryen even if he does still have Stark blood... I think there is a reason why he keeps saying he isn't at Stark, and it is more complicated than just being a bastard which he may not be. I think Bran will survive, but so changed that he is no longer a Stark either.. I see Arya dying in some fashion to save Jon, but not before she does in Little Finger.. Sansa will die or worse go mad like Cersie, her smile when Ramsey got eaten was too like that of our current queen, but not before she realizes Little Finger has played her like a harp once again. .. Winterfell will be no more save for the crypts.. Daney will die with her dragons, but not unhappily because she will be with Drogo and her baby.. Lyanna M. might end up as Jon's queen which would be sweet. Tyrion could end up dying to save Sansa, which would be very bitter for her because too late she will realize she rejected a good man as husband because he was deformed, for a very twisted souls in Ramsey and Little Finger.

[pandabear]

I think Dany will be killed, Jon will be King, and Arya will be found dead in the snow with needle in her hands by Jon himself at the end of a great battle. This is foreshadowed in the first chapter with Jon and Arya, where Jon says "You’ll be sewing all through winter. When the spring thaw comes, they will find your body with a needle still locked tight between your frozen fingers.” Oh, and imagine if she is wearing someone else's face. SO when they find her body they will say "Who is she?" and the reply will be "no one". Arya will finally become "no one" as Jacagen said. Now THAT will be a bittersweet ending. Arya was always so close yet so far from reuniting with her family.

[ingabaranauskiene]

If ASOIAF is inspired by the War of Roses, than indeed it has to end the same way only with a gender reverse, because Daneyris is clearly playing the role of Henry VII Tudor and John Snow has to become a male version of Elisabeth of York. The bitterness can be achieved in two ways. Their marriage may turn to be unhappy but the audience will find it hard to accept it, because both of them are so attractive. So I think they will start to love each other, though not from the first sight probably, but then they will have to die. John may die fighting the White Walkers and Daneyris may die in childbirth. And then Tyrion will be left to rule as a regent and to take care of their baby and of to restore the ruined world of seven kingdoms and this will be the dream of spring.

[Jack-fgkx]

I don't think it will come to Jon and Dany married, on Iron Throne, having kids and all that.

[RukiaBlackBlazer]

THE BITTERSWEET ENDING IS THAT DANNI CAN'T HAVE ANY CHILDREN & THE DRAGONS MAY ALL DIE,
WINTER FELL WILL BE NO MORE,

[ShowlehIam]

Gendry will be king. He and Arya get married. Everyone else get's killed. I think George likes surprises and unexpected endings.

[cliffefc]

There's different levels of bittersweet and this is just too sweet for game of thrones, lord of the rings bittersweet is low level it has more sweet than bitter, game of thrones on the other hand is a lot lot darker than lord of the rings, it ll be more bitter than sweet

[nanoadamxd]

Bitter-sweet.1. Night King Defeated but leaves the north ravaged with so many deaths from noble houses, NW and the wall gone. 2. Jon Snow & Danny ends up together or not but one of them will die for the realm. 3. Bran although reunited with his siblings does not stay at winterfell (also the castle maybe in ruins) simply because he is now the 3 eyed raven. where did his predecessor stay? in a cave binded to a tree.(maybe bran is gonna be luckier and not confined to a cave but he is still a cripple) 4. Arya, if she survives the war, do u really think the FM will not bother her anymore? she may not stay also. 5. no more iron throne. will be like a United nation stuff. 6. too much death and destruction to the realm with too much to rebuild that will make who ever will lead the people curse all the known gods for the hardship he/she will endure. 7. a lot of bodies to burn but they'l say, oh crap we used all the wildfire. 8. dothraki staying in westeros where horseshit will amplify the already shitty smell of kingslanding. 9. somehow things will not workout for sam to be a maester since what he always wanted was to become a wizard and he wants to keep baby sam and gilly, he might probably end up like qyburn.

[okhadraws]

Perfect example of a bittersweet ending for me is Princess Mononoke. I feel optimistic about the main characters, but I feel bad about the magic of Westeros (also dragons).

[Nashr]

I think, Dany tends to underestimate her enemies also.

[twstf]

the comments are dark and full of spoilers!

[peterhanes]

I personally think the Jon, Tyrion and Daenerys ending is actually not that bittersweet. You are right that the bad guys don't always win on Game of Thrones. However, I will ask you this: What have Jon or Dany done to prove you are good rulers?

Remember that George RR Martin famously commented on Aragorn's reign as King by asking what his Tax Policy was.

I know it sounds crazy, but I think the series will end with Sansa Stark and Aegon Targaryen on the Throne. Each of them got what they wanted, with them on the Throne. It turns out Rhaegar was right when he said Aegon owned the Song of Ice and Fire. However, to get this, Aegon will have to kill his own Aunt Daenerys, and Jon will die as the Champion of the White Walkers. Sansa, meanwhile, will have lost most of her family except, perhaps, for Rickon.

PS: Also, the real bittersweetness of the Lord of the Rings is the end of the Elvish culture. Sauron was defeated, but magic passed from Middle-Earth.