Season Six of Game of Thrones has ended and I have a lot to say about it. As I may have mentioned (I don't quite remember), Season 5 was my least favorite season and I came into this one, given that almost everything would be off-book, with a lot of hesitation. It could have gone horribly wrong. It didn't. While I won't say the season was perfect, it did produce some of the best television I think I've ever seen.
It did some other interesting things as well. Because the showrunners are still trying to tell a comprehensive story, they had to delve into some traditional storytelling techniques. Because they were working beyond the book material, they were suddenly in a position to write this in their own way. To do this, there are certain things that good writers employee, methods to weave stories in ways that both make sense and please the audience.
I don't mean they pandered to the audience (okay, on occasion, maybe they did), this is more that centuries of listening to storytellers has given us certain exceptions to how stories are delivered, cadences and themes. Patterns. One of the reasons this season felt so completed and right has to do with how it had repeated patterns and themes throughout. I wanted to touch on some of them because I really dig this kind of thing.
Reversal of Fortune is one of the major themes of the season. This is always the case for some characters in the show, but in this season, it is a huge factor. In the last Inside the Episode, one of the showrunners mentioned that Jon Snow started the season as a dead man. Given that he's King in the North by the last episode, he's done pretty well for himself.
When he said this, I realized this was true for many of our major characters. Several of them started this season out at one of, if not their very lowest points. Jon is dead. Cersei, still recovering from the emotional and physical damage inflicted by the Faith watches as her daughter's dead body is brought to her. Sansa and Theon are running from Ramsay's torture and very convinced either the elements or Ramsay's dogs will kill them. Daenerys has been captured by the Dothraki and is having to listen to them idly joke about raping her.
By the last episode, Jon is King in the North. Cersei has defeated her enemies (at a cost) and crowned Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Sansa has rid the world of Ramsay and sits at the high table of Winterfell. Theon has regained his standing with his sister, most of his sense of self, and is sailing home with Dany. With them is amassed is the biggest armies we have ever seen on the show. From their lowest points to as high, as they can reach, these characters have used what they have available to them (and, admittedly, some luck) to change their lives for the better.
The truly satisfying thing about these reverses is how all of it feels earned. Sure, all of them have some help. Jon is brought back from the dead. Sansa and Theon are saved by Brienne. Cersei has Qyburn (and to a lesser extent, Jaime). Dany does have her dragons and followers. However, in most of these cases, even that help has been something they earned. Sansa's mother may be the reason she has Brienne, but Sansa still had the courage to escape and ask for help. Jon is saved because Davos is convinced he is needed (and talks Mel into doing it). Cersei shows respect to Qyburn's abilities and is basically the only person who does. And Dany did hatch those dragons and inspire the loyalty and love of the people who follow her.
Beyond the ways they are helped, each of these characters makes decisions and use their own agency to change where they are at the beginning. Jon leaves the Night's Watch and fights a very horrible battle. Sansa convinces her brother to wage that war and makes sure that he has help when he needs it. She also understands that Ramsay Bolton isn't the kind of person who can be left alive. Survives the Dothraki by understanding this is a culture where strength is admired. She is at her most haughty while she is with them because she knows any sign of weakness will be the end of her. She kills when she needs to and shows mercy to the others. Later, she remembers that her temper can get the best of he and listens to Tyrion instead of just killing everything. It seems to have paid off. Cersei tries to play by the rules and when it doesn't work, she takes matters into her own hands.
With Theon, we have an actual bigger payoff. From the very first season, Theon has been struggling with a lot of issues. As Ned Stark's hostage, he was never secure in his place. He felt half-Stalk/half-Ironborn. When he tried to act like his father's people, it backfired in the most nightmarish way possible. He lost so much of himself, was shattered as a person, and only started to regain a bit of who he was when Sansa came back into his life.
His actions are more subtle than the others but very much as significant. He chooses to go back home instead of continuing on with Sansa. He knows he has failed and that his culture doesn't accept failure, but he chooses home anyway. When he gets there and finds that his father has died, he has a chance to push his own claim for the throne, but instead chooses to support his sister. He knows she's the better option. When he supports her, he gains something he's felt he's not had in years. Yara is his family again. She becomes the embodiment of home he needed the whole time.
This isn't to say these reversals of fortune will make things easier for anyone. Each of these characters is in a far better place than the first of the season, but now the risks are higher and the falls could be massive. Many of them won their new status at great costs, costs they are yet to pay. Still, for the course of ten episodes, it's amazing to see how different things were for them.
It did some other interesting things as well. Because the showrunners are still trying to tell a comprehensive story, they had to delve into some traditional storytelling techniques. Because they were working beyond the book material, they were suddenly in a position to write this in their own way. To do this, there are certain things that good writers employee, methods to weave stories in ways that both make sense and please the audience.
I don't mean they pandered to the audience (okay, on occasion, maybe they did), this is more that centuries of listening to storytellers has given us certain exceptions to how stories are delivered, cadences and themes. Patterns. One of the reasons this season felt so completed and right has to do with how it had repeated patterns and themes throughout. I wanted to touch on some of them because I really dig this kind of thing.
Reversal of Fortune is one of the major themes of the season. This is always the case for some characters in the show, but in this season, it is a huge factor. In the last Inside the Episode, one of the showrunners mentioned that Jon Snow started the season as a dead man. Given that he's King in the North by the last episode, he's done pretty well for himself.
When he said this, I realized this was true for many of our major characters. Several of them started this season out at one of, if not their very lowest points. Jon is dead. Cersei, still recovering from the emotional and physical damage inflicted by the Faith watches as her daughter's dead body is brought to her. Sansa and Theon are running from Ramsay's torture and very convinced either the elements or Ramsay's dogs will kill them. Daenerys has been captured by the Dothraki and is having to listen to them idly joke about raping her.
By the last episode, Jon is King in the North. Cersei has defeated her enemies (at a cost) and crowned Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Sansa has rid the world of Ramsay and sits at the high table of Winterfell. Theon has regained his standing with his sister, most of his sense of self, and is sailing home with Dany. With them is amassed is the biggest armies we have ever seen on the show. From their lowest points to as high, as they can reach, these characters have used what they have available to them (and, admittedly, some luck) to change their lives for the better.
The truly satisfying thing about these reverses is how all of it feels earned. Sure, all of them have some help. Jon is brought back from the dead. Sansa and Theon are saved by Brienne. Cersei has Qyburn (and to a lesser extent, Jaime). Dany does have her dragons and followers. However, in most of these cases, even that help has been something they earned. Sansa's mother may be the reason she has Brienne, but Sansa still had the courage to escape and ask for help. Jon is saved because Davos is convinced he is needed (and talks Mel into doing it). Cersei shows respect to Qyburn's abilities and is basically the only person who does. And Dany did hatch those dragons and inspire the loyalty and love of the people who follow her.
Beyond the ways they are helped, each of these characters makes decisions and use their own agency to change where they are at the beginning. Jon leaves the Night's Watch and fights a very horrible battle. Sansa convinces her brother to wage that war and makes sure that he has help when he needs it. She also understands that Ramsay Bolton isn't the kind of person who can be left alive. Survives the Dothraki by understanding this is a culture where strength is admired. She is at her most haughty while she is with them because she knows any sign of weakness will be the end of her. She kills when she needs to and shows mercy to the others. Later, she remembers that her temper can get the best of he and listens to Tyrion instead of just killing everything. It seems to have paid off. Cersei tries to play by the rules and when it doesn't work, she takes matters into her own hands.
With Theon, we have an actual bigger payoff. From the very first season, Theon has been struggling with a lot of issues. As Ned Stark's hostage, he was never secure in his place. He felt half-Stalk/half-Ironborn. When he tried to act like his father's people, it backfired in the most nightmarish way possible. He lost so much of himself, was shattered as a person, and only started to regain a bit of who he was when Sansa came back into his life.
His actions are more subtle than the others but very much as significant. He chooses to go back home instead of continuing on with Sansa. He knows he has failed and that his culture doesn't accept failure, but he chooses home anyway. When he gets there and finds that his father has died, he has a chance to push his own claim for the throne, but instead chooses to support his sister. He knows she's the better option. When he supports her, he gains something he's felt he's not had in years. Yara is his family again. She becomes the embodiment of home he needed the whole time.
This isn't to say these reversals of fortune will make things easier for anyone. Each of these characters is in a far better place than the first of the season, but now the risks are higher and the falls could be massive. Many of them won their new status at great costs, costs they are yet to pay. Still, for the course of ten episodes, it's amazing to see how different things were for them.
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