How Game of Thrones Season 8 Should Have Ended - Episode 6: The Bells
"Arya and Sandor Clegane infiltrate the city..."
This is a 4-episode treatment I wrote [very quickly] straight after watching the much-disputed finale to Game of Thrones in 2019.
It picks up at episode four, because the opening three episodes were fine — more than fine, in the case of The Long Night, which was stunning.
The Bells
Cersei, Bronn and Varys look out on Dany’s army and discuss what to do if the walls are breached. Cersei says she wishes she still had wildfire, and admits she would sacrifice the whole city if it meant winning the war. Varys says Daenerys won’t destroy King’s Landing while civilians are inside.
Arya and Sandor Clegane infiltrate the city. Daenerys arrives on Drogon but remains at a distance over Blackwater Bay, beyond the reach of the scorpions. Euron Greyjoy sails the Iron Fleet towards Dany, who draws them out of the bay into misty waters. There, the combined forces of Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen — transported on a new fleet led by Yara Greyjoy — encircle and destroy the Iron Fleet, with Euron seemingly killed.
In King’s Landing, Jaime is unable to break through the panicked crowd and tries to find another way in to the Red Keep. As Yara’s fleet approaches the city, they hurl flaming projectiles at the ramparts, destroying the scorpions. Drogon burns up the soldiers attempting to man the walls.
On the other side of King’s Landing, the Golden Company face off against Jon’s forces. As the sell-swords begin to charge, Drogon bursts through the gates behind them and consumes their rear guard in fire. The remaining Golden Company soldiers are trapped between fire and the approaching Northerners, Unsullied and remaining Dothraki, and are easily (and brutally) defeated.
Seeing that Cersei’s army is rapidly losing the battle, Varys escapes the city. Jaime reaches the secret passage into the Red Keep but is surprised by Euron, who has managed to escape the destruction of his fleet. The two fight and Jaime is badly wounded but manages to stab Euron. Leaving him to die, Jaime enters the Red Keep.
Jon leads Daenerys’s army into King’s Landing. The Lannister forces are overwhelmed and the city signals its surrender by ringing the bells. Dany struggles desperately between her duty to be merciful and her desire for vengeance, before flying straight for the Red Keep on Drogon. Cersei sees her approach and, on the advice of Qyburn, leaves her chambers.
Grey Worm’s rage finally boils over and he hurls his spear at a Lannister soldier, sparking a slaughter in the streets of King’s Landing. Jon attempts to stop the Northerners from killing the unarmed Lannister soldiers, but to no avail. Greyworm leads the Unsullied towards the Red Keep.
Dany reaches the Red Keep and begins attacking it on Drogon, avoiding arrows fired from the few remaining Lannister archers in the ramparts. Cersei, escorted by the Mountain and Qyburn, makes her way downstairs to the courtyard entrance.
Jon and Ser Davos try in vain to stop the Northerners from butchering the Lannisters and people of King’s Landing. In the fray, Ser Davos is run through with a Northerner sword. Dismayed, Jon kills the Northerner and several of his comrades. The sight of a dying Ser Davos causes the Northerners to stop and the sack of King’s Landing gradually ends. Enraged, Jon heads for the Red Keep.
On the Westeros map courtyard, a wounded Jaime confronts Cersei and the Mountain. He tells her to surrender because he doesn’t want to see her die at Dany’s hands. Cersei is on the verge of cracking when Euron Greyjoy appears and stabs Jaime in the back. As the Kingslayer lies mortally wounded, Euron approaches Cersei, triumphant. Cersei signals the Mountain and he lops Euron’s head off. Cersei cradles the dying Jaime before Qyburn and the Mountain force her to leave. As Jaime Lannister dies, his blood spreads across the map of Westeros.
A last battalion of Lannister soldiers has formed up at the foot of the steps to the courtyard. Drogon destroys the courtyard gates and bears down on the terrified soldiers, who begin to flee towards the Red Keep. Cersei, now drained of all humanity, coldly orders that the gates be shut and retreats inside, leaving Drogon to slaughter the soldiers.
Arya and the Hound find Jaime’s body in the Westeros map courtyard. Sandor tells Arya to forget Cersei and escape before the castle collapses. He goes on without her.
Qyburn tells Cersei that the gates will hold off the dragon because they’ve been forged in wildfire, but Drogon melts them and smashes through. Dany walks through the flames and into King’s Landing, to Cercei’s horror. The Queensguard charge Dany but the Unsullied arrive and engage them. The Red Keep is crumbling.
Cersei, Qyburn and the Mountain get as far as the throne room but find all other exits blocked by debris. Dany arrives and tells Cersei she’ll let her spend her remaining days in prison across the Narrow Sea if she bends the knee. Cersei refuses and tells the mountain to kill Dany. Qyburn attempts to negotiate.
The Hound arrives, ignoring Dany to face the Mountain. Qyburn tells the Mountain to protect his Queen, but he kills him with a sweep of his arm. The throne room begins to collapse, and in the chaos, Cersei escapes through a hidden passage. A furious Dany is dragged to safety by Grey Worm. The Cleganes flee from the falling debris.
Cersei escapes down a passage, wounded. She reaches the dragon skulls in the basement of King’s Landing, where a Lannister soldier tells her to follow him to safety. They barely escape before the roof comes down and blocks their route back.
The Hound, wounded from the falling debris, makes his way up a staircase. The burning courtyard is visible outside. The Mountain catches up with him and the two fight, badly injuring each other.
Elsewhere, the Lannister soldier leads Cersei to the end of the passageway, where the boat Jaime used is visible at the shore. As they prepare to leave, Bronn arrives and warns Cersei the soldier is actually Arya Stark in disguise.
The Clegane brothers fight on the stairs, brutally wounding each other further.
Bronn and the soldier duel briefly on the shore as Cersei boards the boat. Bronn knocks the soldier unconscious and rows Cersei towards a distant ship, reminding her that she’ll have to make him the richest man in Westeros for saving her life.
The Mountain gouges the Hound’s eyes. Sandor stabs him through the head and throws them both through the crumbling wall into the burning courtyard below.
Tyrion walks through the bloodied streets of King’s Landing. He finds a group of Northerners with the dying Ser Davos. Tyrion orders the soldiers to secure the city and sits with Davos. The pair talk about the new world and what it’s cost them all. Davos dies as the sun breaks through the smoke above the Red Keep.
Jon reaches the Red Keep and orders the Unsullied to stand aside. When they don’t, Drogon’s roar forces them to part. Jon enters through the remains of the burned gates. He finds Dany in the throne room, standing by the Iron Throne. She steps away from it, giving him the option to take the seat for himself. In response, Jon bends the knee before her.
Out at sea, Bronn helps Cersei board the ship. Looking around, Cersei realises the crew are all gone. Bronn removes his face, revealing himself as Jaqen H’ghar. He tells Cersei that “a girl has spoken a name.”
From a rampart on the walls of King’s Landing, Arya Stark watches the boat and smiles.
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Up next…
Episode 7: The Iron Throne
The nostalgic feeling this write up brought. I feel like watching GOT all over again.😂