I can't bear to see it go

I haven't watched this finale either. I'd like to see some hedge knight, Dunc and Egg

End credit song should’ve been yakkety sax

I think the pieces are going to fall at least very close to what GRRM ends his story with. I just think the journey to get there will be better in the books. I am fine with how all the pieces got laid out. I would have been disappointed with a fairy tail ending.

there should have been a record scratch/skip when Rhaegal was shot down by scorpions

Mostly I'm just sad it's over. At the same time, the last season was so rushed that I'm glad it's done - like ripping off a band-aid. When I look back in 10-15 years, I'll remember it for all the greatness that came before the end.

And my overall experience of GOT will forever be blended with the books, anyway. That's the only hope, that we get them within a time enough that I still care remotely, even just 1/100th to the degree I have since it began for me.

In comparing the books and the show, it'll be interesting how that ends up in my mind. I started with the show. Then I read the books and the depth of story was just too great to say I still prefer the show. But then as the seasons progressed, the visuals, the drama and my attachment to the characters, to the actors, just everything that made up the greatness of the show - at that point I'd have been lying to say I'd rather read a few chapters than watch an episode. The show was just pure addiction.

But IDK now. I guess we'll just have to see how the books are. If we get 'em. I really don't mind any of the major story arcs, the show just handled most of them terribly. Let's see how George does.

The throne was melted down and gone, which was symbolic that it wasn't a Targaryen's anymore and things were going to change with a new era.

This is a pretty darn good tldr of my take. I do think George will do justice to most/all of the secondary characters, too, which is an area the show has truly ****ed up and definitely impacts our overall impressions.

Books? Anyone still hoping for GRRM to finish any books is a fool.

He's definitely finishing them.

There will be Harry Potter lines to buy them now.

Yes, this. They went out of their way to say how intelligent Dragons were in earlier seasons "some more intelligent than humans" if I remember correctly. In my mind, Drogon destroyed the symbol that ultimately lead to his mother's demise. Then, at the meeting of the leaders of Westeros, they re-wrote history. They ended the law of succession. They didn't go full democracy like Sam wanted them to, but....baby steps. Instead of the person who gets to rule over all of the people of the seven kingdoms being chosen because he/she wins the genetic lottery, each successor will now be chosen by a counsel of leaders with the best interests of the realm in mind...too bad Varys didn't get to hang around long enough to see it. Seeing a lot of comments on twitter about "the wheel" just starting up again...no, it was broken and then reconstructed with improvements.

So he'll hire a ghost writer to do it for him? It's totally out of his control.

In that society, wars will eventually end up from these periodic votes on a king. Then birthright kings will rule again.

Unfortunately, I think this is probably correct ...

I don't think Ol' Puddin' can finish the books. I don't think he knows how. If you listen to his interviews, he talks about how the story wasn't nearly this complex when he started ... he says, "It just grew and grew." At this point, I think he can make it bigger (and possibly longer), but I don't think he can make it end. That's why it doesn't have an end.

On top of that, he's now a celebrity and the expectation is on him to provide the most outstanding, mind-blowing, satisfying ending in the history of endings. That is not a circumstance conducive to productive, creative writing.

Actually, he may even locate a ghostwriter and fake it.

FAX

:LOL:

He's 70, obese, has WAAAY more money already than he will ever spend, and it takes him forever to finish a book and he's NOT going to get FASTER at it as he moves deeper into old age.

There's basically no chance at all he personally finishes them.