No one challenged Dany that she could've gone straight for the Red Keep and still triumphed, since it was entirely clear (even from the back of a dragon) that Cersei wasn't in the streets, and the Lannister soldiers were mostly defending the wall that she and Drogon had already destroyed. This was clearly no psychotic break or vengeful spree against the people of King's Landing for any perceived crime against her, just a delusion that Cersei was using "their innocence as a weapon" against Dany to try and make her hesitate in taking what she wanted, despite the fact that she didn't need to attack any innocent people at all to claim the throne. And I'm no happier about Daenerys's poorly-executed heel turn now than I was after "The Bells," especially when we finally got to hear her justify herself. (And did you notice that sprig of green growing through the snow as they rode into the forest? A dream of spring indeed.) "The Iron Throne" followed the show's longstanding tradition of going big in each season's penultimate episode and using the finale to tie up loose ends, which felt a little more anticlimactic here than usual, given that we've had eight seasons of build-up to get to this point. (Although that whole Aegon twist really did become much ado about nothing in the end, huh?) Sansa became Queen in the North, presiding over an independent kingdom that will no doubt benefit from her keen sense of strategy and care for her people Arya set herself up for a perfect spinoff, setting sail to explore whatever's west of Westeros and living like the wild, untamed creature she's always been Tyrion became Hand to a ruler who is basically content to let him rule instead and despite all that nonsense about being exiled to the Night's Watch again, it seems as though Jon intends to go up into the real North with Tormund and Ghost and the rest of the wildlings, to find the kind of simple, peaceful life he might've had with Ygritte, if people had stopped trying to thrust some grand destiny upon him years ago. And it's a relief that after seasons of Jon insisting he didn't have any desire or ambition to rule, it wasn't forced upon him because of something as arbitrary as who his parents were. In the end, it came down to the cripples, bastards, and broken things who began the story, with Bran's wisdom - and more importantly, his knowledge of the past - proving to be more of a qualification for rule than violence or blood hearkening back to Tywin Lannister's lesson to Tommen about what makes a good king - someone who listens to his counselors and doesn't try to make every decision on his own. (Also: Did winter really come and go that quickly, after all that hype?) Despite Sansa's observation that there were thousands of angry Northmen outside the walls of King's Landing rooting for Jon's freedom, we never got a sense of how this conflict affected the wider world, or whether the civilians in other parts of Westeros were even aware of the petty squabbling between queens. Aside from Daenerys, there were no major casualties (RIP nameless Lannister soldiers) - and while the surviving lords and ladies of Westeros laughed off Sam's optimistic suggestion that they should establish a democracy in place of a monarchy and finally allow the people of the Seven Kingdoms a vote (nice try, Tarly), everything seemed to work out okay in spite of Dany's mass genocide. It was a neater Game of Thrones ending than some of us might have predicted. Martin always promised, but one that still promised a hopeful dream of spring for many of our favorite characters. Though we were warned long ago that "if you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention," for the most part, the Game of Thrones finale subverted Ramsay Bolton's ominous words, delivering a conclusion that was as "bittersweet" as George R.