The Iron Throne

"The Iron Throne" is the sixth and final episode of the eighth season of Game of Thrones. It is the seventy-third and final episode of the series overall. It premiered on May 19, 2019. It was written and directed by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss.

Plot
Daenerys takes what is hers after having razed King's Landing.

Summary
The episode begins with Jon Snow, Ser Davos and Tyrion taking stalk of the ashes and rubble, that are now the only remains of Tyrion's once-home King's Landing. Tyrion leaves them and walks alone towards the Red Keep. He goes through what's left of the Red Keep, searching for Cersei and Jaime. He spots Jaime's golden hand under the rubble. Gutted by this sign, Tyrion clears away the rubble one by one and sees the corpses of his brother and sister. Meanwhile, Jon finds Grey Worm about to execute the remainder of the Lannister's forces and tries to stop him, telling him it's over. Grey Worm says it won't be over until Daenerys's enemies are defeated while Davos asks him, "How much more defeated do you need them to be? They're on their knees!" Grey Worm tells Davos he only obeys the queen's commands and Jon asks Grey Worm what these are. Grey Worm replies, it is to kill all who follow Cersei Lannister and that these men chose to fight for her. Grey Worm takes out his knife to execute the men and Jon tries stop him. Immediately, all of Daenerys's soldiers take aim at Jon. Davos diffuses the confrontation, telling Jon they should speak with Daenerys. As Jon and Davos leave, Grey Worm starts to slit the prisoners throats one by one.

Outside the gates of the city, the Dothraki are celebrating their win. Arya isn't pleased to see that. Jon pushes his way through the crowd of Dothrakis and goes towards the gate, upon which a huge Targaryen banner is hanging. As Jon reaches the top, Grey Worm also appears and they exchange a tense look. Drogon appears with Daenerys and lands behind them. She walks out to address her army, amidst much cheering from them. "You tore down their stone houses, you gave me the Seven Kingdoms," she tells the Dothraki. She also praises the Unsullied. Dany now wants to break the wheel of command and enlists her army, the "liberators" to aid her in absolving the tyrants of the world, not just in Westeros. She promotes Grey Worm as the Commander of all her forces and the Master of War. Jon watches this, troubled. Tyrion comes to the scene, looking devastated by his brother's death. Daenerys looks at him and accuses him of treason, since he freed Jaime. He replies, " I freed my brother. You slaughtered a city.", with a look of disgust and throws his "Hand of the Queen" brooch. She is visibly enraged by this show of defiance and tell her men to take him away. Perturbed, Jon and Tyrion make eye contact before Jon turns to face Daenerys. They share a tense silence before she leaves.

Arya appears beside Jon while he watches Daenerys leave. Jon is surprised by that the cousin he knew as his little sister is there and inspects her injured face, "What happened?" Arya tells Jon that she came to kill Cersei but Daenerys got to her first. She warns Jon that Sansa will never bend the knee to her. Jon looks unsettled but tells Arya to wait for him outside the city gates where he'll find her later. Arya stops him, warning Jon that he's a threat to Dany because he is a contender to the Iron Throne. "I know a killer when I see one," she warns him.

Jon visits Tyrion in prison. After asking Jon if he brought wine, he says that their queen doesn't keep prisoners for long, "I suppose there's a crude kind of justice. I betrayed my closest friend and watched him burn. Now Varys's ashes can tell my ashes, 'See? I told you so.'" He knows his death is certain and inquires Jon of what the other side looks like. Jon tells him, "Not that I've seen." Tyrion goes over his past sins, including betraying their queen. When Jon tries to tell Tyrion he didn't, Tyrion says he did, "I chose my queen, the people of King's Landing did not." Jon is unable to justify what Daenerys did and when he says the war is over, Tyrion questions Jon, reminding Jon that Daenerys is not done fighting. Jon is unsettled as Tyrion goes over how Daenerys has 'liberated' the people, including those of King's Landing. When Jon says Tyrion has been counselling her, Tyrion agrees, "Varys was right. I was wrong. It was vanity to think I could guide her. Our queen's nature, fire and blood." Jon is upset by the notion that blood defines who they are but Tyrion reminds Jon that Daenerys has killed more people than any of the evil men they knew. Jon goes over Daenerys's various traumas, Tyrion reminds Jon, "And she burned down a city for it." He forces Jon to pause when he asks, "Would you have done it?" and tries to make Jon see that, if he had been in the same place, knowing what it's like to be on dragonback with that power, Jon wouldn't have done the same thing. Tyrion realizes Jon doesn't want to betray Daenerys. Jon appears pained as Tyrion goes over Daenerys's history of killing evil men, and they cheer her for it, but she grows more and more powerful, more convinced of her rightness -- that Daenerys will do whatever it takes to build the ideal world she wants.

Tyrion reasons with a tortured Jon, "I know you love her. I love her too, but not as successfully as you. Love is the death of duty, look at my brother. Sometimes, duty is the death of love." Jon reflects, "Love is the death of duty." Tyrion agrees and says that sometimes, duty must be the death of love, "You're the shield of men. You've already tried to do the right thing, no matter the cost. You've tried to protect the people. Who's the threat to the people now?" Jon is silent as Tyrion tells him it's a terrible thing he's asking Jon to do but says it's also the right thing. Tyrion won't be the last man she executes, "Who is more dangerous than the rightful heir to the Iron Throne?" Jon is fine with being executed by Daenerys and finds himself unable to commit to killing her, apologizing to Tyrion. However, Tyrion tries again, "And your sisters? Do you see your sisters bending their knee?" Jon says Sansa has no choice but to acquiesce but Tyrion is vehement Jon has a choice, "And you have to choose now." Jon looks rattled as he leaves.

Troubled, Jon walks through the ruins of the Red Keep. From under the ash, Drogon appears, comes face to face with Jon, and goes back to sleep.

Daenerys comes to the throne room and sees the Iron Throne for the first time in her life. She is visibly overwhelmed by her emotions, since to conquer this throne has been her lifelong dream. As she touches the throne, Jon appears. Daenerys tells him that when she was a child, her brother would tell her that it was made from the thousand swords of Aegon's fallen enemies, "What do 1000 swords look like in the mind of a little girl who can't count to 20? I imagined a mountain of swords too high to climb. So many fallen enemies, you could only see the soles of Aegon's feet." Jon says he saw Grey Worm executing the Lannister prisoners in the streets but Daenerys defends it is necessary. Jon protests, "Necessary? Have you been down there? Have you seen? Children! Little children, burned!" Daenerys says she tried to make peace with Cersei but she used their innocence against her, "She thought it would cripple me." Jon urges her to forgive Tyrion and the people of King's Landing, who she's ordered to be executed. He pleads with her to make them see she's made a mistake but Daenerys says she can't. Jon replies, "Please Dany," but Daenerys is resolved, "We can't give in to small mercies," she rallies. She tries to convince Jon this is the better world but a distressed Jon asks her how she knows and Daenerys says it's because she knows what is good and so does he. Jon says he doesn't and asks, "What about everyone else? All the other people who think they know what's good?" Daenerys says, "They don't get to choose." She embraces Jon as she tells him she wants Jon to help her break the wheel together, trying to convince him of her new vision. An anguished Jon declares, "You are my queen, now and always," and as they kiss, he drives a dagger through her heart, catching her as she falls. As Daenerys dies in his arms, Jon weeps over her body.

Drogon arrives behind him as a grieved Jon holds Daenerys under the falling ash. When Drogon approaches, Jon lays Daenerys down and both he and Drogon linger over Daenery's body. Jon gets up as Drogon tries to wake his mother, but to no avail. Jon prepares for Drogon's flames and waits for his impending death. However, Drogon does not kill Jon, instead he channels his rage towards the Iron Throne and melts it down. He proceed to gently pick up his mother's body and flies away in the gloomy sky.

Weeks later, Grey Worm escorts a dirtied and grimy Tyrion to the pit. Sansa, Bran, Arya, Yara Greyjoy, Brienne, Ser Davos, Gendry Baratheon, Samwell Tarly, Yohn Royce, Robin Arryn, Edmure Tully all are present there. Jon is also imprisoned for regicide but he's not brought forth along with Tyrion. When Sansa asks where Jon is, that he was to be brought along with Tyrion, Grey Worm replies that he decides what to do with their prisoners and it is their city now. Sansa is not appeased, explaining there are thousands of Northman outside the city gate and as a result, harming Jon wouldn't be in his interest. However, Grey Worm replies there are also thousands of Unsullied as well. Yara Greyjoy sides with Grey Worm because the Iron Born agreed to follow Daenerys Targaryen. Sansa replies Yara agreed to follow a tyrant and Yara responds Daenerys freed them from a tyrant, that Cersei is gone because of Daenerys and Jon Snow put a knife through her heart. Yara wants Jon executed but Arya warns her not to say another word about killing her brother or she'll put a knife to her throat. Davos diffuses the situation, saying they've had enough of cutting each other's throats. He gives Grey Worm's men credit for their aid in the war against the undead and if it weren't for them, they would have lost. He suggests Grey Worm take land in the reach and start their own house, "We've had enough war. Thousands of you, thousands of them. You know how it ends. We need to find a better way." Grey Worm says they do not need payment, they need justice for Daenerys's assassination and insists Jon Snow cannot go free. Tyrion reminds him that he does not get to decide that, the power rests with their new queen/king. Edmure Tully starts to give a speech but is cut short by Sansa who asks him to sit down in a brazen show of contempt. Edmure is visibly embarrassed by this and sits down. Sam comes up with the idea that the new ruler should be chosen by "everyone", which might be from the influence of voting for the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. This is met with scornful laughter from almost everyone, apparently overlooking the fact that he is the most learned person present there. Edmure and Ser Yohn talk about giving votes to their horses and dogs, betraying the view they have towards their subjects.

According to Tyrion, stories unite people. And who has a better story that Bran the Broken? A boy, pushed from the tower, who couldn't walk but learnt to fly; the crippled boy who crossed the wall and became the Three Eyed Raven. He's all our memory. Who better to lead us to the future?"

The other leaders are in accordance with this. Except...

"Bran doesn't want to be King. He can never father children," Sansa says.

"Good, that's the wheel our Queen wanted to break," Ty even appeals to Greyworm. Henceforth, leaders will be chosen, and not entitled, he argues.

"Will you rule?" Ty requests Bran.

"Why do you think I came all this way?" Bran shuts them all down.

But Sansa isn't done. She says the North will remain an independent kingdom.

All hail Bran the Broken, Ruler of the Six Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm.

Bran wants Ty to be his Hand; Greyworm won't allow it. Ty has to atone for his sins.

"This is the justice he deserves," Bran chips in. "It's not enough," Greyworm says. So what is?

The Council and Greyworm come to a compromise. Jon's to be sent back to the Night's Watch.

"Is it right, what I did?" Jon wonders to Tyrion. "What we did," Ty corrects him. "Ask me again in 10 years," is the consolation he can provide him.

Later, Jon walks free, along the port.

The Unsullied are sailing to the Isle of Naath.

Sansa meets Jon and asks for forgiveness. "The North is free, thanks to you. The Stark daughter is the best they could ask for." They embrace.

Jon wants Arya to come see him at Caste Black, but she's not coming back North. No, she's going west of Westeros, where the map stops. Jon asks, "You have your Needle?" They hug.

"Your Grace, I'm sorry I wasn't there where you needed me," Jon apologises to Bran. "You were there exactly where you needed to be," the riddle-master strikes back.

Elsewhere, Brienne is going through the annals of the kings and finishes the record for Jaime. Reluctantly she adds, "Died protecting his Queen."

Tyrion, at the Council chambers, is met by Davos and Bronn. "A Song of Ice and Fire," is a new book Sam, the new Grand Maestor, shows Ty. Brienne and the new King arrive. Bran enlists his advisors to find Masters of Whispers, War and Law, while he himself will look for Drogon, who was last spotted East.

The councilmen talk future of administration and rebuilding the city.

Jon reaches Castle Black where he's welcomed by Tormund and Ghost. Sansa takes on the mantle of Queen of the North, Arya gets her explorer cap on and is sailing forth.

Jon leads the Wildlings beyond the Wall.

Appearances

 * Main: The Iron Throne/Appearances

First

 * Unnamed Prince of Dorne

Deaths

 * Daenerys Targaryen

Cast
Starring
 * Peter Dinklage as Lord Tyrion Lannister
 * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister (Corpse)
 * Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister (Corpse)
 * Emilia Clarke as Queen Daenerys Targaryen
 * Kit Harington as Jon Snow/Aegon Targaryen
 * Sophie Turner as Lady/Queen Sansa Stark
 * Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
 * Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth
 * John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
 * Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran Stark
 * Gwendoline Christie as Ser Brienne of Tarth
 * Jerome Flynn as Ser/Lord Bronn
 * Kristofer Hivju as Tormund
 * Joe Dempsie as Lord Gendry Baratheon
 * Jacob Anderson as Commander Grey Worm

Guest Starring
 * Gemma Whelan as Queen/Lady Yara Greyjoy
 * Tobias Menzies as Lord Edmure Tully
 * Daniel Portman as Ser Podrick Payne
 * Rupert Vansittart as Lord Yohn Royce
 * Lino Facioli as Lord Robin Arryn
 * Richard Rycroft as Maester Wolkan
 * Toby Osmond as the Unnamed Prince of Dorne
 * Gabriel Akuwudike
 * Noel Harron
 * Andrew Bicknell
 * Michael Benbaruk as Lord Une
 * Frank Jakeman
 * Niall Bishop as Northern Lord
 * Padraig O'Grady as Crying Man
 * Edin Duffy
 * Shane Whisker
 * Lorcan Strain as Villager 1
 * Ella-Rose Sands

Cast notes

 * 15 of 16 starring cast members appear in this episode. Hannah Murray as Gilly is the only living main character to not appear.
 * Cast members Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) appear only as corpses.
 * Adam Behan, Andrew Burford, Carlos Castillo, Nick Chopping, Matt Da Silva, Josh Dyer, Pete Ford, Rob Hayns, Michael Homick, Rowley Irlam, Jonny James, Jason Oettle, Andy Wareham, and Ben Wright were stunt performers in this episode.

General

 * Due to concerns about spoilers, HBO is only releasing the titles of Season 8 episodes the moment they start airing - meaning that Game of Thrones Wiki can only make up accurate episode titles for each one as they are revealed.
 * Sansa correctly states that the North was once an independent kingdom and that the Northmen fought to regain that independence. Left unsaid is that all the other regions of the Seven Kingdoms (save for the Riverlands and the Crownlands) were also once independent kingdoms. Two of those other regions had also fought for independence from the Iron Throne in recent memory: The Iron Islands had also fought for independence in the War of the Five Kings and the Greyjoy Rebellion and the Riverlands had attempted to join with the North under Robb Stark. So it's a bit curious that only the North demands independence.
 * This episode marks the return of Edmure Tully and Robin Arryn, both of whom have not been seen since Season 6 ("No One" and "Book of the Stranger", respectively).
 * Robin Arryn, interestingly, is the longest-ruling lord of a Great House in the entire series, having been the Lord of the Eyrie and de jure head of House Arryn since the death of his father, Jon Arryn, in the first episode.
 * Daenerys Targaryen is the only named character to die in this episode, and the last character to die in Game of Thrones.
 * When Brienne is updating Jaime Lannister's entry in the White Book, she writes that he fought in the "Battle of the Goldroad" - a name invented by Game of Thrones Wiki itself. In behind the scenes videos from Season 7, the showrunners didn't bother to give it a formal, in-universe name, and just referred to it as "the Loot Train Attack" (capitalized) in production materials. Various review sites also pointed out it would be silly to consider this an in-universe name. After several rounds of discussion, the Game of Thrones Wiki Administrators invented on their own the in-universe name "Battle of the Goldroad" - on the logic that they were stated to be crossing the Blackwater River, but were not within sight of King's Landing, and the only other crossing is father upstream from the city, where the Goldroad crosses over it. This could indicate that the TV writers have read this very wiki itself to copy the name the Administrative staff invented, because they never came up with their own in-universe name for it.
 * It is worth noticing, however, that it's uncertain if the exact content of Brienne's writing was from the script itself, or if it was invented by the props department - who are usually more concerned about getting such specific details right, by respectfully copying what fansites determine (i.e. several heraldry designs in later TV seasons were actually fan versions hosted on Game of Thrones Wiki that they copied).
 * When the Great Council gather at the end to elect a new king, Samwell suggests the idea of letting everyone decide who gets to rule everyone (ie. democracy). This is deemed hysterically funny, with some even saying they would ask their horse. This illustrates the intellectual leap required to go from feudal societies to democratic ones.
 * The attire of the Kingsguard changes once again upon Bran's ascension to the throne. Interestingly, they still lack their signature white cloaks.
 * Tyrion addresses Bronn as Lord Paramount of the Reach, the first time the title has ever been mentioned in the show as well as the first time, in fact, any Lord Paramount title has been mentioned.
 * Such titles have been mentioned before, like Lord of the Riverlands and Defender of the Vale, but Lord Paramount has never been stated once by any of the characters until this episode.

Callbacks

 * Jon cradles Daenerys's body in a similar way to how he cradled Ygritte when she died in "The Watchers on the Wall".
 * Jon recalls Maester Aemon's words to him in "Baelor": "Love is the death of duty." Aemon also told this to Sam in "The Watchers on the Wall".
 * Daenerys enters the ruins of the Great Hall, covered in ash, recalling a vision she had in the House of the Undying, in "Valar Morghulis".
 * Whilst incarcerated, Tyrion recalls strangling his lover, Shae, as well as shooting his father, Tywin, in "The Children".
 * He later recalls his "jackass and honeycomb" story from "A Golden Crown" in the council meeting at the end of the episode.
 * Ser Brienne is seen filling out Jaime Lannister's entry in The Book of Brothers, which was first seen in "Two Swords". (Joffrey comments that Jaime's entry was brief, but by the time Brienne filled it in, there was much more to it).
 * Jon reminds Arya that she has "her needle" - a callback to the sword which he gave her in "The Kingsroad".
 * Samwell Tarly tells Tyrion that the A Song of Ice and Fire book does not mention him, a callback to Varys telling Tyrion that the histories would not mention him in "Valar Morghulis."
 * The fact that Tyrion isn't mentioned in the in-universe A Song of Ice and Fire book is ironic since Tyrion is the character with the most chapters than any other of the viewpoint characters in the actual novels. This meta-refrence could have been intentional by the writers of the show.

TV Series vs Book Ending, & the upcoming Prequels

 * From the Game of Thrones Wiki Administrative staff:

The TV series has increasingly diverged from the novels, particularly from Season 5 onwards. In multiple cases showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss directly stated that these changes were not due to time constraints, or the need to "streamline" any adaptation into a TV format, but because they simply prefer the changed version.

It is impossible to know, therefore, if the fates of characters in the TV series will be at all similar to what will happen to them in future novels of the A Song of Ice and Fire series. Many storylines have been drastically changed. Conversely, it is entirely possible that the fates of several characters will end up being fairly similar, in broad strokes, to what happened in Season 8.

Game of Thrones Wiki itself will remain active and devoted to this TV franchise as a whole. Whenever the next novel is released, check back with the wiki to see thorough comparison - on every article's "In the books" section - of how events in the TV series differed from those in the novels.

Meanwhile, instead of going "dark" or fading away, HBO wants to keep the momentum of this franchise going, and is already considering three potential Game of Thrones prequel projects. One of them, about the Age of Heroes and the Long Night, will begin filming in June 2019, within a month after this series finale. Check back on these articles for regular updates on the upcoming prequels.

In the books
[This section will be updated with comparisons when the sixth and seventh novels are released.]