Small Council: Hopes, dreams and expectations for Game of Thrones season 8

The eighth and final season of Game of Thrones is just around the corner. What are your hopes, dreams and expectations? Sound off!

DAN: Game of Thrones is really ending. It’s surreal to write that. What do I want from the final season? The same thing I want every season, I suppose: to be entertained, shocked, moved and delighted.

Mostly, I think I want to be surprised. And I don’t mean surprised in an ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe Podrick was the Night King the whole time’ kind of way. I want the show to pull me in so completely that I’m reacting to events along with the characters, gasping with them, smiling with them, and if the trailer is any indication, being terrified with them. Surprise doesn’t depend on plot twists, although I’m sure there will be plenty of those. When you tell a story right, it happens naturally.

Honestly, I don’t much care who sits on the Iron Throne, or who’s Azor Ahai, or who rides a dragon or who kills the Night King or any of that stuff. It’s a cliche to say that a story is about the journey rather than the destination, but…Game of Thrones is about the journey rather than the destination. I love many of these characters. I want to see what they’re made of. I want the actors behind them to stretch themselves and blow me to the back of the room with the power of their performances. I want the final seasons to deliver scenes that haunt me long after the credits have rolled. It doesn’t matter to me who lives and who dies, who gets together and who stays apart, who gets everything they ever wanted and who spontaneously combusts (it’s a big cast; that could happen to someone). What matters is how they get there.

The Game of Thrones team has been working on this final season for a very long time. There are a lot of eyes on them and they know it. I have every expectation that parts of this season are going to render me breathless, and I can’t wait.

So I’ve kind of talked holistically about what I want. Anyone have any more specific desires?

COREY: Like Dan, I think my most important hope is for the season to surprise me. There have been only a trickle of spoilers leading up season 8, and without any runway left after this, everything has a more permanent feel. That has me a little more nervous than normal.

Sure, character’s deaths have usually been permanent, but there’s always been room to at least avenge them. It might have taken Arya four seasons to avenge the Red Wedding, but we did finally see those responsible brought to justice. But with season 8, when something’s done, it’s done. Cersei might end up getting away with something, or someone’s death might not be avenged. That brings a different level of tension to things.

Also, I really hope that Game of Thrones continues to be the genre-redefining drama it started as. I don’t want to see every hero’s journey end with a rainbow, and I’d love to see one or two of the villains make it out alive. The final season will undoubtedly surprise us, but I have higher expectations for Game of Thrones; I hope that it truly changes the game on the way out the door.

I’m ready for the pain, I’m ready for the joy. I’m ready to sit on the edge of my couch as I watch my heroes fight for survival. But most of all, I’m ready for it to end. I commend Thrones for not sticking around too long, pulling a Walking Dead and retooling after losing major cast members, and as much as I will miss the show, I’m glad the showrunners aren’t diluting it. Give us one more ride and then let’s put the horse out to pasture.

Thanks for the memories, Game of Thrones. This show has given me new friends, more than a few late nights, and everything in between. I’m excited to see how it goes out, and how all the time we’ve put into it pays off. Bring it on!

RAZOR: Is it too much to ask that Ghost shows up a lot in season 8? Furthermore, am I tempting fate by asking that Ghost fights alongside Jon in the Battle of Winterfell and lives? One of my biggest gripes about Game of Thrones (besides the fact that we didn’t get Lady Stoneheart) is that the importance of the Stark children’s connection to their direwolves was never really explored. Sure, we had Bran warg into Summer a bit, but beyond that, Ghost has been the only direwolf that has received any significant screentime…and by significant, I mean hardly ever. I also wouldn’t be disappointed if Nymera and her wolfpack show up and kill wights during a pivotal moment in the final season.

Basically, I want to enjoy season 8 for the surprises and shocking twists I hope it will deliver, and if Ghost lives through it all, then it’s an automatic ‘A’. Also, I have sky-high hopes for the Battle of Winterfell and I don’t want it to fall short of my expectations. I know we’re going to have to lose some of our favorite characters during that battle, but I want their deaths to be hard-hitting, emotionally charged, heartrending moments that people will be talking about for years to come.

RICHARD: Oh my. It is almost the end. I’m certain the final six episodes will be spectacular, heart-wrenching and somewhat controversial. The anticipation is high and I’m not allowing the looming onset of it’s-all-over melancholy to intrude; that’ll arrive soon enough. I’m sure we’ll all undergo some version of the five stages of grief.

Yes, we have another series coming and yes (or, uh, maybe) we have two more of George R.R. Martin’s books coming, but the next six weeks will be one giant, orgiastic farewell to the TV series we’ve all become so attached to. And I have no doubt the showrunners intend to both elevate us to soaring heights and gut-kick us into sobbing heaps. What follows is a brief list of predictions and what I hope will happen vs what I think we’re going to get (I have no spoiler information).

• Jon and Dany win the war and live happily ever after/Jon dies and the pregnant Dany wins the throne.
• Jaime and Brienne hook up and live happily ever after/Jaime dies in Brienne’s arms and she joins a nunnery.
• Bran defeats the Night King/Bran is absorbed into the Night King who vanishes after being defeated.
• Sansa survives the war to remain Lady of Winterfell/Same.
• Arya and Gendry hook up/Gendry is killed in the final battle, while Arya disappears after infiltrating the White Walker ranks with a wight face in an attempt to assassinate the Night King.
• Cersei messes everything up for the Jon-Dany alliance and is killed in the process/Same.
• Sam and Gilly and Little Sam live happily ever after/Sam and Gilly and Little Sam live happily ever after. For heaven’s sake, at least leave them alone!

Six episodes. It’s gonna go by so fast. It’s like getting ready to run with the bulls. Bring it on!

What are you hoping for from the final season? Let us know!

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