22 best moments from Game of Thrones season 8

10. The Starks get a happy ending

For basically the entire run of Game of Thrones, it’s been impressed upon us as viewers that it’s dangerous to root for the Starks. More awful stuff has happened to them than any other family in the show. Up until season 6, it was pretty much guaranteed that the Starks would get beat down by their circumstances at pretty much every opportunity.

Finally, season 8 saw the last of the Starks getting some well-earned closure. While Bran was busy ruling as the Seer-King of the Six Kingdoms, the rest of the family got a closing montage that was worthy of the extraordinary journey they’ve taken.

With all the names on her list crossed off, Arya is able to go off and explore the far reaches of the world. Considering how central death and vengeance have been to Arya’s story, it can be easy to forget that she’s the most well-traveled Stark of the bunch. For her to retire from assassination and go off on an odyssey into the sunset felt like a great way to leave her.

In classic Stark fashion, Jon had to go through one last tragedy in order to return to the far north where he really belongs. It can be easy to feel bad for Jon, since he’s technically in exile and all…but I’d argue that some of the best years of Jon’s adulthood were spent up north with the Night’s Watch/wildlings. In a sense, he’s always seemed most at home there, and the bond that he shares with the wildlings actually feels deeper than the one he has with his own countrymen. In a sense, they have become Jon’s people. To end up roaming the wilds with Ghost, far from the political intrigues of the south, is a just reward for the man who’s never wanted to lead but is always shackled with the responsibility anyway. Just look at Kit Harrington’s face as he rides from the wall, and you’ll find that there’s more hope than sorrow there for the prospect of his new life.

But Sansa really steals this closing montage. The Seven Kingdoms might not have been ready for a Queen, but the North — which has always been deeply rooted in its values and ethics — is ready to back a woman who has clearly proven she can and will lead well. Through an immense amount of hardship, Sansa came out the other end as the single greatest politician remaining in Westeros. That savvy has already benefited the North many times throughout the show’s final seasons. She’s not only become someone worthy of wearing a crown, but she deserves it for how well she has applied all the hard lessons she’s learned to bettering the lot of her subjects.

Long live the Queen in the North!