Should these scenes have been cut from Game of Thrones season 8?

Image: Game of Thrones/HBO

Jon’s dragon-riding abilities

When Tyrion learns of Jon’s true parentage, he tells Varys while on the boat to Dragonstone. In the script, Varys wonders if the information can be trusted. “He rode a dragon,” Tyrion argues. “Has any non-Targaryen ever rode a dragon?”

Should it have been changed?

I could take or leave this one. Including this line of dialogue would have been a nice nod to book-readers; in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, it’s better established how rare it is for non-Targaryens to be able to ride dragons. But I don’t think it’s a huge loss. They probably cut it because a bigger deal wasn’t made of Jon riding Rhaegal when it happened back in “Winterfell.”

Image: Game of Thrones/HBO

The kiss that killed King’s Landing

In “The Bells,” after Varys’ execution but before the attack on King’s Landing, Jon and Dany talk about their strained situation. Dany is at a loose end at this point, convinced that the people of Westeros do not love her, that here she has only fear. He insists that she is his queen. “Is that all I am to you?” she asks. “Your Queen?” She kisses him. He returns it for a second but then pulls away. “Alright then,” Dany says. “Let it be fear.”

And the rest is bloody burning history.

In the script, there’s more dialogue, starting at the top of the conversation when Dany asks Jon what he and Varys talked about on the beach. “Jon hates confirming her increasingly ubiquitous suspicions, but he hates lying more,” reads the script. Then he says, “I think you know,” but Dany wants more. “He knew about me,” Jon finally admits. “And he wanted me to claim the throne.”

Then we get into the scene as written, except that after Dany asks if all she is to Jon is a queen, he says, “No.” Here’s how the script describes her state of mind:

"[Dany] is desperate for a connection; she cannot remember a time she has felt this alone. She pulls back from the kiss and looks at Jon. This is complicated for him. He loves her. He disapproves strongly of what she’s doing. He lusts after her. He fears her. She feels his ambivalence."

Then, after the kiss breaks, Dany says, “It disgusts you.” Jon says, “Dany…” and then the scene ends with her “let it be fear” line.

Should it have been changed?

I presume that when Dany says, “It disgusts you,” she’s referring to the fact that she and Jon are aunt and nephew, but honestly, neither the script nor the final episode make it clear. Overall, the scene probably works better with less dialogue, especially given that the additional lines aren’t very helpful. Jon isn’t the kind of character to verbalize his feelings, so giving him more lines — even these very short ones — doesn’t really matter when they don’t do anything Kit Harington’s acting couldn’t do.

I like the brief exchange about Varys at the top of the scene, though. I would have kept that in. Also, what exactly does Jon “disapprove strongly” of at this point? Not sure.