A Tutorial On How To Fix Season 8

a tutorial on how to fix season 8

in this 13-step tutorial, I will fix season 8 so that Cersei is the final villain (as she should be), Daenerys lives but doesn’t become queen and various other tweaks that make for better storytelling.

everything in the first two episodes stays (mostly) the same. animosity towards Daenerys when she shows up at Winterfell is warranted. Sansa most of all has right to be wary of outsiders.

during the battle against the dead, Rhaegal is killed. for one reason or another, Daenerys will have to sacrifice Rhaegal’s life in order for the battle to be won. maybe he’s attacked by an undead Viserion and they both die in the ensuing fight?

Rhaegal’s sacrifice will change Sansa’s tune. she still doesn’t necessarily TRUST Daenerys, but she’s more willing to hear her out in the future, knowing that she was willing to sacrifice a child to save Winterfell (and, by extension, Westeros).

Dany will NOT go to Dragonstone. that was just fucking stupid lmao. she will have already lost her second dragon at Winterfell, so no need for Euron to go 3 for 3 with a scorpion. the scene where Missandei dies makes no sense from a “we’re at WAR why don’t we just kill them NOW” perspective. so yeah.

Jaime will NOT be an absolute dick to Brienne when he leaves. he says that he always believed he would die with Cersei, and at the very least he wants to be there when she falls. it’s not necessarily that Jaime loves her more than Brienne, but it’s about needing to see her one last time before this is all over.

King’s Landing will still go up in flames, but it won’t be Dany’s fault. Daenerys will defeat the Iron Fleet with Drogon, but she won’t burn the Golden Company in 2.5 seconds (because after all of the build-ups for them, they really should live to fight on the ground against Jon Snow’s and Dany’s military). she will instead head directly for the Red Keep to kill Cersei, without knowing that Jaime has already helped Cersei escape. she burns down the Red Keep, but it sets off a string of wildfyre that Cersei planted, killing tens of thousands. Daenerys watches in horror, believing she’s responsible for a wide-scale massacre. the throne is destroyed.

Jaime will kill Cersei. they will reconcile in the castle in a similar fashion as the show, and Jaime truly believes that she just wants to escape, she just wants to live happily with him and their child. but when they make it to the beach, they can see the beginnings of the wildfyre explosion. Jaime confronts Cersei, knowing she must have been responsible, to which she says something to the effect of, “if she wants to be queen so badly, she can be the queen of the ashes.” Jaime realizes she hasn’t changed, and doesn’t have the capacity to change, and stabs her. I’ll leave it up to you if you want Cersei to stab him back in retaliation and have them die together, or if you want Jaime to live so he can return to Brienne.

in the aftermath, Daenerys realizes she cannot rule. entirely because the people of King’s Landing truly believe it was her fault that their city and everyone in it was destroyed. she’s wracked with guilt because so much life was lost, and she’s forced to confront that her dream of the Iron Throne is dead. she finds Cersei and Jaime on the beach and finds some sense of relief knowing that a tyrant has been overthrown.

a leader is still chosen, but this leader is not a king. the seven kingdoms disband. Daenerys stays with everyone else in King’s Landing while they pick a leader, someone who the small people can trust. it might be Bran, you can pick who you want. but the wheel will be a little more broken when the smaller kingdoms have less need and capacity for war. the chosen leader works to ensure that all seven kingdoms are led with honor. there’s still a small council, though its affairs largely pertain to King’s Landing and not Westeros as a whole.

Daenerys takes her military back to Essos. there are so many cities in Essos that still need to be liberated. she remembers how much happier she was while ruling in Essos; she still had three dragons, she still had Jorah, and she had the love of her people. she says to Drogon, “let’s go home,” before climbing on his back and flying away, acknowledging that Essos was more of a home to her than Dragonstone or Westeros ever were. Grey Worm and Missandei take a separate ship to stop at Naath before reuniting with Dany later.

Gendry will sail with Arya on her adventure. he may have been legitimized, but even HE said he doesn’t know how to be a lord, much less a king. plus he’s a lovestruck puppy… he says he’ll follow Arya to the ends of the world.

Sansa is still queen in the North. gods bless her heart.

Jon Snow is not exiled, but he goes beyond the Wall anyway. he knows he has the “true north” in him. being with the Wildlings is when he feels most like himself.

this layout allows for a few “subverted expectations” to still occur (namely, Cersei’s wildfyre destroying King’s Landing) and the story still feels fresh, but without destroying character arcs unnecessarily. 

it’s bitter because the Stark children are separated yet again, but it’s sweet because they pursue their dreams. it’s bitter because Daenerys abandons her lifelong dream, but it’s sweet that she gets to return to Essos, to people who love her already. it’s bitter because Dany and Jon ultimately decide that being together isn’t what’s best for them, but it’s sweet because they know they’re no longer “Targaryens alone in this world.” it’s bitter because hundreds of thousands have lost their lives, because King’s Landing and Winterfell and the Wall are still in ruin, but it’s sweet because there’s a dream that there will never be another monarch who will rule over so many; a dream that spring will return.

He watches her across the hall with a scowl on his face. She has flyers in her hand for her latest foolish activist charge, S.P.E.W. She’s disgusting and beautiful and he wants to pull her hair. She’d probably smell of lavender.

You’re a good man.