The winners and losers of the Game of Thrones Finale

16 June 2015 by Catherine Holdsworth in Business and finance, Entertainment, Game of Thrones on Business

WARNING SPOILERS

You may remember that a while ago we asked what Jon Snow knew about office politics. As Tim Philips and Rebecca Clare suggest in Game of Thrones on Business, it does not always pay to be a clever little twat. Yes, Jon was a great leader and showed much promise as Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. He has an excellent knowledge of tactics and strategy that he was taught as a child from his father Ned. However, not everyone enjoys the young know-it-all usurping their power. Last night Jon learnt the hard way that burning your bridges and leading without getting your subordinates on board can lead to mutiny. Now I’m not suggesting that in a business context you will be stabbed to death and left to die in the snow (Snow!) but be wary of how you rise up the ranks, those you pass on the way may seek to bring you down any chance you get. We in the Infinite Ideas office, however, are not planning any sort of mutiny.

So Jon Snow was a loser in last night’s finale. I have heard many fan theories about how not all may be lost but I’m not going to get my hopes up. I do have 42 weeks to grieve until the next series will be aired but I’m not really sure if I want to go through all that again. Why does George Martin hate the Starks? Ned we sort-of understood and Robb hurt a lot but nothing is comparing to how we feel about Jon.

Another loser in last night’s finale was Cersei. She may have escaped with her life but her dignity has certainly been sacrificed. She may find it difficult to come back to her old ways after having paraded through the streets to the tune of ‘shame’. We’re not massively fond of Cersei but we do think that her punishment was a little severe. Perhaps death would have been kinder to her? Cersei needs to be in control, she likes being at the top of the food chain and has been pulling the strings of her puppet kings for a long time now. Next season will prove very interesting for Cersei, with Myrcella now dead, her power is slipping.

Let’s be honest, the finale was never going to end well for Stannis. When you put your trust in a red witch who tells you that burning your daughter at the stake is a good idea, things are rarely going to come up roses. Arguably, Stannis had little option but to charge on Winterfell, but his poor battle strategy and depleted army meant that there was little other option for him but to fail. Yes, we would have loved to see Ramsay impaled on a very long lance, but it wasn’t to be. However, I think that after episode nine, I preferred Ramsay anyway (never thought I would say that!).

Nevertheless, not all of the finale was filled with grief and sorrow. Our first winner is Samwell. What a lad. Sam has been very lucky this season, and indeed in the whole show, having killed a White Walker Sam was almost killed by his Night’s Watch colleagues but survived thanks to Gilly’s intuition. So now he’s managed to negotiate a nice little homestead for his girlfriend and baby and escaped Castle Black before all hell broke loose. I would love to think that if Sam was there Jon would have survived, but most likely Sam would have been killed too.

We’re thrilled to say that Jorah was definitely a winner this series though, shockingly, I would have rather seen him die a noble death last night than lovely Jon. Jorah ended season 4 on a bit of a low point having been exiled from Meereen and all hope for a happy future seemed lost. Now I’m not saying that season 5 has been an easy ride for him, we still need to know how he is going to fare having been touched by the stone men but he is now back in favour with Daenerys and in the small council with Daario and Tyrion. Yes, perhaps he should have been less clingy, but without his intuition Daenerys might not have made it to the finale.

There are some lingering questions like, where is Gendry? Is he still floating in the sea? Did he drown or did he wash up on an island somewhere and is now enjoying a carefree life away from House rivalries? Where is Bran? Yes, his storyline is incredibly dull but I miss Hodor and also, isn’t Bran supposed to play a big part in the battle to come? Is Jaqen H’ghar good or bad? Poor Arya really had a tough time of it, but I’m sure she’s strong enough to overcome her blindness. Did Sansa survive? I’m sure she did but I cannot forgive Reek/Theon, it’s a case of too little too late.

If you can’t wait until season 6 airs, perhaps you should take some career tips from the Seven Kingdoms and try and progress up that corporate ladder.