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Game of Thrones is considered to be one of the best TV shows of all time, and—as of this writing—the greatest fantasy TV series ever made. It got us super-invested in its complex story, got us to fall in love with the main characters, and hate the villains with a passion. We were all on the edge of our seats expecting an amazing conclusion to the series that consumed our lives for eight years… and then season 8 happened.

It’s hard to think of a TV show that disappointed its fans more than Game of Thrones with its final season. Many ex-fans have stated that they will never revisit the series ever again, solely because of the few final episodes. Yikes!

Some believe that things went downhill with season five and that we were simply witnessing a steady decline in quality ever since, but, by and large, it was season eight that gave everyone the “WTF” moment.

So, in this article, we are going to fix the problematic finale! I will give you, not one, not two, but three alternative endings, and you will be able to choose which one you like the best!

…for the script is weak and full of errors!

Part I: Identifying the Major Issues With Season Eight

If we want to fix something, we need to know exactly what needs fixing in the first place. In Part 1 we will identify the major issues with the final season of Game of Thrones. These are the moments that got us scratching our heads.

Problem No.1: Daenerys Burns King’s Landing

If fans can point to just one event that completely ruined Game of Thrones for them, it would probably be Daenerys burning King’s Landing, along with its innocent civilians. What makes it worse, is that she does this after she hears the town’s bells ringing (which means that the city has surrendered and she has won).

This one event surprised everyone in the worst possible way. Daenerys was one of our heroes from the beginning and we were rooting for her since the very first episode. Witnessing her committing the greatest massacre in the series—and for no good reason—was the ultimate slap in the face for all of us who fell in love with her character and cheered her on for eight seasons.

One of the worst things about Dany becoming “The Mad Queen” is that one of the most beloved and heroic characters in the entire series, Ser Jorah Mormont, died protecting her without knowing that he saved a monster. Dany was beloved and followed by many, but no one believed in her or loved her more than Ser Jorah. He saved her life multiple times throughout the series, and he would have been devastated if he knew that she would go on to kill women and children.

Also, it doesn’t make sense for Dany to give the Kingslayer—the man who killed her father—a second chance just two episodes prior, but to cannot control herself over losing Missandei.

Problem No.2: Jon Snow is Sent to the Night’s Watch (Again)

After “bending the knee” in season 7, Jon Snow becomes probably the most boring character in the series. It seems that 90% of what he says after that is 1. “She’s my queen” (Daenerys); 2. “I don’t want it” (the throne), and 3. “We need allies.” His character has stopped developing completely.

At the end of season 7, Jon’s true identity is finally revealed: he is Aegon Targaryen—son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark—the rightful heir to the throne. It’s a brilliant twist, but the problem is: it goes nowhere! Jon never gets the throne but is instead exiled to the Night’s Watch for the second time, leaving many to wonder: why was the “Aegon Targaryen plot twist” introduced in the first place?

When he hears his sentence for killing Dany, Jon asks “There’s still a Night’s Watch?” This is the same question we were all asking ourselves. The Night’s Watch existed to keep the Wildlings out of the Seven Kingdoms, and after Jon let the Wildlings pass through and made them allies, the Night’s Watch tried to keep the White Walkers from crossing the wall and invading Westeros.

But, now that the White Walkers are defeated, and the Wildlings are on good terms with the Seven Kingdoms, what are the Night’s Watch supposed to be watching? They have no reason to exist anymore. Besides, there is a huge hole in the wall that the Night King made using Viserion (one of the dragons). If someone wants to get from one side to the other, it should be very easy.

Problem No.3: Jaime’s Character Arc Doesn’t Make Sense

Jaime Lannister is one of the most complex and well-developed characters in the series. He starts as a classic villain in seasons 1 and 2, but it’s not until season 3 that we begin to see that there is a lot more to his character. The scene that made us understand and care for Jaime is when he tells Brienne the story about why he killed the Mad King:

“Tell me, if your precious Renly commanded you to kill your own father and stand by while thousands of men, women, and children burned alive, would you have done it? Would you have kept your oath then?”

Here we see that Jaime cares about the men, women, and children and that protecting them was one of the reasons why he broke his oath and killed the Mad King in the first place. He is not a hero, but this is what sets him apart from the rest of his family, namely Cersei and Tywin: he cares about the common people.

But in season 8, when Tyrion asks him to go to King’s Landing and try to persuade Cersei to surrender so that the people—Innocent or otherwise—won’t get hurt, he replies:

“To be honest I’ve never really cared much for them (the people of King’s Landing), innocent or otherwise.”

This is completely out of character. The first episode of season 8 ends with Jaime arriving in Winterfell so he can help to defend the city against the White Walkers, and he does this against Cersei’s orders. If he doesn’t care about the common folks, then what was he doing there in the first place? Dan and David (the creators) did a terrible job with Jaime’s character arc.

Problem No.4: The Pacing

This is not only a problem with season 8, but with season 7 as well. Game of Thrones was known for its slow pace which allowed the plot to develop naturally and gave the characters enough time to grow and change.

But beginning with season 7, everything started to happen much faster. Unlike the previous seasons where the episodes were typically around 50 minutes long, with season 7 we started getting hour-long episodes, then 70-minute episodes, and even 80-minute episodes.

It seemed that Dan and David were in a hurry to end the series and they were trying to fit as much as possible in a few episodes so they can start working on their Star Wars project for Disney. It would have been much better if the last two seasons got the typical 10 episodes with enough time to let the story develop naturally.

Part II: Perceived Problems

In part two, we are going to take a look at two events in season eight that are perceived as problematic by a large group of fans, but I would argue that the fans are in the wrong here.

Arya Kills the Night King

The scene where Arya Stark kills the Night King got some of the best reactions from audiences worldwide, but not everyone was happy. Many fans found the ending anti-climatic and were disappointed because they expected the Night King to be killed by Jon Snow after a one-on-one swordfight.

Let’s take a look at some of the “pro-Jon Snow” arguments:

“The Night King was supposed to be killed by Jon. Arya killing the Night King was like Timon and Pumbaa defeating Scar.”

Some people believed that the series was always moving towards a one-on-one battle finale between Jon and the Night King, but they were wrong to expect it. First, let’s talk about the Lion King comparison (the comparison is not mine, by the way).

We know that in Lion King Mufasa gets killed by his evil brother Scar, and Mufasa’s son, Simba, escapes, but is presumed dead by the rest of the Kingdom. Here we are right to expect a battle between Scar and Simba at the end because Simba has to avenge his father.

Similarly, in the Battle of the Bastards episode (from season 6), we are right to expect a one-on-one battle between Jon Snow and Ramsay Bolton because Ramsey kills Jon’s half-brother, Rickon. Before this, Ramsey was just an enemy to be dealt with; the moment when Ramsey killed Rickon is when things got “personal” between him and Jon.

But, this “personal factor” is absent when it comes to Jon and the Night King. Sure, the Night King is a danger to Winterfell and the North in general, but he never killed anyone near and dear to Jon.

The only one who has a personal issue with the Night King is Bran. He is the one who is marked by the Night King; it was the Night King’s soldiers who killed his companion, Hodor; and it was the Night King himself who killed Bran’s mentor—the original Three-Eyed Raven. We are going to talk more about Bran later.

“Arya had no business killing the Night King. She had no encounters with the White Walkers before The Battle of Winterfell.”

It doesn’t make much sense to say that Arya had to have previous encounters with the White Walkers so she can “earn” her right to kill their leader.

The White Walkers are attacking Winterfell, Arya’s home; the Army of the Dead is getting closer and closer, and they are about to kill her sister, Sansa; the Night King is reaching for his sword and is about to kill her Brother, Bran; and Viserion (the dragon) is about to kill her half-brother, Jon. Arya had every right to kill the Night King and protect her family.

Fans were simply wrong to conclude that Jon had the exclusive right to kill the Night King. Again, there was never anything personal between them.

“But, the Night King’s death was anticlimactic. They were hyping him up for seven seasons, only for him to get killed so quickly.”

The Night King had to be killed quickly; there was no other way. Judging by how easy it was for the Night King to kill Theon, we can predict that Jon wouldn’t have been much of a challenge for him either.

Jon and Theon are warriors, but many warriors have died trying to kill the Night King and defeat his army, only to die trying and get converted to be his soldiers. We cannot use warriors to kill the Knight King; we need an assassin, and that’s exactly what Arya Stark is! That’s what her whole training was about! She was perfect for the job.

Jon has already defeated the previous villain (Ramsay Bolton) in a one-on-one fight. Having Jon defeat two villains, one after the other, in the same way, would have been predictable and boring. Arya stepping in and killing the Night King was unexpected, original, and surprising. It didn’t work for everyone, but then again, nothing ever does.

And If we were paying more attention, we would have seen that it was always Arya’s destiny to kill the Night King. The clues were all there.

What clues? What are you talking about?

Do you remember Beric Dondarrion? He’s the one with the eyepatch and the flaming sword. We know that he’s brought back to life multiple times by the Lord of Light through his priest, Thoros, but we don’t know why his life is so important.

In season 3, episode 6, Melisandre (The Red Woman), meets Beric and she learns that he’s been resurrected six times. Before this meeting, she thought that bringing people back from the dead was impossible. This is an important event in the series.

Then, in “The Long Night” episode, it is finally revealed why Beric’s life is so important: It was his destiny to save Arya Stark. And why is Arya Stark important? She is destined to kill the Night King!

So if you want Jon Snow to kill the Night King, everything would fall apart: Arya Stark would not be important, and therefore the Lord of Light wouldn’t bring Beric back from the dead to save her. Melisandre would have never met Beric, and she would have kept believing that resurrecting people was impossible. So, when Jon is stabbed to death by members of the Night’s Watch at the end of season five, she wouldn’t have attempted to bring him back from the dead.

Bran Wasn’t Using His Powers

Some fans think that Bran wasn’t using his powers and that the entire trip he took north of the wall was for nothing, but they were not paying attention. Bran did use his powers to take down, not one, but two major villains.

Many fans have concluded that Sansa alone realized what Lord Baelish was up to, but it was obvious that Bran told Sansa and Arya how Baelish betrayed their father and about his plan to turn Sansa and Arya against each other. This should have been evident the moment Bran told Baelish that “Chaos is a ladder.” Sansa couldn’t have outsmarted Littlefinger on her own.

Bran was also using his powers to take down the Night King. Many fans thought that Bran had nothing to do with the Night King’s death and that it was sheer luck that Arya saved Bran at the last moment.

But, Bran knew what he was doing the whole time. He lured the Night King to the exact spot where he knew Arya would kill him. Being the three-eyed raven, he knew exactly how to defeat him.

This is the same spot where Arya got reunited with Jon two episodes before The Long Night, and the first thing Jon says to Arya is “How did you sneak up on me?” Two episodes later, she is going to sneak up on the White Walkers in the same way and kill their leader. It was Arya’s knife that killed the Knight King, but it was Bran’s mind that made it possible.

Ok, now that we know what is and is not problematic in Season 8, let’s fix the issues and improve the ending!

Part III: How it Should Have Ended (Three Alternative Endings)

Alternate Ending No.1

I’ve already mentioned that the greatest problems with Season 8 are 1) Daenerys burning King’s Landing along with its civilians, and 2) The “Aegon Targaryen” plot twist goes nowhere. So, in this alternate ending, we are going to fix both of them.

This time Dany doesn’t have Lord Varys killed, but imprisoned. She tells him that she will decide his punishment after she takes King’s Landing. The battle starts with Dany destroying the scorpions on the walls of King’s Landing using Drogon, and she also destroys the main gate, making it easy for her armies to enter the city.

But, while Jon and the rest of the army are fighting on the streets, a scorpion bolt hits Drogon. Daenerys falls off the dragon and she is badly hurt. Drogon sees Dany lying on the ground covered in blood and gets mad. He pulls out the scorpion bolt with his mouth and attacks the rest of the scorpions in the city.

A group of Dothraki riders reaches Daenerys. They put her body on a horse and get her out of the city. After destroying all the scorpions, Drogon sets the Red Keep on fire which causes the building to start collapsing. From here, Cersei’s death and the Clegane Brothers’ fight are the same as in the original episode.

After the battle is won, Jon goes into Daenerys’s tent and sees her on her deathbed. Tyrion informs him that the doctors did everything they could, but couldn’t save her. She is not going to live for much longer.

Jon sits beside Daenerys and tells her that the Iron Throne is hers and that she should be strong so she can survive and rule the Seven Kingdoms. He is still in love with her and doesn’t want to lose her.

But, Dany has no delusions. She orders the guards to bring Lord Varys to her tent. She tells Jon that she will soon die and that he will have to take the throne instead of her.

She admits to Jon that she was scared of him because deep down she knew that he would make a better ruler than her. She also tells him that she became jealous of him when she saw how the northern warriors and the wildlings look up to him, and she knew that they would never look up to her like that.

Jon, of course, doesn’t want the throne, but Daenerys tells him that that’s exactly why he would make the ideal ruler: he would never get blinded by a desire for power and wealth like the previous kings; he would always care about the wellbeing of the people and he would never put himself first like all the kings before him.

The guards bring Lord Varys to Dany. She sets him free and orders him to write the same letters that got him imprisoned and make sure that everyone in Westeros knows Jon’s real identity.

Daenerys tells Jon that she loves him, and soon after, she dies. Jon, Tyrion, Grey Worm, and everyone else in the tent are silent. The Mother of Dragons is dead. The throne belongs to Jon/Aegon.

This ending allows Dany to die like a hero and the “Aegon Targaryen” plotline is finally realized.

Alternate Ending No.2

Some critics have noted that the two final battles in season 8 should have been inverted: the Battle of King’s Landing should have been first, and the Battle of Winterfell second. This makes sense because a lot more was at stake at Winterfell.

The army of the living vs the army of the dead was the climax of the entire series, and ever since the very first scene in Game of Thrones, everything was building towards this event. Going back to King’s Landing to fight Cersei after defeating by far the greatest threat to Westeros didn’t make much sense story-wise.

This can be easily fixed, but we are going to have to make some changes to season 7 as well.

First, we are going to omit the trip to the north when Jon, Gendry, the Hound, Tormund, and the rest of the company try to capture a white walker (the “Beyond the Wall” episode).

When Daenerys arrives at Westeros, she is almost immediately going to attack King’s Landing. Daenerys would defeat Cersei and take the Iron Throne, but this time the civilians will be unharmed. Jon takes the knee and accepts Dany as his queen.

As the soldiers celebrate their victory in King’s Landing, the Night King would start attacking the wall. Because in this version the Night King would not have a dragon (Viserion), the White Walkers will have to climb on the wall and fight the Night’s Watch just like the Wildlings did in “The Watchers on the Wall” episode. We can also have an entire episode dedicated to the battle.

The Night’s Watch would defend the wall as effectively as they can, but they wouldn’t have the numbers to hold them off for very long. Also, Jon and the dragonglass would not have yet reached the North making things even more difficult for them.

The Night’s Watch is defeated, the gates are opened, and the Army of the dead enters the Seven Kingdoms, but ravens have been sent to Winterfell and King’s Landing.

Jon and Daenerys immediately start heading for Winterfell and they manage to reach it a week before the Army of the Dead. We shall have some more scenes and episodes where the Night King attacks local villages and castles before reaching Winterfell and converting the dead, so he can increase his army for the final battle (and to delay him for a while so that Jon and Daenerys reach Winterfell first).

The final battle would play out as in the actual episode, but with one significant change: this time the Night King’s spear kills Drogon, and this causes Daenerys to fall off the dragon. Ser Jorah takes her (she is still alive, but is badly hurt) and brings her within the city walls as the Unsullied provide cover for him.

After Bran lures the Night King to the godswood and Arya kills him, Jon hurries to see Daenerys. He tells her that they’ve won, and begs her to be strong and survive.

But, Daenerys knows that she is going to die and she names Jon her successor. She also tells Varys and Tyrion to make sure that everyone knows that Jon is Aegon Targaryen.

This ending is similar to the first alternate ending in that Daenerys still dies like a hero, and Jon still takes the throne, but this time the climax is at the end, instead of in the middle of the season.

Alternate Ending No.3

A lot of fans expect George RR Martin’s books to end differently, but Dan and David didn’t come up with the ending on their own: they consulted George about how the books would end. So, what if the books finally get completed, and we discover that they end the same way? What if Dany was always meant to become “The Mad Queen”?

In this alternate ending, we are going to attempt to achieve just that: Daenerys still becomes the Mad Queen, but we are going to do it in a way that comes naturally and doesn’t disrespect the viewers. It’s going to be a little more complicated, and we are going to have to make some more changes in season 7, and maybe even season 6, but it can be done.

But first, I like to address a small group of fans who think that the ending was perfect: that it was obvious all along that Dany was a tyrant, and that we were simply not paying attention. They usually point out the event where Dany kills Sam’s father and brother as evidence that she was always her father’s daughter.

But, this isn’t nearly enough to make Daenerys a villain. Randyll and Dickon Tarly fought against Daenerys, and when captured, they refused to bend the knee when given a chance. Jon Snow, Rob Stark, and Ned Stark have all executed people for similar reasons in the series, and it doesn’t mean that they are bad guys. Sometimes leaders must punish people who defy them or break the rules so they can uphold law and order.

The problem with the ending is not that lot of civilians died, but with who was doing the killing. We were still rooting for Dany when she decided to go “full Attila” on the population, and for many fans, it felt like a punch in the face.

So, let’s make Dany a Mad Queen, but do it the right way. Remember how Jaime Lannister started as a villain, but as we got to know him, we started to care, respect, and even root for him? Theon Greyjoy has a similar story arc. The same process must happen with Daenerys, but in reverse.

Dany’s transition from a hero to a villain must happen gradually, across several episodes, so that by the end of the series her actions won’t seem out of place.

Alternate Ending 3, Part I

Daenerys arrives at Dragonstone at the beginning of season 7. In the next episode, she meets with Jon Snow who has arrived there to ally with her so they can defeat Cersei, and to ask for permission to mine the dragonglass.

He warns Dany about the White Walkers and asks for her help to defeat them after she takes the Iron Throne. Daenerys asks Jon to “bend the knee,” but Jon refuses. He is not there to become a vassal for a queen he has never met before.

Daenerys is not too happy about this, but Tyrion persuades her that Jon will bend the knee in time, and for now, she should concentrate on dethroning Cersei.

So far the events are similar to the actual events in the series, but they will be some major changes in this version: 1. Jon never bends the knee, and 2. there will never be any romance between Dany and Jon.

Meanwhile, in the north, Arya Stark accidentally meets the Hound. She is surprised to see him alive and he is surprised to see her again. They are both headed for King’s Landing; Arya wants to kill Cersei and the Hound wants to kill his brother.

Alternate Ending 3, Part II

While Daenerys is flying with her dragons and exploring the area, Rhaegal is unexpectedly killed by the Iron Fleet, just like in the actual episode, and this causes Dany to go crazy. She attacks the Iron Fleet, but quickly changes her mind and retreats to save Drogon.

A lot of people didn’t like Dan and David’s explanation that Dany simply forgot about the Iron Fleet in the original episode, so in this version, the Iron Fleet has just arrived in Dragonstone, and Varys’s spies didn’t have enough time to pass the information to him.

Dany is angry because she lost one of her “children” and she says that many people will die when she takes her revenge. Tyrion reminds her that her anger should be directed solely at Cersei and Euron Greyjoy, that the civilians should not be harmed, and that the soldiers who surrender should get mercy. But, Dany doesn’t reply. She is filled with anger and stays silent while she’s grieving for her dragon.

Shortly after this, the Iron Fleet attacks Daenerys’s ships and captures Missandei, who is then delivered to Cersei. Dany becomes even angrier when she hears this. She marches with her armies to the gates of King’s Landing and demands that Missandei be delivered to her unharmed and that Cersei surrenders. She promises mercy for everyone in return.

Missandei is then killed in the same way as in the actual episode. Cersei does this to make Dany angry and to provoke her to attack the city. Cersei believes that this will give her an advantage over Daenerys: the scorpions would kill both of her remaining dragons just like they previously killed Rhaegal, and Dany’s army would be crushed when they attempt to breach the walls.

Alternate Ending 3, Part III

Losing Rhaegal and Missandei in such a short time takes its toll on Dany. Tyrion, Varys, and Ser Jorah have never seen her so mad. Tyrion tries to calm her down and reminds her again that the innocent people should remain unharmed, but Daenerys snaps at him:

“If they hate Cersei so much, why haven’t they attempted to overthrow her?! What kind of people stays obedient to a ruler who despises and hurts them constantly?! Are they even worth saving?! All the people that I have freed up until now have at least once tried to break free from their masters! It seems that the people of King’s Landing love Cersei’s boot!“

Tyrion assures her that the people despise Cersei and only obey her out of fear, but this makes Daenerys even less empathetic.

Daenerys: So they choose to stay sheep forever and let someone like Cersei sleep well at night?! Why are you defending them so much?! Do you remember that you have saved these people from Stannis, and in return, they’ve convicted you of a murder that you didn’t even commit?! They would have cheered at your execution!

Tyrion and Varys (and us—the audience) are seeing Dany slowly turning into “The Mad Queen,” and they start doubting their decisions. Only Ser Jorah continues to have blind faith in Dany because he is in love with her.

Although Jon doesn’t bend the knee, he agrees to fight for Daenerys because he hopes that once Dany takes the Iron Throne, she will help the North to fight off the White Walkers. He even offers Dany to bring a part of his army down south to help her fight Cersei, but Daenerys doesn’t want to wait and she decides to attack King’s Landing the next day.

Alternate Ending 3, Part IV

The battle starts with Drogon and Viserion attacking the scorpions on King’s Landing, and Dany’s forces (and Jon) fight the Golden Company (yes, in this version the Golden Company is not completely useless).

At first, it is uncertain how the battle will end, but after a long fight, Jon and the army manage to defeat the Golden Company, break the gates, and enter King’s Landing. Drogon and Viserion destroy all the scorpions and the Iron Fleet (and kill Euron Greyjoy), and we can see that Cersei will surely lose the battle, but while attacking the city’s defenses, Viserion is killed by a scorpion bolt.

Now that the city gates are destroyed, Arya and the Hound manage to get inside King’s Landing and are headed toward The Red Keep.

The fighting continues on the streets of King’s Landing and this results in civilian casualties. Jaime tells Cersei that the battle is lost and tells her to ring the town’s bells so that the people won’t suffer anymore, but Cersei doesn’t care. She continues to fight no matter how many people die.

Jaime begs Cersei to capitulate, but Cersei orders Ser Gregor to take Jaime to a prison cell so that he can be tried for treason after the battle is over. At this time, Drogon sets the Red Keep on fire. The fire kills all of Cersei’s guards except one. Cersei and the guard run down the stairs to get to a safer place.

The Hound tells Arya to flee the building because if she follows him she will die. She complies.

Just as Ser Gregor is about to put Jaime in a cell, he sees his brother. He releases Jaime so he can fight him. The Clegane fight plays out just like it did in the actual episode.

Jaime realizes that the only way to save the people of King’s Landing is to kill his sister. He picks up a sword from a dead guard and intercepts Cersei and her only remaining guard as they run down the stairs. The guard pulls out his sword and attacks Jaime.

Jaime fights the guard the best he can, but because he only has one arm he is knocked to the ground and loses his sword. The guard looks at Cersei asking for permission to kill her brother. Cersei nods. The guard raises his sword, but just before he strikes Jaime, he is killed by an arrow. Jaime looks to his right. It’s Bronn!

Bronn: “I told you! Until I get my castle, no one gets to kill you except for me!”

Bronn gives Jaime a hand (no pun intended) and helps him get up. Cersei tries to get away but is easily caught by Jaime and Bronn. Jaime tells Cersei that he loves her and that what he is about to do will hurt him more than her. He kills her with his sword, and by doing so, he also becomes “The Queen-slayer.”

Jaime and Bronn run toward the bell tower so they can end the battle.

Jon and Dany’s army are defeating the Lannister soldiers, but the resistance becomes tougher and tougher. At one point during the battle Jon is about to get killed, but he is saved at the last minute. It’s Arya! Jon cannot believe his eyes. Up until this moment, he thought that his sister was dead. He even asks her whether he died during the battle, and is now reunited with her in the afterlife.

After making sure that he is not dreaming, Jon hugs Arya as hard as he can, happy that his sister is alive and well. As they hug each other, they hear the bells ringing. Bronn and Jaime have finally reached the bell tower. The battle is over! The Lannister soldiers drop their weapons on the ground. At last, nothing stands between Dany and the Iron Throne! Her destiny is finally fulfilled.

Alternate Ending 3, Part V

After the battle is over, Jaime is brought before Daenerys so that the new Queen can meet the man who killed her father. Tyrion and Varys advise Daenerys to pardon him because, by killing Cersei, he ended the battle earlier and saved many of Dany’s soldiers.

But, Dany is not interested in giving mercy to anyone.

Daenerys: “You want me to give mercy to this man? He stabbed my father in the back, although he was sworn to protect him, and then did the same thing to his sister! He is a man without honor!“

Jaime tries to defend himself and explains that he killed Dany’s father because he was about to burn the city to the ground, along with all the civilians in it, and that he killed his sister for the same reason: to save the people of King’s Landing.

Tyrion and Varys advise Dany that giving mercy to Jaime would send a message that the new Queen will treat its subjects with kindness and compassion, but Dany is still furious about losing two of her dragons and Missandei. She wants revenge.

She orders every single soldier who fought for Cersei to be executed and Jaime to be burned alive by Drogon. Tyrion begs Dany to reconsider her decision, but she is not listening.

At this point, even Ser Jorah starts to see Dany differently. While he’s alone with her he asks: “What are we ultimately fighting for Khaleesi? What are we doing here?” Daenerys replies: “We are ridding the world of tyrants, of course!”

The next day Jaime is brought before Daenerys and Drogon. Tyrion asks Dany one more time to change her decision. This angers Dany and she tells Tyrion that if he asks her to pardon his brother one more time, he will be joining him. Dany says “dracarys” and Drogon burns Jaime alive. After Dany and her soldiers leave the scene, Tyrion moves to the spot where his brother stood just minutes ago. Only his golden hand remains.

For the rest of the day, Daenerys’s soldiers execute Cersei’s soldiers who have surrendered. She starts to act more and more like her father.

Alternate Ending 3, Part VI

Just as Daenerys celebrates her victory, in the North the Knight King and the White Walkers are attacking the wall. Ravens are sent to Winterfell. The Night’s watch is fighting the White Walkers as best as they can, but because they don’t have the numbers and the dragonglass, they are not able to hold them off for very long.

Word gets to King’s Landing. Jon begs Daenerys to help the Northerners fight off the Night Walkers. Dany asks him to bend the knee and accept her as his Queen. Jon tells her that the people of the North have fought long and hard for their independence and they won’t kneel before a Queen they don’t know, but that he would like to be her ally. Dany wishes him good luck with the White Walkers and walks away.

Varys manages to persuade Daenerys to fight against the White Walkers because if she leaves the North to fall, The Night King will kill everyone, convert the dead, and march down on King’s Landing with a much larger army. It would be much better to fight them now with the Northerners as allies. Dany reluctantly agrees but tells Varys that after she saves the Northerners “they all better kneel before her, and accept her as their Queen.”

The Night King attacks some villages and fortresses in the north so he can increase his army for the final battle, but also to make sure that he won’t get attacked “from the back” when he attacks Winterfell. This delays his arrival long enough so that Jon, Daenerys, and the dragonglass can arrive at Winterfell a week before him and make the dragonglass weapons.

Jon and Arya arrive at Winterfell and are reunited with Sansa and Bran who are overjoyed to see that Arya is still alive. The Northerners are happy to receive reinforcements for the coming battle, but at the same time are worried about Denayres’s intentions. Will she demand that they kneel before her if the battle is won? They’ve already fought against a southern tyrant who wanted to subjugate them.

Shortly after arriving in Winterfell Jon meets Sam who tells him about his real identity. Jon asks Sam not to tell anyone, because if Daenerys finds out she will have him assassinated. Jon, however, tells this to Sansa and Arya and swears them to secrecy.

But, Sansa (being Sansa) cannot keep her mouth shut and tells everything to Tyrion after she sees that Tyrion is regretting his decision to serve Daenerys. Shortly after, Tyrion passes the information to Varys. The people in Winterfell start talking…

Alternate Ending 3, Part VII

The final battle plays out similarly as it does in “The Long Night” episode: Beric saves Arya, Bran lures the Night King to the goodswood and Arya kills him. But, in this version, there will be two major changes: Ser Jorah survives the battle, and Daenerys loses her last dragon during the fight (the Night King hits Drogon with a spear).

After the battle, the Northers and the Wildlings are celebrating their victory, but Daenerys is sad and angry about losing her last dragon. She calls Tyrion, Varys, and Ser Jorah to her quarters. She tells them that she expects Jon, and the rest of the North to kneel before her after they are done celebrating.

Tyrion tries to persuade her that it’s better to leave the Northerners and the Wildlings to stay independent and be her allies because making them “bend the knee” will likely start another war.

Dany tells Tyrion that she heard the rumors that Jon Snow is Aegon Targaryen and that if this is true, he would have a claim to the throne. Tyrion and Varys pretend that this is the first time they hear about this and they tell Daenerys that people will always believe in myths and fairytales and that she should just ignore the gossip.

But, Dany insists that everybody in the North swears allegiance to her. It doesn’t matter if Jon is the rightful heir or not. What matters is that a lot of people believe this to be true, and it’s only a matter of time before word reaches King’s Landing. Everything she fought for, all the battles she has won, the dragons she has sacrificed—all would be for nothing. But, it is all avoidable if Jon bends the knee and accepts her as his Queen.

Tyrion and Varys beg her not to do this. They point out that, even if Jon and the Northerners bend the knee, the Wildlings would never kneel before her or anyone else for that matter, and it’s better to just return to King’s Landing and rule the remaining six kingdoms while being friendly with the North.

This time even Ser Jorah agrees with Tyrion and Varys and tries to change Dany’s mind. He tells her that starting another war with the North, especially now that they’ve won the most important battle in Westeros, is a very bad idea.

But, Dany doesn’t listen. In her mind, she saved the North from the Night King and they owe her their allegiance. She tells Tyrion and Varys to have a meeting with Jon (representing the North), and Tormund (representing the Wildlings) and to persuade them to kneel before her, or she will have to use the Dothraki and the Unsullied to take what she thinks is hers.

The meeting with Jon and Tormund goes exactly as expected: both Jon and Tormund refuse to kneel. After Tyrion and Varys leave the room, Jon and Tormund look at each other concerningly, knowing exactly what this means: they would have to get ready for another war. Everybody was afraid it might come to this. The Northerners were right not to trust Daenerys.

Tyrion and Varys tell the news to Daenerys. She was expecting this. She orders Ser Jorah to take the best assassins in their army and kill Jon, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Tormund, Brienne, as well as anyone with a high rank in the wildling and northern armies. If the rest of the people do not kneel after she takes out their leaders, she will have to make an example of them as well. Ser Jorah finally sees what he refused to see up until now: Daenerys has become “The Mad Queen.”

After Daenerys gives the order, Ser Jorah approaches her. Dany can see that he has tears in his eyes.

Daenerys: Why are you crying?

Ser Jorah: I’ve always loved you Khaleesi.

Daenerys feels a knife entering her belly. She looks at Ser Jorah.

“What are you doing?!” she asks him, panicking.

“Ridding the world of tyrants.” Ser Jorah responds.

Daenerys dies in Jorah’s arms. Tyrion and Varys witness the murder. Grey Worm enters the room and sees his Queen dead and Ser Jorah’s arms covered with blood. He kills Ser Jorah with his sword.

The Mad Queen is dead.

Alternate Ending 3, Part VIII

After his death, Ser Jorah becomes a polarising figure in Westeros. The Dothraki and the Unsullied hate him because he killed their beloved Queen, but he is hailed as a hero by the Northerners and the Wildlings because he saved them from a tyrant and stopped another major war.

With their Queen dead, the Dothraki and the Unsullied have nothing to do in Westeros anymore, so they return to Essos.

Westeros needs a new king. Jon doesn’t want the throne, but he is persuaded by Tyrion and Varys to take the crown because, if he doesn’t, a power vacuum would be created with many warlords fighting for the throne and the people of Westeros would have to suffer all over again.

Word speeds to all corners of Westeros about Jon’s real identity and the people welcome their new King!

Phew! That was a long one, but we’ve finally fixed the problems with the ending: we’ve let Jaime die like a hero, we’ve put the battle of Winterfell at the end of the season, and we’ve made Dany “The Mad Queen” slowly and gradually so that her transformation seems more natural and genuine.

Part IV: Two More Ways to Deal With Cersei

I’ve already given you one alternative way to deal with Cersei (Alternative ending No.3—killed by Jaime), but in this part, I’ll give you two more.

Cersei’s Alternate Ending No.2

In this version, Cersei is going to get killed by Arya Stark.

Even before Season 8 began, fans were assuming that Cersei would be killed by Arya who would get close to her by using Jaime’s face, but there are several problems with this version.

Firstly, If we want to surprise the audience when Jaime removes his face and we all see that it was Arya all along, that means that Jaime would have had to be killed “off-camera.” This would anger a lot of fans because they would rightfully expect to “be present” for the death of one of their favorite characters. We can do this with less important characters, but not with someone like Jaime.

The other problem is that for Arya to be able to fool and get close to Cersei using another person’s face, this other person would have to be approximately her size for the deception to work. Jaime is way too tall for Arya to be able to disguise herself as him. It would be even more ridiculous for Arya to disguise herself as Ser Gregor.

So, if we want Cersei to get killed by Arya, Jaime and Ser Gregor are out of the question. Qyburn, on the other hand…

But, there is a small problem with this version. It was explained in part II that it was always Arya’s destiny to kill the Night King. So, the problem here is that Arya gets to kill the two major villains one after the other, and we are entering the “predictable territory.”

Cersei’s Alternate Ending No.3

In this version, Cersei will survive the battle of King’s Landing, but we are going to give her a fate worse than death. I think that those of you who really hate Cersei will like this version.

After Drogon sets the Red Keep on fire, Cersei loses her guards (some are killed by Drogon’s fire, the rest by the Hound), she and Qyburn flee to the cellars before the building collapses, and get on an escape boat. They sail past the remains of The Iron Fleet (destroyed by Drogon and Viserion) and, for the time, it seems they’re safe.

As they sail away from the shore, they see King’s Landing covered in smoke and fire, the Red Keep destroyed, and soon after, they hear the town’s bells ringing (her army has surrendered).

But, as they sail into the open sea, they encounter a pirate ship. And guess who this pirate ship belongs to! Do you remember Salladhor Saan? He’s the black pirate who was always daydreaming about having sex with the Queen. Well, in this version, we are going to make his wish come true!

The pirates bring Cersei and Qybrun on board. Qybrun protests and demands that they release him and the Queen at once, but he is immediately killed. Salladhor approaches Cersei who is held by two of his pirates and he cannot believe his luck.

He sarcastically welcomes the Queen to his ship and orders his men to take her to his chambers. Cersei kicks and screams and threatens everyone that if they don’t let her go she will have them all tortured to death, but the pirates just laugh, and we see Salladhor rubbing his hands together. This is the last time anyone hears from Cersei.

Part V: What About After Jon Takes the Throne?

So, what happens after Jon Snow becomes the new King of Westeros? Well, there are two ways to handle this:

Scenario No.1:

Jon appoints Tyrion to be his “hand,” Varys gets his old position, Bran becomes Jon’s most valuable advisor, and Sansa is appointed “Warden of the North” with Arya as her second in command. Sam becomes the new Grand Maester just like he does in the original ending, and Brienne of Tarth is appointed head of the King’s Guard—the first female in the history of Westeros to hold the title.

Tormund and the Wildlings return to the North, but this time there is no wall and they can trade with the Northerners and visit them whenever they please. They are the only people in Westeros who are not subjugated to Jon but are considered allies and good friends to the King.

With Bran by his side, Jon would always have the best advice and he will also know if someone is planning to assassinate him. Jon rules the Seven Kingdoms with love and kindness for its people, just like Ned Stark once ruled The North.

Finally, there are bright days ahead for Westeros.

Scenario No.2:

For this scenario, we are going to make one more altercation to the story and introduce a new character a little earlier in the season.

After the victory at King’s Landing (and before the battle with the Army of the Dead), Jon is celebrating with the rest of the soldiers. A servant girl approaches him and asks him if he would like some more wine. Jon looks at her face and he cannot believe his eyes. It’s Ygritte! Only this time, her hair is black and shorter (That’s right! We are bringing actress Rose Leslie back for another role, and Jon gets to fall in love again!).

After making sure he is not hallucinating, Jon finds out that this is a different girl (we’ll call her Anna), and he spends some time with her while the soldiers mine the dragonglass. They both develop feelings for each other across several episodes.

After The Night King attacks the wall, Jon tells Anna that he has to go with the rest of the army to defend his home city, but promises to return and see her again if they win the battle.

After the Battle of Winterfell is won, and Daenerys is killed by Ser Jorah, Jon takes the throne, but only to give his first and final command: The Iron Throne is to be destroyed, and the Seven Kingdoms are given independence. “The Wheel” is finally broken!

Each Kingdom will get to choose its king, and Jon suggests that the Seven Kingdoms have yearly conferences where they will be able to peacefully resolve any disagreements they might have.

Sansa is elected “Queen of The North” and she appoints Bran as her advisor and Arya as her second in command. As for Jon, he retires from political and military life and, as promised, returns to King’s Landing to see Anna again. He intends to marry her.

Anna says “yes,” and Jon finally gets what he always wanted: to grow old beside the woman he loves, and start a family far from the world of backstabbing, assassinations, and power struggles that have plagued the lives of the Lannisters, the Starks, and the Targaryens for centuries.

Oh, I almost forgot! In any scenario, Bronn is NOT the Master of Coin! We can give him Highgarden, make him Lord Paramount of the Reach, but definitely not make him Master of Coin! In Game of Thrones, we’ve seen genocides, pregnant women being butchered, little girls being burned alive, and our favorite characters getting killed on a regular basis. But, having Bronn in charge of the finances would be just too much to bear.

So, there you have it! Three alternative endings and some more scenarios for you to choose according to your wishes. Which ending did you like the best?

Untill next time, Valar Morghulis!