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Game of Thrones finale: Twitter reacts to 'The Iron Throne' with memes, fire and rage

Can we just start over?

Mark Serrels Editorial Director
Mark Serrels is an award-winning Senior Editorial Director focused on all things culture. He covers TV, movies, anime, video games and whatever weird things are happening on the internet. He especially likes to write about the hardships of being a parent in the age of memes, Minecraft and Fortnite. Definitely don't follow him on Twitter.
Mark Serrels
3 min read
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Dany turned conquerer.

HBO

Game of Thrones is over (well kinda, we still have prequels and spin-offs to come) and people are a little upset.

It wasn't great. For a full recap of the episode, you can read CNET's finale rundown. If you just want to see who survived until the end, we've got that list ready to go too

And if you want to see the memes and the straight fire from Twitter, read on.

Spoilers incoming!

So that was definitely an episode of television. I don't know where to start. Let's break it up by sections.

The opening of this episode was strong. We had Dany turn up with an absolutely show-stopping entrance...

And after a bit of discussion and a walk through the carnage, Tyrion Lannister gave up his brooch. He didn't wanna be the hand/sheriff no more.

Then there was a lengthy, but also pretty well-acted scene where Tyrion Lannister and Jon Snow reasoned out the pros and cons of absolutely stabbing Daenerys Targaryen in the back for her insane war crimes. 

Jon Snow did the same tortured "what should I do with this moral quandary" face he's been doing for eight long seasons, and then he did what he always does: the right thing. In this case murder by loving knife in the belly.

That was bad enough (the stabbing I mean). Then the worst part: Drogon's mourning period. Which involved a lot of fire and a complete melting of the Iron Throne.

At this point, things seemed good. Good episode, decent-ish writing, good performances. This was the high point of the episode. The Dany death scene was great, Drogon's reaction was great. Sweet, we're getting the Jon Snow ending, right?

Wrong.

This is the point where things went off the rails.

Bran Stark -- perhaps the most irritating character in the show's long history was now the owner of a completely melted Iron Throne. He got the throne by everyone just sort of agreeing he should be king in one of the weirdest scenes in Game of Thrones history.

As you might expect, people were upset. Wrote one Twitter user: "I really spent 8 years watching this show for bran to be king, dany dead and jon back at the nightwatch???" 

And from that point on we were in epilogue mode. Jon Snow was back in the newly established Night's Watch. Arya decided to go on high-seas adventures. The north became its own kingdom, meaning Sansa got to be queen in the north. Sure, whatever. That makes sense.

Perhaps the one high point: Jon Snow reunited with Ghost and people were happy for a while. 

But as the credits rolled, there was an empty sense of disappointment. That's it, the show is over. Are we going to get a spin-off with Arya Stark as assassin on the high seas or Jon Snow adventuring in the north? Maybe, but this wasn't the ending we were expecting. It all feels a bit strange.

If you're frustrated with the show, or just flat out need something to fill the Game of Thrones sized hole in your life, here are 11 shows that might help numb the pain.

Farewell Game of Thrones, it's been an amazing (confusing, anger-inducing) eight seasons.

Watch this: Game of Thrones season 8 finale: Our watch has ended

The 38 most gut-wrenching Game of Thrones deaths, ranked

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Updated May 20, 5:07 p.m. PT