“I want to kill David Benioff and Dan Weiss” - a T-shirt with this slogan would be a good match for the “I want to kill David Lynch” T-shirt that has been collecting dust in fans’ closets since the second season of Twin Peaks. More than a million viewers have signed a petition demanding that the eighth season of Game of Thrones be remade without even waiting for the final episode. But now the end is set, the story is over, and the last episode clearly explains what it was about.

Expectations were so high that the audience would have been disappointed by any ending. But showrunners Benioff and Weiss got away with it, preferring conceptual solutions to plot solutions.

The key monologue of the entire series is now spoken by Tyrion Lannister, our favorite character (may the audience forgive me for such a generalization. And even though Rolling Stone magazine puts Tyrion only in third place in importance and popularity - after Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow - I’m talking about love ).

“What unites the people? - Tyrion asks. - Army? Gold? Coats of arms? And after every question he shakes his head. “Stories,” he says. “There is nothing stronger in the world than a good story.” She cannot be stopped, no enemy can defeat her.”

Game of Thrones by the numbers
170 countries in which HBO has simulcasted since season five2.5 million people on average watched every episode of the first season (according to HBO)17.4 million people watched the first episode of the final season when it premiered on three platforms - premium cable channel -class and two Internet streaming services, HBO Go and HBO Now (according to HBO) 55 million pirated views of illegal streams and downloads were recorded in the first 24 hours after the premiere of each episode of the eighth season (according to the analytical company MUSO) $15 million minimum budget episode of the eighth season (according to Variety)....
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Game of Thrones by the numbers

170 countries in which HBO has simulcasted since Season 5
On average , 2.5 million people watched each episode of the first season (according to HBO)
17.4 million people watched the first episode of the final season when it premiered on three platforms - premium cable and two Internet streaming services, HBO Go and HBO Now (according to HBO)
55 million pirated views of illegal streams and downloads were recorded in the first 24 hours after the premiere of each episode of the eighth season (according to the analytics company MUSO)
$15 million is the minimum budget for an episode of the eighth season (according to Variety). This figure does not include the cost of reshoots and additional VFX effects.
$90 million estimated budget for the entire eighth season (Variety)

Like this. Love and power, politics and magic, blood and sex, dragons and the walking dead were just tools, an ornament, but not the meaning. The point was we, the audience, everyone who cared for the characters or laughed at them, admired the authors or cursed them, but still waited for the next episode like a child who most of all wants to be surprised. And we were surprised.

Tyrion's monologue is also an unexpected moment. Not so much in terms of the consequences, but in the way it changes the viewer's optics. Everything after it, in essence, is no longer important. Who will become king, will democracy or dictatorship win, what will happen to the surviving heroes. Tyrion seems to bring them all to the front of the stage and say: the game is over, we were just actors, we told you all our stories, and it’s up to you to choose the best one. Just look around.

Daenerys's story was about the will to power, Jon Snow's about duty, Jaime's about great love, Cersei's about the instinct of a political animal, Tyrion's about the survival of the weak, Bran's about the victory of the spirit over the flesh. And so on - each character who went through the fiery meat grinder of “Game of Thrones” had something to tell about: they changed, sometimes radically, but remained true to their plots, simple and eternal, from which the multidimensional universe of the series ultimately took shape.

The final episode, of course, pays tribute to George Martin, who invented this whole world. But not only him.

This is a gesture of gratitude to everyone who never tires of retelling eternal stories, finding new clothes for them.

HBO Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy)The first king of the Seven Kingdoms from the Baratheon dynasty... HBO Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson)The second king from the Baratheon dynasty, eldest... HBO Tommen Baratheon (Callum Warry, Dean-Charles Chapman)The third king from the dynasty ... HBO Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) Widow of King Robert Baratheon, mother of kings J... HBO Renly Baratheon (Gethyn Anthony) Younger brother of King Robert, proclaimed with... HBO Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) Another younger brother of the king Roberta and himself... HBO Robb Stark (Richard Madden)The eldest son of Eddard Stark, after the execution of his father announced... HBO Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke))Daughter of the deposed mad king Aerys... HBO Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk)Pirate, representative of the House of Greyjoy, called ... HBO Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) Considered the bastard of Eddard Stark, in fact ... HBO Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) Son of Eddard Stark. One of the most mysterious...

What was Game of Thrones about?