**SPOILER ALERT: Last night’s “Game of Thrones” finale will be discussed in detail below.**
As was written in last night’s episode recap, the moment when it’s revealed that the Lords and Ladies of Westeros were going to elect Bran as the new King of the Six (formerly Seven) Kingdoms, you could almost sense the collective eye-roll from fans all around the world. Not that Bran is a terrible character (even though some would argue he is), but the fact that through all the seasons, all the death, all the destruction, the series ends with Bran on the throne is a bit…underwhelming and confusing.
And according to actor Isaac Hempstead Wright, who plays the new King of Westeros, even he didn’t believe the turn of events. In fact, he thought perhaps that the show’s creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were playing a trick on him.
“When I got to the [Dragonpit scene] in the last episode and they’re like, ‘What about Bran?’ I had to get up and pace around the room,” he said in an interview with EW. “I genuinely thought it was a joke script and that [Benioff and Weiss] sent to everyone a script with their own character ends up on the Iron Throne. ‘Yeah, good one guys. Oh s—, it’s actually real?’”
“I’m happy,” he added. “Though I kind of did want to die and get in one good death scene with an exploding head or something.”
While we may never know the truth since George R.R. Martin still has to finish two novels (and they don’t seem to be coming anytime soon…), there is the theory that even though Bran being revealed as the new King is shocking for TV fans, it’s Benioff and Weiss following the outline that Martin presented them years ago.
For those that don’t read the books, the novels go into much more detail about Bran and his thoughts and feelings versus the show. The novels have spent a great deal more time fleshing out the supernatural side of the universe, with prophecies, magic, and other bits, which feature Bran prominently, whereas the series has eschewed all those in favor of the political drama, leaving the young Stark boy out of a majority of the major final scenes.
So, as many TV watchers might be confused and upset by Bran the Broken inheriting the crown, it may be an ending that works much better in the books. And this ending could be Benioff and Weiss honoring Martin one last time (even though they’ve deviated so, so far away from the novels previously). Of course, as mentioned, we’ll just have to wait and see. Needless to say, it would be a shame if the only ending on the record for The Song of Ice and Fire is written by Benioff and Weiss.
READ MORE: Yes, There Was Actually A Plastic Water Bottle In Last Night’s ‘Game Of Thrones’ Finale
One more interesting thing of note, in an essay written by the actor for THR, he revealed that another method the filmmakers used to avoid spoilers was to fly other actors, who weren’t in the Dragonpit scene, in for the filming, to throw people off the scent.
He revealed, “Several other actors who were not even in the scene were flown over to throw paparazzi off the scent, and they were pretty grateful for their free holiday while we shot under the unrelenting sun.”
It would be interesting to see how some of the fallen heroes/villains would feel about Bran getting the crown at the end.