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The Pets Were the Best Part of the Game of Thrones Finale

Drogon and Ghost.
Good boys. Photo: HBO

Warning: This post contains spoilers.

Last night, Game of Thrones ended with a series finale that left Daenerys dead, Bran the King of Westeros, Jon exiled to the Wall, Sansa the Queen of the North, Arya sailing into the distance, Brienne blogging, and weird breastfeeding kid suddenly hot. It was polarizing, to say the least, with viewers either finding it to be a satisfying conclusion or proof that they “wasted” eight years of their lives on a TV show (get a grip, please). But that is neither here nor there — we’re not here to dispute the role of art or the issues with mass-market fantasy fandom. We’re here to talk about the pets.

First, Drogon finally got his chance to show his range as an actor/CGI creation in a terribly sweet and sad scene. Right after Daenerys gets stabbed in the stomach midway through making out with her nephew (hot!), Drogon approaches her dead body and gently nudges it, trying to wake her up. It’s the most heartbreaking moment of reptilian-based trauma since The Land Before Time.

Come on. Photo: HBO

Then, instead of avenging his mother by roasting up Jon, Drogon turns his pain onto the Iron Throne itself, melting it down in anguish because he knew that the pursuit of it is what ultimately led to Daenerys’s downfall. Damn. Game of Thrones creators have gotten quite a bit of flack for not having adequate character development this season, a critique I don’t necessarily agree with but, in this case, it wouldn’t have killed them to let us know some more about Drogon. We’ve know him for eight whole seasons, and just now learned that he can do advanced critical thinking? I thought he was basically at dog level: loyal, capable of understanding up to 165 words, incapable of grasping the intricacies of human desire for power.

Makes you think. Photo: HBO

Then he sorrowfully flies off into the distance with his mom clutched in his claw. Come on!

Speaking of big dogs, Jon also reunites with his direwolf, Ghost. As you may remember from a couple of episodes ago, Jon left Winterfell without saying a proper good-bye to his pet — who lost a damn ear fighting for him — which the director chalked up to not having the CGI capabilities. Really makes up for him being doomed to a lifetime of celibacy in the snow.

There we go. Photo: HBO

D. B. Weiss and Amanda Peet’s husband, give the people what they want: a spinoff series about these two.

The Pets Were the Best Part of the Game of Thrones Finale