Game of Thrones season 8 episode 6 – finale live blog

This live blog is now concluded

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05.17am: And now it's time for me to sign off as well.

I've been doing these live blogs since season 6 in 2016, and I never knew what a rewarding experience it would be. Thanks for reading along, watching and enduring all my weird costumes, videos and memes - here's a couple for the road.

(Look, I thought the Howland Reed stuff might play out).

I'll really miss doing this, even all the light nights and furious typing, and I hope you've all enjoyed reading them. If nothing else, it's proof how much better my mind works when I'm not actually spending time on what I write, which is a little unsettling.

But of course, the main thing to note here is that Game of Thrones is gone. We will never see its like again, and hopefully it can maintain a decent legacy even after some bum notes this year.

For now, and probably more permanently than Jon...

Goodbye!

05.10am: It's actually getting light outside, so I should begin to wrap up.

I've done the episode, and the season - but what about the series?

Well, it's hard to see anything coming after Game of Thrones to match it. There'll be big shows, sure, but the alchemy of this one worked just well enough to obsess the world and push people to watch live, together, so they didn't get spoiled. I don't know if, or when we'll get a show like that again.

The last couple of series weren't Thrones at its best. Personally, I think it peaked in season four but everyone has their own opinions. But in the end, at least we got some sort of ending for the characters. That means something.

I'll be gutted to see Game of Thrones go, but hey - there's always more from the books if George RR Martin ever finishes them, and that spin-off. And who knows? If the prequel does so well, maybe I'll be back live-blogging again despite everything I've said tonight.

05.05am: Also, at least one of those pre-season posters did come true.

05.01am: Pretty sure this is the latest I've ever kept the blog going, but hey - it is a special occasion.

Latest thought occurred - Bronn did very well this season, and so did Jerome Flynn. Three scenes total! All indoors on set! He could have knocked that out in about a week then collected his cheque, and now he's lord of Highgarden.

04.57am: There will be one thing to keep us going, though - the feature-length Game of Thrones documentary airing in the same slot this time next week.

And no, I won't be live-blogging that. I have to draw the line somewhere.

04.55am: I can't believe we're not all going to be here next week bitching and moaning about the latest Game of Thrones. What will we do with ourselves??

I mean I'm going on holiday, like Arya but in a less Wolf-themed mode of transport, but generally speaking we're all a bit stuck now.

04.53am: This was pretty cool, to be fair.

Must've taken Dany and Drogon ages to line this one up. No wonder he was dozing in the snow later on.

04.50am: I have to say, I am massively enjoying all the "Brienne writing" memes.

04.48am: Fair comment.

Also, they seem to have decided to make Ghost direwolf-sized again after he was regular wolf-sized in episode four. Odd.

04.46am: I think this is a pretty good take on the whole thing.

When Game of Thrones finds the time for those smaller moments, it's unbeatable.

That said, I just realised Davos was pretty chilled out about switching to team Bran after years with Jon, and decades with Stannis before that. Move over Varys! Got the real player here.

04.42am: Maybe I should talk about this series (or season if you're American) as a whole.

I genuinely loved episode two - one of the best Thrones scripts in years, and really reminded me of the show I loved. So pleased I got to feel that way one more time, because the rest...was mixed.

Episode one was OK. I actually liked episode three a lot more than most people, it's probably my second favourite of the year. But episode four is messy, and while episode five is technically brilliant and well-made, it just had such a weird turn in it it's hard to appreciate it fully.

So for me, Game of Thrones season eight as a whole is like the finale - some bits I liked, one or two I loved, an awful lot that leaves me scratching my head. But I will say, it ended better than I expected given the last two episodes.

04.37am: This is....accurate.

04.36am: yeah but....was that really intentional?

04.34am: Ha, this episode definitely seems to have inspired some debate online...

04.32am: On a lighter note, here's the music that played at the end of the series - it's called, appropriately enough, a Song of Ice and Fire, and it's basically a juiced-up version of the theme tune.

04.31am: I want to say a big thanks to all of you who watched along with me tonight, and in episodes and series past.

An awful lot of you got in touch tonight to say some very sweet things, and while it may make me look a bit self-obsessed here are a few of your messages - I did promise I'd include them, and I pay my debts.

You guys might actually make me tear up more than the finale. I never knew we had such a community of people reading this, it's lovely.

That said - so many of you read this instead of just watching the show! Please watch the show, it has better graphics.

04.21am: Apparently that final episode was called The Iron Throne, by the way. I was hoping for A Dream of Spring but hey, we can't have everything.

It is, to be fair, a pretty appropriate title.

04.19am: It is wild that Edmure, Robin Arryn, Bronze Yohn Royce and about four random extras were part of one of the pivotal scenes in the series. This show is VERY concerned with picking up some loose ends, but not others.

Speaking of which, what happened to the Dothraki? Are they headed to Naath too? Or is Essos about to get some VERY unwelcome returning foes?

04.17am: The Westeros Wing! I like that.

04.13am: OK, here goes.

I actually think this episode did a decent job, all things considered. Dany was dealt with a BIT abruptly and early on, but the scenes were genuinely pretty emotional and interesting. Poor Drogon!

I loved the sort of post-apocalyptic King's Landing look (though they seemed to have ironed that out pretty early on) and I also quite liked the bespoke endings everyone got. It was all pretty appropriate (except, arguably, Dany's).

But then there's King Bran. King Bran! I would have been more convinced by almost any other character, to be honest. I just don't see why anyone would want him to rule them! He's so weird!

I don't know, maybe I need to let it sit with me a little.

04.10am: Now, I guess I should probably try and give a full reaction to that episode, and Game of Thrones (plus its legacy) as a whole.

Er...I might need some time to process this.

04.07am: Also, should we talk about how well Robin Arryn is turning himself out nowadays?

04.05am: I'm really happy that Jon and Tormund reunited by the way. I honestly think their relationship is one of the purest in the show. Tormund is one of the few people who doesn't want anything from Jon, and just enjoys being around him because they get on. It's nice for Jon to have a friend like that, and yes I know I sound ridiculous, it has been a VERY long night (unintentional joke there).

04.02am: Haha, a lot of people dispute Tyrion's claim about Bran having the best story.

Also, weird that Arya never used her face-changing ability again after killing the Freys. Not once. Not even to kill Daenerys.

04.00am: I can't get over there still being a Night's Watch. What will they dooooo? The wildlings are all friendly and there are like, 60 of them. The White Walkers are gone!

I guess now there's time for lots of weapons practice, walks in the snow and keeping their fingers crossed for those ice spiders to finally turn up and wreak havoc.

Personally, I hope Jon decides to jack it all in and become King Beyond the Wall. Might as well!

03.57am: Dammit, I've been making BRAN AWARENESS jokes on this live blog since 2016, and someone has stolen my thunder!

The worst part? It's better than mine were.

03.56am: I actually disagree with this - I like how it folded back into Jaime's honour, and gave him a nicer ending than the one he had in the previous episode.

03.53am: Does Drogon have the emotional competence to think "You know, in a way it was her lust for power that killed her, so METAPHORICALLY this chair did it."

Or, he just thought - knife chair! Knife chair kill mummy! Bad knife chair!

Look, we have to find some way to explain that scene, cool as it was.

03.51am:

Also - teehee.

03.49am: This is true but also - I feel like not enough attention is put on the fact that Jon died.

He's a zombie! He still has holes in him! Can he even have kids?

I mean, Beric said that he felt like he wasn't fully human any more. I feel like we skip over that with Jon.

03.47am: Normally I'd be grabbing the next time trailer for this episode but there isn't one! Means I might have to try and entertain you myself instead.

Just kidding, I'm just going to steal tweets instead.

03.45am: I do quite like this:

03.43am: Pretty brutal that a fictional TV character managed to finish A Song of Ice and Fire before George RR Martin, incidentally.

03.39am: I feel bad for the series going all in on Bran, just before we all decided how weird and awful Bran was.

I know I said this already but why does he need a Master of Whisperers?? He knows everything!

03.35am: In the end, that finale was a mixed bag for me. I'm not sure how much it made ACTUAL SENSE in terms of how we've seen this world to work, but Jon ending up back at the Wall with Ghost actually felt to me like one of the best endings for his character. Same with Sansa as Queen in the North, Podrick in the Kingsguard. All that.

But then...King Bran. I can only imagine the devastation of the online reaction will put Daenerys' visit to King's Landing to shame. Yet another...

...you could say.

03.33am: In the end, maybe the REAL Game of Thrones was the friends we made along the way.

03.31am: A swelling version of the Game of Thrones theme plays as Jon leads the wildlings back North of the Wall, the opposite to the series' very first scene as the White Walkers started to drive them out.

And...that's the episode! AND the series. It's over, you guys!

03.30am: This scene of Jon and co heading north of the Wall pretty closely mirrors the first ever Thrones scene. But now, a bit of green is growing out of the ground...

03.28am: I take back everything I've said about this episode - Jon properly reunited with Ghost! He gave him a hug! Jon actually smiled!

Oh and Sansa got crowned etc etc.

"DAQUEENINDANORF!"

I don't know why they always feel the need to just shout that stuff over and over again. Does that make it official?

03.27am: Jon somehow seems to be back in charge at the Wall. Must be annoyed that Sam got out of duty.

03.26am: Back at the Wall, Jon reunites with Tormund, while Arya kits herself out for a grand voyage.

And Sansa kits herself out for high fashion northern politics!

03.25am: As they squabble over whether to rebuild ships or brothels, Tyrion recalls is old joke - "I once brought a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel..."

Those were the days.

03.24am: Bronn is now a very high Lord. It's also nice to see Davos' sailing experience, and STANNIS grammar experience coming into play.

Sam seems to be more of a maester envoy than Grand Maester.

03.22am: Tyrion being left out of the history is pretty funny.

Bran is missing a Master of Whisperers, Master of Laws and Master of War. Why does Bran need spies if he can see literally everything?

Hey, Podrick is a Knight! And he's in the Kingsguard! I like that.

03.21am: Tyrion gets ready for a council meeting, mainly by fiddling around with all the chairs.

The council enters...and we have Bronn! Davos, Sam (who is now a maester, somewhere)? And Sam has "A Song of Ice and Fire", Archmaester Ebrose's account of the wars after the death of King Robert.

This just Lord of the Ringsed so hard.

03.19am: She finishes that he "died protecting his Queen" which is definitely one way to put it. Still, nice that Jaime sort of kept to his vows in the end.

03.18am: Brienne is officially in the Kingsguard tower, in the old gold armour...place held up well under the dragonfire.

She's adding to Jaime Lannister's entry in the White Book, which was nice - how short and ignominious his entry was is a bigg-ish point in the books.

03.16am: Jon is having an emotional farewell with his sisters and brother. He gives his blessing to Sansa as Queen, Arya decides to find out "what's west of Westeros" (something she's mentioned in the past), and Jon gives her a big hug.

Jon kneels to...sigh...King Bran.

Bran sort of smiles for the first time in QUITE a while.

Looks like this story was secretly...

...all along.

03.14am: Grey Worm's moral highground is a little shaky considering he killed a LOT of unarmed prisoners lately.

Anyway the Unsullied are off to Missandei's home town now, which is nice. I'm sure they'll love having 4,000 traumatised soldiers turn up.

03.13am: Jon is the actual King though...why doesn't he just pardon himself?

No, instead he's putting his flowy Night's Watch cloak back on.

Does he get to be Lord Commander again? No? Who are these two dudes? How did they survive all the White Walkers etc?

03.11am: Jon now also has a nice beard. And he's being sent to the Night's Watch...again! What will they even do?

Apparently just march about on an icy wall for no reason.

"Was it right, what I did?" Jon asks.

"What we did," Tyrion replies. You're still swanning around in King's Landing for life, pal! Don't try and claim the credit here!

03.09am: Can't believe Sam invented democracy and they all laughed, but then they thought "Hmm yes, this insane teenager who stares at us all the time...my liege."

03.08am: I mean, I really did try to cover every base ahead of the episode, but even I didn't predict this one.

Still all more plausible monarchs than Bran, imo.

Bran!

03.07am: Sarah makes a good point here - I can only apologise for my lack of foresight.

03.05am: King Bran? Seriously?

My oh my. Now an ad break.

Oh, and Grey Worm wants to punish Tyrion more in some way. Maybe they'll chop off his luxurious beard.

03.04am: Sansa still insists on the North being independent. Sigh.

"All hail Bran the Broken...Lord of the Six Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm."

He wasn't even in season 5! At all!

Bran makes Tyrion his hand. Whether he likes it or not.

03.02am: Tyrion asks if he'll do it...

Bran says "Why do you think I came all this way?"

Tyrion, Sam and Edmure vote for him, and some random guy. And silent Robin Arryn, and Yara and Gendry.

Apparently this is now how they'll choose rulers from now on, which seems RIPE for corruption.

03.01am: I'm so confused. Was this whole story about...

...to be King?

03.00am: ....is Tyrion seriously pitching for Bran to become King?

BRAN.

BRAAAAN.

02.59am: I genuinely can't believe they got Robin Arryn and Edmure back for gags.

02.58am: Sam makes a pitch for democracy. All the rich people here are like lolllll bants?

"I'll ask my horse" says Yohn Royce, who apparently has more to do than Dany this episode??

02.56am: Haha they're picking a new king and EDMURE is making a play for it??

Come on man. Why are you even still alive? I'd be more inclined to go for Robin Arryn at this stage (he's also here, and I'm loving it).

02.55am: Davos makes a passionate speech. Grey Worm is implacable. Hey, remember when he and Tyrion were drinking and cracking jokes in Meereen?

02.54am: Hey, we're back in the Dragonpit, and the weather is nice again!

Also, lots of random people are here. Sansa, Bran, Yara.

Apparently Yara is not happy that Jon killed Daenerys. Also Gendry is there! And some random Dorne guy.

02.53am: Back in the room.

The room being Tyrion's cell, where Grey Worm has come for a lovely visit. Given Tyrion's beard, some time has passed.

02.50am: We're in an advert break now. Not entirely clear why Drogon took out the deadly chair instead of his Mum's murderer, but hey - maybe Jon's Targ blood had something to do with it.

Guess you could call that whole scene a pretty out-of-hand...

(I forgot to put this in earlier).

02.46am: Man, these dragons eh. Always with the heavy-handed symbolism!

Now, Drogon takes Daenerys away, and Jon has a VERY awkward explanation to give all the Unsullied guards outside the door.

"yeah, er...she went back to old Valyria! Weirdest thing. Anyway, anyone fancy some Arbor Gold."

Guess you could say he's...Dro-Gone.

02.45am: Drogon nudging Dany like Simba did to Mufasa is just too sad for words.

Surprisingly, he blames the Throne instead of Jon! Take that, symbol of the series!

02.44am: Drogon is NOT best pleased that Jon killed his mummy. I mean, fair enough.

Hey, Daenerys never did sit on the Throne. Gutted, literally.

02.42am: Anddddd he stabbed her.

She died!

Well, that was quick.

02.41am: Daenerys says she knows the new world will be good because she knows what is good!

I feel like Jon is going to knife her.

"We'll do it together...we'll break the wheel together."

"You are my queen...now and always."

02.40am: Daenerys tried to do a little history lesson, but Jon just goes "Er, you murdered loads of kids??"

She puts him on the back foot by pointing out that time he hanged a little boy for betraying him.

02.39am: She didn't get to touch it last time though. That time the sound of her dragons pulled her away.

She's lucky it survived really! Could have thrown a little less dragonfire at the Throne room!

02.38am: It's a little different but Daenerys in the throne room here is very similar to her vision in season 2.

Nice operatic version of the main Thrones theme here too.

02.37am: Jon and snowy Drogon in a cool camera shot. Remember me, cousin Drogon?

02.35am: Genuinely laughed out loud at Jon going "Well, if she wants to execute me, she is the Queen!"

Tyrion pulls Varys' old trick from season one of making him think about Sansa's fate...

And wait, did Tyrion just call her Dany? That's so weird! Why suddenly do that now at what is arguably not the time for informality?

02.33am: "Love is the death of duty." Jon quoting his old relative Aemon Targaryen there! Good times.

Weird that Jon has never acknowledged he was hanging with another Targ back at the Wall.

02.32am: Jon and Tyrion's discussion is actually pretty great, I think. Nice to take things a little slower as we reach the end.

02.31am: "Everywhere she goes, evil men die and we cheer her for it." Tyrion talking to the audience a little there.

02.30am: Jon is very much trying to justify Dany's mass murder. Tyrion has helpfully pointed out that all the villains in the series have murdered fewer people than her.

Don't forget the Night King!

02.28am: "I chose my fate. The people of King's Landing did not."

Jon is trying to justify it, but Tyrion says she'll try and liberate everyone....and then rule them all.

Not really liberation is it?

02.27am: And now we're back! Jon heads into one of the few less-scorched rooms in KL to hang out with Tyrion.

Tyrion is not too hopeful about his chances of appeal.

02.25am: Hello to Judith!

I am always amused to find people who actually read this instead of/before watching. I genuinely do miss bits out, I'm sorry!

02.23am: So far, I have to say I'm enjoying this. The aesthetic is great, and Daenerys is genuinely pretty scary. Unsullied are the spookiest they've ever been as well.

Will the rest of the episode keep up the momentum? I hope so. Meanwhile, Charles Dance is describing a new Godzilla movie in very Game of Thrones-style language on a Sky Atlantic advert. Subtle, guys.

02.22am: Arya still sneaks up on Jon super easily.

Jon and Arya's last chat about Dany was a bit more upbeat.

"Jon, she knows who you are...who you really are. You'll always be a threat to her. And I know a killer when I see one."

Tenseeee! And now we're into our first ad break.

02.20am: "I freed my brother....and you slaughtered a city," Tyrion says.

Dany doesn't look too happy with this, but surely she won't burn Tyrion, right? That'd be so rude.

I'd even go do far as to describe it as...

...get it? Because his nickname is the Imp?

I'm going out on a high here guys.

02.19am: What does she think they're freeing people from, exactly? Life? This is so weird!

02.17am: Daenerys' victory speech is very geared towards the Dothraki here, and I feel like they did 5% of the work. Where is Drogon's credit?

Grey Worm gets made Master of War. Which is a NEAT thing to exist.

Daenerys says the Unsullied have freed the people of KL from a tyrant, which is a nice way to say "we killed them!"

Dany also mentions trying their "freeing" people thing at Winterfell and Lannisport, which Jon and Tyrio ndon't look too happy about.

02.16am: Cool shot where Daenerys had Drogon's wings there.

Also, her hair is looking a LOT better this week. I guess we have to thank...

02.15am: Also, is it me or is this set a lot like Madonna's Eurovision performance?

02.14am: Arya apparently lost her magic horse and didn't leave King's Landing after all.

Jon is walking up some steps with super tense and scary music. How are there this many Unsullied left???

02.13am: Wow, those are remarkably un-smushed bodies from Cersei and Jaime there. They died how they lived - telegenically.

02.11am: In typical Dothraki/Unsullied fashion, more of these cellars survived than they appeared.

Tyrion has found Jaime's golden hand, and sinks to his knees. Nothing funny to say about that, it's just sad.

02.10am: Tyrion is Looking Sadly at what's left of the set Lena Headey used a lot in season seven, and presumably going to see if his sibs made it out.

Not great news tbh Tyrion...

02.09am: Bit of a Jon/Grey Worm face-off there. Unsullied vs Northmen! Remember when we all got along?

Meanwhile, Daenerys is presumably like...

02.08am: At least one of those bloody bells survived. Grey Worm, meanwhile, is sentencing every Lannister soldier to die.

02.07am: "I'll find you later," Tyrion tells Jon.

I'm betting Davos isn't too happy to see the little girl burned with her wooden toy animal...

02.06am: Eurgh, that guy was missing his back! Gross.

Jon and Davos are walking with him as well. Doesn't look like a LOT of people made it out...

02.05am: Tyrion is looking pretty...ashen...as he walks through the ruins of KL.

To be fair, all the murdered kids are a bit of a buzzkill.

02.03am: Opening credits! Now, where are those changes?

Winterfell still looks mostly the same - still a bit knackered in the great hall etc.

King's Landing is pretty battered too! And no more lion above the Iron Throne...ominous.

02.02am: Bit of behind-the-scenes fun - just tried to explain the Blackfyre Rebellion from the books to my other half and she literally left the room. At least you guys HAVE to listen to me.

01.59am: It's been great fun watching this series with all of you. Now, in just a few moments here we go...

01.58am: Clearly a Davostating conclusion awaits us.

(I will never ever get tired of that joke).

01.56am: Less than 5 minutes skrskkkrrruwwwww.

(That's an excited noise for those not in the know/fluent in Ghiscari).

01.54am: You can't see it but this is actually how I'm watching the episode too.

Honest!

01.52am: I know we don't have long but...my Game of Thrones experience also included this in quite a big way.

I had great fun making these, even if I was always knackered after staying up for these blogs the night before.

01.51am: Less than 10 minutes to go and I'm really quite excited! Hope you're all having fun as well.

Sorry, that wasn't as snarky as usual. I'll try to do better.

01.49am: Hey, what was the point of all that wildfire slightly exploding last week as well? Just for fun?

01.48am: Makes sense, but also climate change!

Perspective, guys.

01.46am: Parks and Rec did also suggest Khaleesi was marrying Jack Sparrow, which clearly means there's a Daenerys/Euron love story on the cutting room floor somewhere.

01.43am: Nice bit of positivity from Stephen King here.

Weird to think that this is the last 15 minutes before the Game of Thrones finale, eh?

01.39am: Have flicked on Sky Atlantic where they're showing last week's episode, and the Arya/Sandor stuff really hits home - and worth mentioning that, no matter how much we criticise it, the meat of that relationship was built in the Tv series.

In the books the pair of them spent significantly less time together, and the show invented all sorts of extra scenes and adventures for them. Credit where credit's due.

01.37am: Speaking of big character deaths, it's probably worth mentioning one extra theory that we'll find out the answer to tonight - the idea that Jaime Lannister may be secretly still alive.

You can read more about it in the article linked above, but basically it revolves around the fact that Nikolaj Coster-Waldau hasn't done any of the usual press about leaving. I'm not convinced, but I'm not NOT convinced, if you follow.

01.35am: If you're already struggling to remember exactly what happened this series, here's a recap of sorts - I made a bit list of everyone who died and how!

I didn't include Harry Strickland, because I don't think he deserved the attention.

01.28am: You heard it here first - it's only a matter of days until someone gets a petition together to take me down for good.

01.26am: I'm feeling pretty tense about this episode now. Ooooh. I really do hope it's good. I have to be frank, I'm not convinced they can tie everything up. But just like Varys last week, I'm hoping I'm wrong.

01.25am: Look, all I'm saying is if LANCEL is getting all nostalgic, why shouldn't we?

01.23am: Maybe I should revisit some of my live blog greatest hits as well. Like when I re-enacted Jon Snow and Daenerys' torrid first meeting.

Or when I finally made peace with the Night King.

And took Jon Snow on holiday.

Or even when my genius Game of Thrones quiz team name was unappreciated in its own time, like all great works of art.

All happy times, now lost...like tweets in rain.

01.20am: Even the guy who created the fictional Game of Thrones languages is doing an emotional look back at his time on the show now.

01.18am: This, but also I kind of can't wait to see the destroyed King's Landing in the opening credits?

Seriously, I am a sucker for the week-to-week changes.

01.16am: No Thrones-themed socks this week, incidentally. As a mark of respect, I am wearing plain black ones in mourning for the series as it departs forever.

Arguably, yes, I would probably have been wearing black socks today anyway but I do NOT appreciate your tone sir.

01.14am: Already, I am sowing discord among our readers.

Worst part - this dragon thing actually has a VERY LOUD fan in it so sorry to the parents.

01.13am: Also very sweet - Emilia Clarke and Sophie Turner have posted very long goodbyes to their characters and the series on Instagram, and they're well worth a read.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxpq1YgFDm8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxqDYrBh3ft/?igshid=e798odlglsah

If WE'RE getting emotional tonight, just imagine how it must be feel for them...

01.10am: This is rather sweet:

Whatever happens tonight Game of Thrones has genuinely been an amazing production, and you have to hand it to all the behind-the-scenes team for creating such a vibrant, lived in quasi-medieval world. Fingers crossed this isn't the last we see of Westeros on TV.

01.06am: My money would go to neither Daenerys OR Jon sitting on the Throne, Jon possibly even killing his aunt for her actions and then either dying himself or heading into exile. Maybe he could hang out with Tormund and Ghost again, even.

Hopefully the Iron Throne would be destroyed, and Westeros could be ruled by some sort of ruling council instead of just one fallible person, and everything would be a bit nicer.

Alternatively, Drogon goes nuts and barbecues everyone. I'll take either.

01.03am: And with very little time to go, it only remains to wonder - what will actually happen in this episode?

All we've seen from the trailer is a scene of Daenerys emerging to her troops, Emperor Palptine-like amid the ashy ruins of King's Landing, while various other characters (basically Tyrion and Arya) look at her with concern.

It seems fair to assume that SLIGHTLY more will happen than that, but what exactly?

01.00am: One hour to go! I have to say, this countdown is flying by compared to usual. And weird to think this is the last time I'll ever do it!

...again, unless that spin-off does well.

00.57am: This is pretty funny.

What would the Game of Thrones finale be without a shoehorned-in Trump joke, eh?

00.56am: For once, I don't think we're the only Game of Thrones live blog in town. It is a pretty big episode, to be fair. But will they have rambling, unplanned critiques, bad meme jokes and oddly unsettling pictures of their author in children's costumes? I think not!

...it's sort of up to you whether that inclines or disinclines you towards them. I can at least promise you some REALLY bad puns later tonight.

00.54am: No, I'm not sure what happened to Daenerys' leg in the interim between season 7 and now. An omen? You decide!!!

00.51am: Now, dear readers, I have a question for you - how are you watching the finale tonight. At home? With friends? Alone? As you can see I've invited a few close friends over...

Let me know your plans on Twitter @RadioTimes or @huwiemcchewie if you're nasty, and I'll try my best to include them in the blog.

Or feel free to just say hi or send another message. Unless it's mean. I'll cancel you all if it's mean.

00.47am: On the other hand, this version of Dany's internal monologue makes the whole thing make sense.

Clearly they just forgot to add the song in post.

00.46am: OK, discussion time.

Last week's episode has been criticised for Dany's abrupt heel-turn into mass murder and megalomania, sparking conversations about whether this series as a whole has been disappointing and even inspiring a petition to "remake" the last series that currently has around a million digital signatures.

Obviously this last action is a little extreme - based on comments on reddit they don't actually think this would happen, they're just trying to sabotage the post-Thrones career of the writers with the bad PR - but are they right to be angry?

Well, no - it's a TV show, chill out - but I do sort of know where they're coming from. Divorced from context the Bells was a brilliantly directed and acted episode with some stand-out moments, but Dany's arc has been really rushed and it made the whole thing ring false (pun not intended but appreciated).

Frankly, a lot of this series has felt a bit...off, especially the last two episodes, and I'm really hoping David Benioff and DB Weiss can pull off an ending that will at least partially stick the (King's) landing.

If not, well, we'll always have the next book from George RR Martin when it comes out in 2030.

00.40am: Meanwhile, to avoid dealing with the fact that some of my favourite characters could die this week I'm just digging out bad old vines I made for the 2016 series. Starting with...

00.37am: Also last week! We finally saw Cleganebowl happen as the Hound took on the Mountain, with the whole thing making a world wonder why on Earth Qyburn didn't make more indestructible zombies for Cersei's army. I mean, he was a lot harder to kill than the Night King! He got stabbed in the head and kept on truckin'!

Meanwhile, Jaime failed to get served at the bar at the Red Keep:

And instead ended up with his childhood crush in a real-life crush, getting flattened by the falling rubble of King's Landing faster than anyone who had hopes of him returning to Brienne.

So Cersei and Jaime were dead. The Hound was dead. The Mountain was dead. Qyburn was dead, murdered by his own creation (we stein a literary legend). And even poor old Varys ended up barbecued after sending mean tweets about Daenerys to all the Lords in Westeros.

Frankly, I'm starting to get worried about Hot Pie's chances of survival.

00.31am: Ha, even Pod has heard about the petition.

00.30am: Anyway, enough navel-gazing. Where are we left in the actual story after last week's The Bells?

Well, things aren't exactly peachy in the state of Westeros. While finally, FINALLY invading King's Landing with her surprisingly large army (didn't all the Dothraki die??) Daenerys snapped, deciding that the smallfolk of the capitol were surrendering pretty ungratefully so decided to teach them a lesson.

The lesson? Well, don't get burned by dragons because you will die instantly and cinematically. Unless you're a main character, in which case falling stone will get you (BRICKARYS!)

00.24am: Weirdly, the very first live blog we did here and the last have a VERY similar photo.

Clearly, Tyrion has had a tough few years. And picked up some beard oil somewhere.

00.17am: Fact: this is EXACTLY how young we all were when this series began, and I will brook no discussions on this matter.

00.14am: Meanwhile, BBC One has decided to mark the occasion by playing Spooks: The Greater Good, one of Kit Harington's only non-Thrones roles in recent years.

I guess you work with what you have! Still not quite as obscure as Sodastream's recent campaign to use the end of Game of Thrones to...reduce our single-use plastic usage? Hmm.

00.12am: Here we all are anyway, waiting for Game of Thrones to zoom off to the big "angry reddit forum" in the sky - and is it me, or does it all feel a bit unreal?

I've been watching this series pretty much since the beginning and became a huge fan in the years since, and it's been a large part of my life. I love this show, and so do so many other people around the world, and frankly tonight just doesn't seem...momentous enough to be the night we say goodbye to the whole thing.

00.08am: If you're new here, hello! My name's Huw Fullerton, and I'll be your live blogger this evening.

And yes, I dressed for the occasion.

Just hanging out on a damp roof, for my art.

I've been blogging this series since 2016, aka when they ran out of books and it all went wrong (depending on which internet petitions you read), and all hacky intros aside I am actually a teensy bit emotional that this will be my last one ever. Well, at least until that spin-off.

00.05am: I kid, I kid.

Tonight OF COURSE marks the end of Game of Thrones, the multi-million dollar adaptation of George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series that....actually, you know what, you probably know all that by now.

After eight series, around eight years and thousands of (pretty grisly) deaths it all comes down to one hour and 20 minutes-ish episode that has to wrap up every single character's storyline, every dangling plot thread and every dangling question, while also providing an exciting enough story to end things on a high.

Easy peasy, right?

00.01am: Hello and welcome to this – a sad and auspicious day in the history of popular entertainment.

You see, today we must wave farewell to a critically acclaimed work of art, a cultural artefact whose legacy will reverberate throughout the generations, and whose absence this time next week will leave a hole in our very being.

Yep, that’s right – this is my last live blog. Stop, please, hold back those tears. Just think of the good times we’ve had. All those socks, those bad Vines I made in 2016, the tatty Jon Snow cloak I stopped bothering to wear, the terrible puns, the off-brand figurines…they’re not GONE, just in a different place. A better place.

Those were the days.

We’ll always have the blogs that came before, even if there aren’t new ones coming ever again. They will live on as a testimony to the power of “some guy typing surprisingly slowly while missing key plot points and making ill-timed jokes” (at least until RadioTimes.com purge the archives in a desperate bid for credibility), and maybe that’s enough.

Still, I can’t deny it’s a sad day for you, the readers or (more importantly) me, the brave person who watches a TV show for work.

What’s that? What’s the blog actually about? Oh, some dragon show. The guy from Pompeii is in it, I think. Now, back to me…