Sweet Seven, Mother of Dragons! Upon finishing the Game of Thrones, Season Six finale, all I can do is mutter dorky, Westerosi themed expletives to myself. Honestly, I am bereft of words, which is very unlike myself when it comes to dealing with this series.

What did I think of this season overall? ***Spoiler Alert: I give it a 10/10. This is the best season to date of a series I feel has been consistently amazing, even at its worst.  What has made season six so particularly special is not only quite a few stand out episodes, but an overall sense of balanced pacing, buildup, payoff, and strongly connected themes. So, instead of focusing on the individual moments or episodes, let’s take a look at the themes that where the most prevalent throughout this season.

***Actual Major Spoilers Ahead*** 

Rebirth

Obviously, the most literal example of this theme is Jon Snow’s revival in “Home.”  Many of the best stories have a Christ-figure, and Game of Thrones is now no exception with the world’s most moral character being killed by his traitorous comrades, only to be reborn by grace of a higher power in order to save his world. This may be a particularly old and oft-used trope, but in the right cases, proves to be still effective.

A less in your face example would be the second emergence of Daenerys from a fire. Last time she did so was in episode 10 of the first season, “Fire and Blood,” in which she entered a widowed Khaleesi and emerged as the Mother of Dragons. This time around, the fire was a bit bigger, and involved a much higher kill count, as Dany entered a captive of the Dothraki and emerged gaining a much larger army and a stronger resolve for conquest.

A few other characters previously thought to be dead are “brought back to life”. My favorite being Sandor Clegane, who we find out was nursed back to health from the brink of death by a kindly Septon. As a result, Clegane has gained a much stronger sense of morality, and may truly be on the side of the good guys in the future.  This has also refueled thoughts on a future battle between him and his brother Gregor. Another previously missing character was Benjen Stark, whom we haven’t seen since he went missing past the wall in the first season. We quickly learn he was pretty much killed by white walkers, but brought back by the Children of the Forest into a not-quite-living-nor-dead state. His revival to an undead, as un-natural as it seems, proves to be beneficial as he saves his nephew Bran from certain doom.

Faith

One of the most taxing problems the characters in King’s Landing have been dealing with in the past couple of seasons is the rise of the prominence of the Sparrows, a fanatical group of believers of “The Faith of the Seven” religion. We see through how faith, when practiced to an extreme measures by groups of people can weaken a kingdom. We saw how Queen Margaery’s imprisonment by the Sparrow had weakened King Tommen’s resolve and psyche.

In contrast, there are instances in which faith strengthens, such as Lyanna Mormont’s faith in Jon Snow in the form of an outrageously powerful speech which built into unanimous support for him as the new King of the North, the White Wolf, by the lesser houses of the North that were previously undecided on where their stance. “We know no king but the King of the North whose name is Stark. I don’t care if he’s a bastard. Ned Stark’s blood runs through his veins.  He’s my king from this day until his last day.” Chills.

Perhaps the most heart-warming example of faith was Tyrion’s humble admittance to Daenerys in episode 10, “Winds of Winter,” that, while he has struggled to believe in anything in his life, he full heartily believes in her. This, of course, earned Daenerys’ faith in him, and his new official title of Hand of the Queen.  This was possibly strengthened by Tyrion’s political moves during Daenerys’ absence earlier in the season.  As much as his plans failed and led the slavors to attack Meereen, politically, he made the correct decision and Dany saw that.

Identity

Numerous characters this season have struggled with their own identity.  Margaery had to resign herself to play a convincing role as a reformed and extremely religious queen in order to preserve her and her families’ lives.  Despite her masterfully played hand in the game, it didn’t work out so well for her in the end, though she probably saved the life of her grandmother, crowd favorite Lady Olenna Tyrell.

The newly liberated Theon struggled to regain his identity as Theon Greyjoy rather then the meek and tortured Reek. Through finally escaping Ramsay Bolton’s servitude, Sansa’s regained trust, and tough love from his sister Yara, he may be on his way to becoming a semblance of his old self again.

Ceresi was an interesting case. While she has always been a character who hides little of her motivations and strove to get her own way, she reveals in episode 10, “Winds of Winter”, the very thought of what motivates her, “Because it felt good”.  She takes the reins of a true villain as she confesses she feels no remorse for her actions so long as the end results allow her to feel pleasure.

My favorite realization of identity is by far that of Arya’s. She trained with the Faceless men for nearly two seasons in order to become “no one.” But when faced with a decision that put to question her core beliefs, (in this case, not killing an innocent person), she discovered that she cannot stop being Arya Stark. By proudly proclaiming she was Arya Stark of Winterfell, we may yet see the strongest Arya yet. We see evidence of this by the crowd-pleasing ending of her story this season, the assassination of Walder Frey.  “My name is Arya Stark. I want you to know that.  The last thing you’re ever going to see is a Stark smiling down at you as you die.”

Dem Last Two Episodes, doe.

Okay, as much as I thought each episode of this season was wonderful, it’s extremely difficult to not acknowledge Episode 9, “Battle of The Bastards”, and Episode 10, “Winds of Winter.” You can tell by how often these two episodes were referenced above. It is a Game of Thrones tradition that the ninth episode of every season is either horribly shocking or has an epic battle.  “Battle of the Bastards” shoots past the previous hype as arguably the best ninth episode to date.  While it is obviously the “epic battle” flavor of ninth episodes (and even contains some most satisfying scenes of Daenerys kicking ass with her Dragons,) it feels almost more like the “horribly shocking” kind. The way the (Jon Snow) battle scene was directed did not give me thoughts of glory nor conquest, but rather of ultimate desperation. I felt suffocated as Jon was being suffocated. Yes, the battle ended in Jon’s favor. Yes, Ramsay got the gory death he deserved. However, we truly felt the price for the victory this time. We see the ugliness of battle and how easy it could have been for good to be lost to evil.  We didn’t just see a battle, we felt the war, causing it to be one of the best battle sequences ever filmed, in my opinion.

I can’t think of a single tenth episode of a season that has been as mind blowing as “Winds of Winter”. Even Jon Snow’s betrayal and death in the last season could not compare to this one. The true shocker was that far more major characters died in this episode than in the very bloody episode that came before it. This had much to do with Ceresi’s brilliantly evil and perfectly executed plan to blow up the Great Sept of Baelor with wildfire, eliminating all of her enemies, aside from Grand Maester Pycelle, who was stabbed right before hand by Qyburn’s little birds. I might add the score during that scene was one of the best compositions to date on the show.  I am hereby ashamed of any previous thoughts that Ceresi had become a neutered and ineffectual antagonist. Adding to this, the previously mentioned vows of faith by Tyrion and Lyanna Mormont. Both of these scenes gave the show otherwise bleak story some much needed hope.   The icing on the cake, of course, is the reveal that many pretentious book readers (myself included) saw coming for years. That Jon Snow was actually the son of Lyanna Stark and Rheagar Targaryen (well, definitely Lyanna and probably Rheagar). I truly hope that there were viewers of the show that where shocked at this reveal.  I actually wished I could have been, as I take great pleasure in being caught off guard in moments like these. Predictable or not, I’m glad the reveal finally happened.  The fact that Jon Snow is both a Stark and a Targaryen gives him perhaps the most badass linage in the story, setting him up to be a hero that rivals even Aragon from Lord of the Rings.

As much as this has been my favorite show, I’m glad the story is showing signs of reaching its peak, (it is confirmed by HBO that there will be only two more seasons, and they will be a combined 15 episodes, maximum). After all, the best stories deserve a conclusion. Great television shows either end correctly at the right time or unnaturally extend and weaken their stories to get more seasons and more money.  Game of Thrones seems to be the former.  I already can’t wait.