Game of Thrones: How “The Bells” should have ended

Photo Credit: HBO

Could Game of Thrones’ “The Bells” have given Dany, Cersei, Jaime and Arya better arcs, while still burning King’s Landing to the ground? Yes. Here’s how.

It would hardly be a hot take to say Game of Thrones season eight has been neither a fan-favorite nor, for the most part, especially well-written. So, I’m going to go one step further and suggest how the latest and highly controversial episode, “The Bells,” could have been reworked to better serve the characters and viewers.

Warning: Spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8 below! 

First, I want to clarify that I do respect showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss for their refusal to write a happy ending. Much as fans might deny it, the reality is that everything going to plan would’ve been rather boring and, therefore, unsatisfying in the long run. Furthermore, Game of Thrones has always been predicated on violence and unpredictability, so their narrative decisions haven’t been entirely misguided.

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However, “The Bells” could absolutely have been reworked to be just as dark but in a much more satisfying way. Here’s how.

(Disclaimer: There are multiple moments from season eight that I would change; but, for the sake of not making this article overly long or overly confusing, I’m focusing on the back half of episode five.)

Daenerys still destroys King’s Landing… but not in a genocidal rage

When the bells start ringing, rather than going for innocents, Dany goes directly for Cersei in the Red Keep because she can’t stand the idea of letting her live any longer. After all, as Dany sees it, the Lannisters destroyed her family and Cersei personally stole the Iron Throne from her, killed her child, Rhaegal, and killed her best friend, Missandei. It is Cersei whom Dany’s rage is directed toward, not civilians.

Granted, the people may still not have accepted her, but she couldn’t have known that for sure at the time. And, yes, feeling isolated and vengeful can make people do terrible things. But, even under those circumstances, purposefully targeting civilians rather than Cersei was extreme and out of character.

Dany has absolutely been ruthless and reckless in punishing her enemies, but she has always had justifications, albeit harsh ones. She has never been outright cruel toward helpless people who have done nothing to her.

While I recognize the narrative irony of Dany killing the very people she has always been determined liberate, I still think the far more interesting narrative choice would have been Dany living up to her father’s legacy unintentionally, like this. When Dany sets the Keep ablaze to kill Cersei, she accidentally ignites an underground network of wildfire – put in place by her father (The reason Jaime killed Aerys was to prevent him from using it). So, she inadvertently triggers a firestorm that ultimately razes the entire city, killing all the innocent civilians and her own army.

The destruction is still Dany’s fault — a result of her ruthlessness and recklessness in going after Cersei despite having already won the battle — but not a result of genocidal rage. Thus, the takeaway is not that Dany becoming her father was inevitable but rather that, despite trying to do better and keep her worst impulses in check, she ultimately gets even more blood on her hands than he ever did. She, in fact, brings this plan to fruition. It’s an equally tragic ending but a more powerful one because she feels remorse for what she’s done. She finally wins the Iron Throne, but it’s a hollow victory.

Turning to Jon and Grey Worm, Dany doesn’t forget about them. However, neither wants to leave his fellow soldiers behind. Dany tries to order them to save themselves, but they remain steadfast in their resolve. Determined not to lose anyone else, Dany has Drogon surround Jon and Grey Worm and shield them. Dany, being fireproof, remains on his back and is unharmed as the fire consumes them.

Meanwhile, Cersei anticipates that Dany won’t be able to control her impulse to go for the Red Keep and will ignite the underground fire vats (which we saw were blown up in the episode), so she leaves the tower early on in the battle as a precaution and finds herself face to face with an unexpected group on the ground floor: Jaime, Arya, and the Hound.