It’s been almost a month since the Game of Thrones finale titled The Iron Throne aired and yet, it seems like people will forever be bitter about it. As plenty of articles, tweets, memes, and plummeting ratings proved, season 8 of the iconic series turned to be a complete disaster and many blamed the show’s questionable writing for what some could call a dumpster fire of a finish. Screenwriter Daniel Whidden of ThinkStory was one of the people sympathizing with that idea and when following the back-and-forth between angry fans, he decided to make a video about it as a reply to “write a better one if you can then” counter-argument.
“I’m a screenwriter from Toronto and have worked in Film and Television for about 6 years now,” Whidden told Bored Panda. “I felt season 8 was rushed and clunky and that it deserved a better ending,” he added. The man also says that he drew some inspiration for his take from Lord of The Rings, citing “an almost insurmountable foe and unique, empathetic characters” as its key feature, however, the majority of the framework came from books on screenplay structure. “Screenplay writing is often heavily structured and as such I looked at what Benioff and Weiss did and contrasted it to paradigms like the 3 act structure (Syd Field) and theories on character arcs (K.M. Weiland),” he elaborated.
After season 8 finale aired, Whidden took to YouTube to create his own version of the events
Image credits: HBO
Watch Whidden’s video below to see how he re-imagines the final season
Image credits: HBO
Whidden explains in his 16-minute-long video that he was deeply disappointed “with how the final seasons shaped up” and pointed to the fact that he wasn’t the only one, mentioning the petition to remake Game of Thrones season 8 gaining over a million-and-a-half signatures as an example. He also mentions that the reason he is rewriting the season is, in fact, his undeniable love for the show and him wanting the characters he’d been following for years to get better than what they’ve got.
Image credits: HBO
Image credits: HBO
The video is divided into two parts: Whidden’s two major critiques to the show and the actual rewrite of the final season. He also points out that his focus is more on the overall story rather than a scene-to-scene approach. The screenwriter’s main two issues with the show lie in the way the writers dealt with the Night King as well as where the character’s arcs went. Although, arguably, that wasn’t the main focus of everyone’s attention. It was Whidden’s rewrite of the final season that likely brought the 4 million views and 156k likes that the video now has.
Image credits: HBO
Image credits: HBO
Whidden’s re-haul of season 8 begins with episode three titled The Long Night, as he says that it’s where things started to go downhill for him. In the ThinkStory version of the Long Night, much of the battle goes the same, with the combined forces of the unsullied, Dothraki, Northman, and wildlings facing against the Night King’s army of the undead. Except for the very ending that would change the rest of the story. In this version, the Night King emerges victorious and the survivors of the Battle of Winterfell are forced to flee.
Image credits: HBO
Image credits: HBO
He also changes how the battle rolls out. The women and children that were originally in the crypts are placed in the Great Hall instead and would later escape through the underground tunnels, leading to them having to fight through the horde of the dead and giving Sansa and Tyrion some suspenseful as well as heartwarming moments. This would allow Arya and Jon to help them out while Dany fights the Night King in a dragon-on-dragon battle and Theon protects Bran.
Image credits: HBO
Image credits: HBO
Bran would finally use his powers to help the allies out and warg into Viserion, the zombie dragon, to fight alongside the living, while Jon battles the Night King in a swordfight after Daenerys dismounts him. Despite everyone’s best efforts, the Night King wins and everyone flees to King’s Landing where Cersei now holds all the cards.
Image credits: HBO
Image credits: HBO
Whidden’s take changes many character’s fates as well as actions. His ending has Jon killed to save the realm, Daenerys killing the Night King, torn that she had to sacrifice the man she loves and the father of her child. Arya gets to use her face-changing abilities, Sansa securing her seat as Warden of the North, Jaime coming face to face with the evil that his sister was and killing her. It also gives closure, or at least an explanation to characters like Ellaria, who was more or less forgotten in the series.
Image credits: HBO
Image credits: HBO
For a more indepth take on the re-write of the final season, watch Whidden’s video below where he explains his choices and decisions and why he thinks his version is better than the original.
Image credits: HBO
Image credits: HBO
In an interview with Bored Panda, Whidden also explained the key features that left the fans disappointed. “The biggest mistake I think fans were upset about [were] the choices some of the characters made and how their arcs didn’t [live] up to the potential that was built up over 8 seasons,” he said. The screenwriter also points at the victory of Battle of Winterfell as another major letdown. “When I look back at the season the most epic part to me was that episode, when it should be happening near the climax of the season. So they lost a lot of tension there with the Night King dead by episode 3,” he concluded.
Image credits: HBO
Here’s how people reacted to Whidden’s video
from Bored Panda http://bit.ly/2x6OM3z
