Going into this final season, I feel like the Game of Thrones writers had two choices: they could either follow through on what was dramatically satisfying for the show, or intentionally subvert those expectations to make a point about the pursuit of power and the inevitability of corruption. The former ending is fairly predictable, but also feels right for the show: Jon Snow’s parentage is revealed, threatening Dany’s claim, but they get married to solidify their claim. Dany’s predilection toward “fire and blood” is tempered by the good people around her, including Jon Snow, just like it has been throughout the whole show. The prophecies about Azor Ahai/The Prince Who Was Promised all come true in the form of Jon Snow, the man born from fire and ice (as in, a Targaryen and a Stark), who ultimately defeats the Night King using Lightbringer, a sword forged in flame (you could even argue that Longclaw fits this description, since it’s made of Valyrian steel). Cersei and the throne is merely an afterthought, and she is ultimately killed by Jaime, who has turned over a new leaf and realizes that there will never be peace as long as his corrupt sister is in power (you know, what happened with Jon and Dany in the finale, basically).

But the showrunners (and, presumably, George RR Martin, although we can’t be sure) chose the other route. Instead, the prophecies were meaningless, and any similarities to events onscreen were just coincidences. Jon Snow’s parentage was a giant red herring, its pointlessness actually being the very point: that lineages are meaningless, and a terrible way to choose who should rule. Daenerys, who always showed an inclination toward violence and easy solutions, proved that absolute power corrupts absolutely when she chose mass murder over a well-considered approach to her rule. The White Walkers, despite being talked up in the previous season as the greatest danger the realm has ever seen, are dispatched halfway through the season and then rarely mentioned again. Jon technically does the right thing by killing Daenerys, but is punished for it, the way good deeds tend to be in this world.