**This post contains spoilers from “Game of Thrones” Season 8, Episode 5**
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”
– Jojen Reed, A Dance With Dragons
I’m just going to come right out and say it: The almost uncontainable excitement, happiness, and anticipation I felt only a few short weeks ago, leading up to this final season of “Game of Thrones,” has now died as quickly and as assuredly as the writing on this show. I’ve spent the past two days trying to put my anger and disappointment into words, nitpicking every scene from Sunday night’s episode (titled “The Bells”), but every time I went to publish it, something held me back.
I’ve been hearing a lot of chatter about how the showrunners have dropped the ball and what a waste this season has been. It truly pains me to say this, but I wholeheartedly agree. And I think that’s been my sticking point. I just don’t wanna be that fan who painstakingly critiques every little detail of a show that’s been such a huge part of my life for the past five years. So, I’m not going to. Instead, I had resigned myself to watching the upcoming series finale just to get it over with and move on with my life–onto bigger and better stories. But then this morning I realized something.
I woke at 6 a.m. to read (I try to read at night after putting my kids to bed, but by that time my brain has ceased functioning, so early morning it is!). I’m about halfway through George R.R. Martin’s “A Dance With Dragons” (of course I’m reading the books while watching the show—I am nothing if not loyal) and in a chapter about Bran I came across the quote you see above. And just like that it dawned on me: In the end, this show and these showrunners really don’t matter at all. This story isn’t theirs. It’s Martin’s and it isn’t over yet.
The only reason the showrunners even took this story on is because Martin’s vision is epic and beautiful and glorious and gorgeously written. We fans have known this all along. Why else would we all have hung on for this long? We’ve lived in this world—in these books—with these flawed and tragic characters for years now. You might even say we’ve “lived a thousand lives” in their shoes! We’ve fought and prayed alongside them, cheered over their victories, screamed at their betrayals and mistakes, agonized over their defeats, and cried over their deaths! We know their stories are better than what the showrunners have given us. We simply let ourselves get swept up in the awe-inspiring spectacle that is this show. And despite what’s happened here in this last and final season, we all have to admit it was a spectacular show, and I, for one, won’t ever regret going along for the ride.
So this is what I’m going to hold onto this coming Sunday: Even though our favorite show is ending, and we likely won’t be getting an epic conclusion to this epic tale, this story will live on. We fans can still look forward to living another thousand years with these characters—through Martin’s books. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the TV show started to falter after Martin walked away. I’m not trying to take anything away from Benioff and Weiss–they did give us a really cool version of this tale–but the books are the true story here. They always have been. So while the winds of winter may have stilled, my dear friends, our dreams of spring live on. And now it’s up to Martin to give this story and these characters the ending they truly deserve—as only he can.
Now let’s talk food! I had so much fun searching for foodie quotes from the books last week that I decided to follow suit this time around, too. So, here’s what I had on tap for course 5 of my “A Feast For The Seven Kingdoms” celebration:
1. “Tyrion listened with half a ear, as he sampled sweetcorn fritters and hot oatbread baked with bits of date, apple, and orange, and gnawed on the rib of a wild boar.” — A Storm Of Swords (page 820)
A Eunuch’s Envy
In honor of our favorite (and now deceased) Spider, we fried up some sweetcorn fritter balls and served them with a spicy aioli using this recipe from “The Chunky Chef.”
Ser Jaime’s Oatkeeper Bread
Farewell, Ser Jaime. ‘Tis such a tragedy you were unable to attain your redemption and stand by your many oats, er, oaths. Bread baker extraordinaire Ser Nick dished up this oat bread beauty with bits of date, apple, and apricot using this recipe from “Feast Of Starlight.”
Rhaegal’s Remains
Dragons are forever—or not. We slow-cooked these meaty ribs with onion and garlic and then added some luscious BBQ sauce to make em ooey and gooey.
2. “… and the lords and ladies sampled … cheese-and-onion pies.” — A Storm Of Swords (page 820)
Brienne Of Tart
In sympathy for our dear, jilted Ser Brienne, I baked this lovely puff pastry tart filled with bacon, caramelized onions, and goat cheese using this recipe from “Taste of Home.”
3. “All the while the courses came and went. … Salads of sweetgrass and spinach and plums, sprinkled with crushed nuts. Snails in honey and garlic.” — A Game Of Thrones (page 299)
CleganeBowl Of Power Greens
The infamous CleganeBowl has come and gone, as have its two contenders. In a nod to their enduring strength and power, I tossed a simple salad of spinach, strawberries [in place of the plums], and crushed almonds, and dressed it with an apple cider vinaigrette.
The Imp’s Shrimp
Tyrion, our dear hand of the (Mad) Queen, made it through another episode! Will we be able to say the same for the finale? Fingers crossed! For this dish, I swapped out snails for shrimp—don’t think I need to say why, LOL. The dashing Ser Nick sautéed these bad boys in butter, garlic, and white wine.
4. “From the Lord Commander’s own table,” Bowen Marsh told them. “… and afterward bowls of iced blueberries and sweet cream.” — A Game of Thrones (page 445)
Little Bird’s Berries & Sweet Cream
We didn’t see Badass Lady Sansa in this episode, but I’m fairly confident she will have a pivotal role to play in the upcoming series finale. Here I used plump blueberries and raspberries and paired them with homemade vanilla ice cream and extra creamy whipped cream.
5. “Raisins and nuts and dried berries, but no lemon, that was the rankest sort of southron heresy—which was queer, since he [Lord Commander Mormont] always took lemon in his morning beer.” — A Clash Of Kings (page 511)
CleganeBowl O’ Beer
Obviously, we were all so excited for this week’s CleganeBowl that we used the name twice on our menu! A big shout out to our dearest Thrones couple for whipping up a delicious summer beer garnished with blueberries and lemon. Oh, and they served it up in a bowl fit for a king! Cheers to the infamous Clegane brothers.
And that’s it! Another Thrones feast has come and gone. We’ve arrived at the very last episode of “Game of Thrones” EVER, which means next week will be my final menu and blog post about this show. Here’s hoping this ends better than we all expect.
Related Game of Thrones Content:
GoT Finale: A Mom’s Watch Has Ended (Episode 6)
GoT: An Ending Not Quite Fit For A (Night) King (Episode 3)