The final episode of Game of Thrones was bad. So terribly bad. But there was at least one redeeming moment we can all cling to: Ghost finally got the respect he deserved from Jon Snow.
In an episode that delivered the worst possible conclusions for characters that were developed over eight years, Ghost, Jon’s beautiful, majestic direwolf was the only one who got a decent ending. It was the one shining moment of a completely stupid series finale that included a laugh-inducing suggestion of democracy, the crowning of the worst possible candidate as king of the Seven Kingdoms, and the cringeworthy presentation of the book the show is based on. But Jon finally gave Ghost the ear scratch he deserved. And that’s all that matters.
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In the second to last episode, Ghost fought against a literal army of zombies without any fear in his beautiful beast heart. Then as Jon left the north to fight Cersei, he did so without giving Ghost a shake of the paw or a pat on the head. He gave Ghost… a nod. A nod like Ghost was some dude smoking Marlboro Reds outside a Circle K that he was passing on his way to pay for a tank of gas. Ghost helped defeat death itself, losing an ear in the process.
It was unjustifiable, and the internet was incensed. But tonight, during the completely unsatisfying culmination of the biggest show on television, we at least got that one moment. Jon, banished to the Night’s Watch for the rest of his life, gave Ghost a rub of the ears in his final moments. D.B. Weiss and David Benioff may have lasagna for brains, but at least they got this right. This moment will be remembered as the only good part of the end of Game of Thrones.
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