I saw this synopsis on Reddit:
We just witnessed GRRM's ending, his scouring of the shire.
Quote:
That was it. That was the scouring of the shire that GRRM intended to end with. Some of it didn't make complete sense because the way we got there was very different to how the books will get there, but that was GRRM's ending for sure.
The Northmen who we assumed as the good guys are rapists. The unsullied who we assumed are the liberators kill unarmed people. Danerys who we assumed would be free of the curse of Targaryen genes is a mad queen. Cleganebowl results in Sandor dying by (a fall into) fire, his worst fear. GRRM wasn't subverting our expectations like D&D tried to in the rest of season 8, but he did want to twist a knife into our guts with a cruel reminder that in the world of ice and fire, there are no good guys and bad guys.
Episode 5 may be inconsistent with the rest of season 8, but that's because the show writers didn't follow all the steps in getting there. But as a book reader I'm convinced that generally speaking that was how George wanted this story to end. GRRM himself stated the show's ending will be pretty damn similar to his own based on everything he told D&D.
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