Our watch is ended with an unsatisfying finale.
Beware, all ye who read here: this review contains some spoilers for Episode 5 and earlier.
It wouldn’t be a Game of Thrones story if there weren’t bloodshed, tragedy, and well-intentioned people meeting terrible ends despite heroic efforts. But now that Episode 6: The Ice Dragon is over, and with it the first season of Telltale’s Game of Thrones series, I don’t think this type of no-win scenario works as well for a game built around our choices as it does for a set-in-stone book or TV show. Especially when so much is left unresolved in the service of the possibility of an unannounced second season; it’s just unsatisfying.
We want to hear it.
Watch the first 15 minutes of Episode 6 above.
The best thing about The Ice Dragon is how the split between Asher and Rodrik Forrester that happened at the end of episode 5 is handled. Both have entire major scenes the other doesn’t see, including some emotional moments of restrained mourning. Though the final outcome is very similar, it’s worth replaying this relatively lengthy two-hour episode to see how each brother handles the action-heavy final confrontation with the Whitehills. Those fights are elaborate and gory, but mechanically no different from the usual Telltale style quick-time events we’ve been doing since the beginning.
We do get a stomach-churning uncomfortable choice to make here.
Meanwhile, Garred’s quest to find the mysterious North Grove reaches its conclusion, but the story still fails to explain why this place is supposedly so important beyond vague promises that “It has great power.” We do get a stomach-churning uncomfortable choice to make here, but it’s robbed of its significance when the season ends before anything significant comes of it one way or another. The new characters introduced here reveal an interesting secret, at least.
We want to hear it.
Watch the season finale trailer above.
The biggest disappointment comes from Mira Forrester’s story, which has been a highlight of the season up until this point. Her efforts in King’s Landing to marshal assistance for the Forresters back at Ironrath through political maneuvering and navigating verbal minefields laid out by the Lannisters and Margaery Tyrrel made me eager to see how it would tie back into the Forresters’ plight. So I was very disappointed when it didn’t – at all. Seemingly important decisions, such as whether to keep the knife or throw it away, ended up being completely irrelevant. The twist reveal of the villain who’s been plotting against her is a high point, and the choices she’s presented with are weighty, but again, the season ends in an unsatisfying place.
We knew this wasn’t going to end in happiness for the Forresters – if it had, I’d be crying foul that it didn’t feel like Game of Thrones at all. The problem is that sense of inevitability mixes with the lack of resolution for major parts of the plot in an unappealing way. Most of what this uneven season finale has to offer is found in a few strong moments and continued hope for answers to questions in a hypothetical season 2.
