<em>Game of Thrones</em> Season 1 Finale: The Powerful Women of Westeros
“The dark is coming for all of us.”
–Jaime Lannister
After Ned was permanently removed from play in last week's episode, many Game of Thrones viewers took to the Internet, complaining that the series had made a mistake—that the character was just too vital to the series' success for it to go on without him. Last night’s Game of Thrones finale, “Fire & Blood,” proves those concerns unfounded. "Fire & Blood" makes up for the loss of Ned by deepening its focus on the show's massive ensemble cast, any number of whom could plausibly be called our new protagonist. And—significantly, given the criticism that Game of Thrones has sometimes drawn for its gender dynamics—the majority of the major players left in the game of thrones are women.
No character in has undergone a more dramatic change since the beginning of the season than Daenerys Targeryen.
