(Hated Trope) Endings so awful they completely destroy the legacy of the media.

[u/MeepMan324]

1. Two and a Half Men's final episode teased Charlie Sheen's character coming back and going to harm the other characters whilst also having insults to his character and Charlie Sheen himself. It's clear the director had a grudge and the ending where his character comes up to knock then get crushed by a piano before it cuts to the director before he says "winning" before getting crushed by another piano
2. This was an upbeat animated show about a magical teen princess. The writers desperately wanted a romantic endgame for her and her best friend, but the way they got there was essentially multiversal omnicide. To stop a villain, the main character unilaterally decides magic is the root of all evil and destroys it entirely. By doing this, she casually commits mass genocide against every purely magical being in the multiverse. It also triggers a massive apocalyptic event that violently crashes different dimensions together into a chaotic hellscape. But the show frames this horrific, mass-extinction catastrophe as a sweet, triumphant ending just because two teenagers get to hold hands in the rubble (Star Vs The Forces Of Evil)

[u/mike_pants]

"We will fight to the death because we have the legitimate claim, consequences be damned!"

"What if we gave it to this kid instead?"

"Cool, seems fair."

[u/MicroplasticCumshot → u/mike_pants]

"Yes, the magic cripple has a better story than the half Targ half Stark who came back from the dead, brought the wildlings over the wall, and is the only reason there was an organised resistance against the undead army"

[u/SquirrelLuvsChipmunk → u/MicroplasticCumshot]

Yeah… if the final decision of who sits on the throne really came down to “Who has the better story?” Maybe, I don’t know, they shouldn’t have left the character with the “best” story out for an ENTIRE SEASON and make his story so freaking boring in the other seasons he was actually in

[u/Side_show → u/MicroplasticCumshot]

I will die on the hill that Jon Snow sucked.

He didn't rally anyone. Every single time anyone joined him, it was because one of his friends/advisors (not him) did the recruitment and inspired everyone else to join.

Be it Sam, Aemon, Tormund, Wun Wun, Davos, Melisandre, Lyanna, Sansa or even The Hound. He only ever gets his pals to trust him. Everyone else needs convincing by someone else.

And the number of strategic errors he makes is crazy. He is losing pretty much every battle he is in charge of until someone comes to rescue him. Loses to wildlings in his first ranging. Losing to the mutineers at Craster's Keep until Craster's daughters join and Ghost gets released. Losing to the wildlings at Castle Black until Stannis comes along. Gets shit-mixed by the white walkers at Hardholme. Gets (rightfully) deposed by his own men at Castle Black. Gets absolutely turned inside out by Ramsay until the Knights of the Vale come to the rescue. Gets surrounded by white walkers again north of the wall until Daenarys saves him (and loses a dragon because he's screwing around for too long). His dumbass plan at Winterfell is an absolute shambles in the big battle and is about to get ice burned by Viserion when Arya happens to end it all at that exact second.

In fact the only battle Jon Snow actually wins through his planning is the one where his army slaughters all the commoners of Kings Landing.

Also, despite being a "great warrior", he even needs to get saved multiple times by random characters or flukes when he is about to get smoked.

[u/goodnamestaken10 → u/Side_show]

IDK, it's how real leadership often works. The leader has really great people around them who trust them and will do the unsung work to make their vision into reality.

[u/sdpr → u/goodnamestaken10]

It's a fair criticism, but I think you're right. I only say I think because I can't recall shit for the life of me, but I don't recall anyone being a "hard carry" for any situation the characters we're rooting for were in.

[u/ZiroLeHutt → u/MicroplasticCumshot]

Yeah but he was a twit though and nobody liked him.

[u/ExternalPromotion542 → u/MicroplasticCumshot]

Well yeah but "I dont wuant eet" remember?

[u/Hashtagbarkeep → u/mike_pants]

“Who has a better story than this weird kid that’s been sitting in a tree for a couple of years?”

[u/Kythorian → u/Hashtagbarkeep]

A story so boring that he wasn’t in an entire season and people barely noticed.

[u/Vyctorill → u/mike_pants]

My headcanon is that Bran was manipulating events Dune Style to make himself king. It makes it halfway tolerable if you gaslight yourself into thinking the show is an elaborate chess game between the Night King and the Three Eyed Raven on who gets to rule the world.

[u/IgnorantChampion → u/mike_pants]

Did you forget the part where everyone fighting for the throne was dead?

[u/mike_pants → u/IgnorantChampion]

Because that's how succession works, right? Someone dies and the rest of the country shrugs and goes home.

England and France would like a word.

[u/IgnorantChampion → u/mike_pants]

Soooooo..... you did miss it, good to know!

Pretty clear Sansa doesn't want it. She despises everything it stands for. She repeatedly says "I want to go home" the entire show. Why would she want it?

Arya is an assassin and just needs to leave. Her arc isn't that of a ruler. She has never sought political gain in any manner. Why would she want it?

Jon killed his aunt and the queen... it's either rule as the one that murdered the queen or ask for the black and return to the north. Only acceptable arc for him. His love, his freedom, and his sense of self were all in the north. Why would he want it?

Tyrion? The half man? No, he's a Lannister and best suited as am advisor, he realizes that. Bronn? Ha. Brienne? Double ha. So.... who? A Targ? A Lannister? A Stark?

You sounded so confident with your succession bit, but that line of thought either forces Jon (who would refuse and has refused at every step) or.... Bran

[u/Kythorian → u/IgnorantChampion]

Or…almost any other lord?  Just because none of the ones the narrative focused on wanted the throne doesn’t mean other people don’t exist in the setting.  A lack of people with a strong claim on the throne makes historical civil wars worse, not better.  If everyone with a strong claim is dead, all of the hundreds of lords with weak claims all figure it might as well be them.

For that matter even if we are just talking about those at that meeting, Edmure Tully has a much stronger claim than Bran.  But he just gets talked over by Sansa and ignored because it’s another chance to pretend Sansa is super smart without her having to actually ever do anything smart, because girl power, I guess.

[u/IgnorantChampion → u/Kythorian]

Oh, you're absolutely right. It didn't roll credits saying Bran led the 7 kingdoms to prosperity for decades, I could absolutely see tons of pockets of civil unrest with a few lords trying to rise up. Problem is, most of the lords would happily follow a Stark in the throne, and most of the others are dead or without allies. Sansa has the north on lock, so that's a huge alliance to the throne.

Edmure is an interesting call... he has mo blood right, did not conquer the lands, and was never elected, but you have a valid point of his opinions being scoffed at by Sansa during the great council meeting.

[u/Kythorian → u/IgnorantChampion]

Edmure is lord paramount of the riverlands, and while his own house is not doing great, his only real rival house is entirely eradicated, so it wouldn’t be difficult to rally support of the other riverlands houses.  That’s a drastically better position than bran, who has no military support of anyone.   Being allied with the now foreign nation that just wants to be left alone isn’t very meaningful.  Is Sansa going to march her army south again to defend Bran’s claim?  Seems doubtful.  She can’t say she wants the North to be independent, then try and force the rest of Westeros to accept Bran as their king.  Why would most of the lords be happy to follow a stark on the throne?  The only ones who care about that is the North, who are no longer subjects of the throne.

The most likely result of all of this is that the seven kingdoms just entirely breaks apart into eight or nine separate kingdoms.  If the North can secede, why not the rest?  What army is Bran going to have to keep the rest of them in line?  That’s not so much pockets of rebellion as the end of the iron throne.

[u/IgnorantChampion → u/Kythorian]

That's a very solid take! I think Edmure is a little bitch, which is why he could never step up and take it like you imply, not without someone in his ear at least. I could certainly see the dissent among the other lord's and wanting to secede.

[u/eawilweawil → u/IgnorantChampion]

Every Baratheon would put their claim forward, noble houses are bigger than just 3 guys even if the show doesn't focus on them

[u/samaldin → u/eawilweawil]

Even if it was just the three Baratheon brothers, didn't Daenaerys legitimize Gendry shortly before? So he has a claim through Robert, whose claim through his Targaryen grandmother was considered the best and got him the throne (on paper). So even with Daenaerys not recognizing Roberts claim, her legitimizing Gendry seemingly gives him the best one with her gone (excluding Jon for kinslaying and regicide).

Or i don't understand how any of this works on paper (truth is just bigger army diplomacy).

[u/eawilweawil → u/samaldin]

Nobody in Stormlands will acknowledge Gendry's legitimacy tho, as far as they're concerned he's just some peasant boy claiming to be a Baratheon and since Dany is gone, nobody will back up his claim.

[u/samaldin → u/eawilweawil]

Gendry was part of the great council at the end, so his legitimacy was seemingly acknowledged. And i wouldn't be sure no stormlord will back him. They could rebel and try to take the title, but that's costly and unstable. Instead they might decide to rally around the guy that's supposed to be the spitting image of Robert, who's also uneducated and unmarried. Seems like a good opportunity to have your grandchildren be the future rulers of the Stormlands and become the true power, with Gendry as a figurehead.

[u/mike_pants → u/IgnorantChampion]

K.

[u/IgnorantChampion → u/mike_pants]

Eh, figures. I was trying to have a conversation based on what you said but you'd rather respond like a prick because you have nothing of value to add. Have a good one.

[u/mike_pants → u/IgnorantChampion]

Ciao.