I have had several days to chew over the finale and am amending my mostly negative initial reaction to mostly positive with reservations.
1) A lot of my problems with the pacing, and the feeling of rushed-ness, and the character contortions to get to the end quick, quick, quick could have been solved by having the final two seasons be the usual 10 episodes. Since Benioff and Weiss weren't willing to do it HBO should have hired somebody to do this. HBO is a quality pay cable channel - they could have gotten someone competent. Creative folks bend over backwards to work for HBO. They would have probably also avoided little embarrassing snafus like water bottles left behind in shots, etc.
2)Danys Hitleresque heel turn was set up since the first season - but you had to be willing to overlook all of those audience pleasing "hero" season ending set pieces. Or don't see her mainly as a feminist icon. Conquerors can become a positive force for the countries they conquer. Alexander the Great spread the best of his culture while conquering all those countries. When William the Conqueror and his Normans took over England it wasn't pretty and the aftermath was brutal. Yet William and the Norman Conquest are mostly seen as positive in English and European history. When somebody is saying nowadays, "My ancestor came over with the Conqueror", they are proud of that ancestor. William had the choice of destroying everything he had just conquered and won and he chose to build instead and make crucial alliances instead of committing genocide. Of course I realize Dany was created and written to be a tragic villain. A fictional character doesn't have free will only what the creator gives them as fate.
3)Jon's ending is a happy ending of sorts. He never wanted to be king and he gets to be with people he is comfortable with, knowing his family the Starks are in a good place.
4)Bronn doesn't deserve his fate and I still hope he gets the clap in one of the brothels he is so fond of. However, his lordly ascent is probably pretty realistic. They won't admit so but more aristocratic houses may have started with a Bronn instead some noble hero being rewarded with a title and riches.
5)A story that ends with the likes of Brienne and Davos alive and in positions of power has to be considered positive and a triumph of decency and goodness.
