The Game Of Thrones Symbolism You May Have Missed In The Finale

Spoilers for the Game of Thrones Season 6 finale can be found in this article!

Game of Thrones has often featured dialog that nods and winks at plotlines to come. For instance, a lot of the comments Ned Stark made and the language he used around Jon Snow fed directly into the narrative that Snow was not really his bastard, and we learned in the finale that Lyanna Stark is actually Snow's mother. Although that's a great example of Game Of Thrones foreshadowing what was to come, it wasn't even the best example from the Season 6 finale. In fact, a rogue bit of dialogue from Cersei cam out in symbolism during the finale. Here's what happened:

Back in Season 5, Cersei got a nice little monologue that brought up The Faith and the Crown and how the two are interconnected in numerous ways and are basically even co-dependent. Here's the line of dialogue from last season:

The faith and the crown are the two pillars that hold up this world. One collapses, so does the other.

Later in the series, Tommen said nearly the same thing. That the faith and the crown are the pillars upon which the world rests. That one holds up the other. In the finale, Cersei destroys one, and the other falters thanks to her choices. Honestly the sequence of events is super well done. Everyone gets ready for the trial, but Cersei doesn't show up. After Loras' trial, Margaery realizes that something is wrong, but the High Sparrow stops her from leaving and she's powerless. The Sept catches fire and then explodes, collapsing in on itself and taking The Faith with it.

wildfire sept king's landing game of thrones

Miles away, Tommen watches the Sept burn and makes the only decision he felt he could. He removes his crown and tumbles out the window. He falls out of a window that is held up by pillars (look at that symbolism within symbolism). A fan of the show on Imgur caught the moment, noting that as The Faith crumbled, the crown also faltered, just as Cersei predicted. What's most crazy is that it's Cersei who ultimately opts to turn the world on its head.

tommen kills himself game of thrones

The former mother of three has now lost all of her children, just as Maggy predicted in the woods so long ago. She doesn't even seem to be too devastated when Tommen takes his own life, noting that he should be cremated and his ashes should be buried in the Sept with the rest of those loyal to the faith. She still has something to live for though, picking up where both the crown and The Faith left off. It's unclear at this point whether or not she'll be able to pull off being queen. King's Landing should be in upheaval after so many deaths in the city, and we don't know which houses will remain loyal to the Lannisters and which might look elsewhere--perhaps across the sea or to the North? Some people already don't seem particularly confident in Cersei.

We'll know more when Game of Thrones returns to HBO's schedule for Season 7 next spring.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.