For better or worse, the Iron Throne is Game of Thrones’ endgame

In retrospect, Game of Thrones warned us that it was all #ForTheThrone at the beginning of the months-long hype campaign for the final season. As we approach the final two episodes of the series, that idea — not the war with the White Walkers, not carefully considered character stories, not even a more nuanced look at the power structure of Westeros — has become the show’s focal point: who will sit on the Iron Throne when the dust settles?
That contraction of the story has lef