A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Season 1's Last Shot Pays Tribute To One Of The Greatest Movie Endings Ever

When you play the game of thrones, you win or you get spoilers for the season 1 finale of "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms."

It's astonishing to see hype for a Westeros-set show again. After so many things went wrong in the final season of "Game of Thrones," it seemed any excitement for future adaptations of George R.R. Martin's work might be dead — and its immediate follow-up show didn't help much. (Martin has not been shy about sharing his many problems with "House of the Dragon.") But along came "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" to remind us of how thrilling this fictional world is, and how memorable and charismatic Martin's characters can be.

This show is a total shock to the Westerosi system. Its lighter tone comes with plenty of silliness, bodily fluids, and many jokes. At times, that tonal dissonance can be jarring, like that weird music choice before a guy has explosive diarrhea in the premiere of "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms." But the show isn't just jokes, dancing, and puppetry; the fifth episode also showed us one of the most horrific and brutal battle scenes in the entire Westeros franchise.

Yet in a season full of surprises, nothing could have prepared audiences for what the finale of "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" had in store.

In the last scene of the episode, Dunk (Peter Claffey) and Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) ride out of Ashford, and we see a manifestation of Ser Arlan (Danny Webb) riding alongside them. Then Ser Arlan rides away in a different direction, as if saying goodbye and leaving his legacy in good hands with Dunk and Egg. As sweet as this moment is, it also exactly mirrors the ending of "Furious 7."

"Furious 7" is a miracle of a movie. It suffered a devastating tragedy when star Paul Walker died during production, necessitating a new ending that forever altered the trajectory of that franchise. Still, the ending we got ended up being one of the best film endings of all time.

In case you need a reminder, "Furious 7" ends with Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto driving through the roads of a beautiful tropical paradise when Brian (Walker) catches up to him. As Wiz Khalifa's masterpiece "See You Again" (featuring Charlie Puth) plays, Dom recalls his memories with Brian, and he bids farewell to his best friend as Brian takes a separate road and exits to the left of the frame. It's kind of ridiculous, but also quite beautiful at the same time.

The framing of the ending of "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" is almost identical to the ending of "Furious 7," with two characters in a found family riding next to each other as they head into the sunset, with one splitting off to the left of the frame. What's more, you can play "See You Again" during that scene and it fits perfectly (trust me, I tried). 

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" can be very tongue-in-cheek at times, and borderline cartoonish. Ending the season with what seems like a clear homage to a movie about fast cars, international espionage, and the power of family and Corona seems absurd. And yet, the show has gotten the audience used to its borderline cartoonishness for enough episodes that the moment works. Like "Furious 7," it's sentimental, silly, and charming as well. Here's to you, Ser Arlan. We'll see you again.