Peter Dinklage may want fans to move on from the Game of Thrones' divisive finale, but many of them can't accept that his character, Tyrion Lannister, never finished his recurring joke. The Jackass and Honeycomb joke never made it to its punchline, annoying fans and opening up new interpretations for its ending.
The line has appeared three times in the series. It was first introduced in Game of Thrones Season 1 when Tyrion was captured by Lysa Arryn during his "confession." The joke begins, "I once brought a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel." Before he reaches the punchline, Lysa interrupts him. Five seasons later, Tyrion begins to tell it to Missandei and Greyworm over wine in Mereen because he's teaching them how to tell jokes, which they are embarrassingly failing at. Tyrion's joke structure is slightly different this time: "I once walked into a brothel with a honeycomb and a jackass. The Madame says..." Finally, after being seated at the head of the Small Council in Season 8, Tyrion chooses to tell the joke for the final time as his last words of the series, but it cuts away.
The joke being rudely interrupted by mere inconvenience or lack of respect the first two times just seemed like bad luck for Tyrion, and probably didn't outrage most fans. They likely assumed he would finish it one day, but he didn't. This resulting urgency to find the punchline of the joke convinced fans to write their own ending befitting the character of Tyrion and his absurd humor. One Redditor, Retro21, managed to write a punchline that seems like it was pulled right out of the Game of Thrones world.
The fan-made joke has Tyrion ask the Madame for a new woman to lay with because his just left him. She asks him about the jackass and the honeycomb, and he replies in specific detail that they came from a genie that took his wishes very literally. The joke then ends with him taunting his own short stature. HuffPost even asked some professional comedians to finish the joke themselves, to which they came up with some pretty colorful replies. For instance, Gibran Saleem finished Tyrion's joke with one simple line: "Sorry, only one Lannister at a time," referring to the jackass. A few others even broke the fourth wall to proclaim their wishes for the Game of Thrones finale.
With fans and comedians alike attempting to fulfill their desire for the punchline, it's concerning why the writers never bothered to finish the joke in the first place. After all, the finale would've been the perfect time to do so, ending Tyrion's character with the satisfaction of knowing what type of joke he has been keeping in his pocket this entire time. One reason could be that the writers thought it'd be funnier to cut off the joke rather than keep it in. Season 1 and Season 6's attempts at the joke came off as comedic relief since it seemed so fitting that Tyrion was once again interrupted as the ignored and under-appreciated Lannister. The finale's portrayal of the joke may just be reminiscent of that.
Tyrion may have survived Game of Thrones, but he's back to being a Hand again and openly admits to feeling unqualified for the position, considering the mistakes he made the last time. But Bran sees the value in Tyrion's intelligence and says that Tyrion can spend the rest of his life fixing those mistakes as Hand of the King. So in some ways, Tyrion's unsatisfying joke reflects on his subpar ending. He's not as excited as he once was about telling the joke, but he's content and trying to make the best out of his situation. The line acts as a bittersweet ending to his character, always reminding the audience of the Lannister that was overlooked.