I'm eager to see tomorrow's ratings for tonight's terrific Game of Thrones season finale.  Game of Thrones is the highest-rated show in HBO's history, and season four did not disappoint.  It came with the various twists, turns, and major deaths we've come to expect, and, as always, I was surprised by who lived and who died.  Following tonight's episode, showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff talked about this season, the season finale, and what lies ahead for season five.

Hit the jump for more on Game of Thrones season 5, and click here to read Allison's recap for the season finale.  [SPOILERS AHEAD for those who haven't seen the finale plus some minor spoilers from the books]

In the books, Shae is simply an unlikable character who's conning Tyrion from day one.  The show gave her depth and shading, so when Tyrion killed her, it had serious weight.  Benioff talked about the scene to THR:

The murder of Shae, in particular, is emotionally much different than in the book. In the book Shae is a gold-digging prostitute from the beginning. She never loved Tyrion and betraying him came easily for her. But we knew our Shae would diverge from book Shae the moment we saw Sibel Kekilli audition. Sibel brought such life and intelligence to the part; her intensity inspired us to make the character more complex. Our Shae loves Tyrion, and Tyrion loves her. For us the tragedy is watching these two people trying to kill each other when they love one another. If only Tyrion had taken Shae up on her offer at the end of season two, they could be living a wonderful life in exile right now.

Another big death, and one of my favorite, was Tywin getting killed by Tyrion.  Rarely does this show give us what we want, but this was a glorious moment where Tyrion not only got his revenge, but got to kill Tywin in the most embarrassing way possible.  It was a fitting end to a man who had done nothing but insult and humiliate his son.  “To see Tyrion’s entire, troubled relationship with his father distilled into three minutes, that’s a lot of weight to put on two actors," said the showrunners. "It was our good fortune that the two actors in question were Peter and Charles, who are both power-lifters in this category."

Even though the show probably won't return until April 2015, we're already eager to know what happens next.  Unsurprisingly, Benioff and Weiss are tight-lipped, but Deadline reports:

The two do hint on future alliances and outcomes when they say that the boat carrying Dinklage’s Tyrion from King’s Landing is heading “east.” As followers of the books and the series know, east of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, which Tyrion was fleeing and across the Narrow Sea is Essos. To get really insider, in Martin’s Dances With Dragons book, the now banished Jorah Mormont character meets up with Tyrion and hopes to use him get back in favor with the dragon controlling Daenerys Targaryen, who is still learning to be a Queen unto herself.

But let that be next year's problems.  For now, let's just enjoy season four ending with a glorious voyage across the Narrow Sea rather than Daenerys crowdsurfing.

Also, if you want to hear the choral version of the Game of Thrones theme that closed out this season, check it out below [via Vanity Fair]: