I disagree entirely. They hinted at the direction multiple times but just never went that way.
Good Ole John should have died at the end. He was brought back by the power of light. That power should have been the final confrontation between him and the Night King. There could have been many better choices for the final ruler and the conflict between the two armies could have been resolved a lot better. It was poor writing and directing.
Since we're both in the Jon dead camp, when would you have him die exactly?
Melisandre's death would be the first thing retconned-- she'd be kept alive. Instead it was Jon who would receive the "I've done my part" line (even if dialogue not used, the resonance and tone of it would be given to Jon instead of Melisandre), instead of Melisandre. Jon's death would not be immediate for the audience sake, there would be some final scenes after the battle and aftermath. Maybe a bedroom death with Dany holding him while celebrating and he goes cold.
A brief ambiguous explanation would be given by either Bran or Melisandre.
That's just one way to do it. There's a lot you can do with the specific time of Jon's death and who would be involved in the scene.
Sansa, Tyrion, and Jon dead would do a lot to boost the rewatchability of GoT.
I'd also like to have seen Jaime Lannister end up on the throne with Cercei dead (how she dies, I don't know).
Bran has as much claim as Jaime, and I think the circumstances involved in getting Jaime on the throne, given his history, given his relationship with his father regarding his expectations for him, would be a big ending and very GoT like with its callbacks. Jaime as the unwilling King. You'd need a lot more seasons to get there, but I feel it's a huge bump up over Bran, for callback reasons to Tywin and Jaime's relationship, if nothing else. As well as Jaime's character arc in general.
