The fall season is upon us. The leaves have begun to fall from their branches, the days are becoming ever so shorter, and there is a chill in the morning air. Doesn’t it all just make you want to snuggle up on the couch and watch a good show? What better show to revisit during the impending spooky season than Game of Thrones!
Well… let’s just skip over that last season.
In the spring of 2011, HBO released one of the greatest book adaptation series to ever grace the earth. The majority of episodes based on the book series by George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire, HBO exquisitely created the most gripping plot, complex characters, and not to mention the most epic battle scenes known to TV history. This series alone cultivated the most dedicated fanbase known to man. When it was all said and done, the wait for the final season felt as though it was an eternity. Unfortunately, the excitement of GOT fanbase was sorely misplaced and it left us all fuming. It all got so dramatic and blown out of proportion that there was a petition for season 8 to be recreated by “competent” writers. Let’s just say, some fanbases can be rather melodramatic.
Let me tell you why season 8 is not worth a second go in your fall binge. Despite the excellent cast, beautiful cinematography, costumes, and everything else that made the show what it was meant to be, the plot went against the traditional Game of Thrones legacy. The show is supposed to be all about death and genuine, logical surprise. The first two episodes were a waste of time; it does not take two episodes to build up to the main event, “The Long Night.” Two episodes preparing the audience for what is to come: the Night King brings death and destruction, people will die, the end is near for everyone. Yet, pretty much everyone survives who should not. As a GOT fan, this is incredibly frustrating still to this day.
Sam should not have survived—he is not a good fighter, and he had already served his purpose in the show. Brienne also should have died; despite being one of the best fighters in the series, she served her purpose. Davos has even claimed that he cannot fight, yet he survives? It does not make any sense; these characters are disposable. GOT is a show that does not waste time killing off the characters that have already served their purpose. How on earth did only two main characters die in this so-called end of the world battle?
The whole war against the nightwalkers and the Night King felt very artificial and not as authentic as the rest of the previous battle scenes. Instead of seeing the real death and destruction, we see unnamed, unimportant soldiers get mobbed and slaughtered in the background while Jon does who knows what. The whole situation just felt false and unbelievable.
GOT does not work in the way where everyone gets to live and lead a happy life. It is a cutthroat world where the most brutal, unimaginable of events occur. Take the Red Wedding episode for example, or when Theon pretended to burn the Stark boys alive. Those were shocking, logical surprises that made the show so irresistible.
The way the storyline was rushed was as if the producers were running around with their heads chopped off trying to frantically piece together an ending. An example of this being Daenerys’ fall to madness. The whole burning of the King’s Landing was ridiculously unprovoked. That whole character arch should have been developed over the course of a season. Instead, the writers crammed it into a matter of three episodes.
As a result, this season was a snooze fest. Call GOT whatever you want, but you can never call it boring. Jon is the main character, yet he does absolutely nothing pivotal. Tyrion, the smartest person on the show, is reduced to telling jokes and contributing nothing to the story. Cersei, the evilest woman alive, deserved to go out of the show with a bang. Instead, she dies in the most mundane way she could have. That scene is probably what set me off the most. Jaime’s character arch was completely lost in the dumpster fire of this season. He was supposed to do great things, instead, he gave it all up? For what exactly? I do not know.
Though season 8 was nothing less than disastrous and a downright shame, it should not diminish the fact that the storyline is like no other. Personally, I had never watched any other show that had such a gripping plot, complex characters, gorgeous set, costume design, and cast. I believe that the tragedy of season 8 should not tarnish anybody’s love or passion for the show because at its core, it is brilliant.
My advice to anyone that is still grieving season 8: start back at season 1, episode 1, and it will remind you of how glorious GOT truly is. Just stop at the finale of season 7 and you will save your consciousness.
For some extra GOT content, check out another one of our articles that features some of the best quotes from the show!
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