Game of Thrones S8 — Season 8

It didn’t make me weep for the last twenty minutes like the second half of BSG’s “Daybreak”, in fact I only teared up when The Starks broke up on the dock. However, nothing compares to BSG for me... nothing.

The writing on this show started to deteriorate the further away it went from the source. I don’t think that’s the fault of the show, but George Martin. Even with him informing the major plot points, it’s clear that his nuances went missing almost as soon as they left his established world’s defining moments.

The show runners and writers did the best they could and it shows.

But as TV goes I’m fine with the way it all ended. It all seemed appropriate.

Reading responses to this entire season, and the finale, there is no way a good handful of people would have been satisfied with the way it ended... but it’s a good story told with a satisfying ending.

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They basically cramped 2 seasons into one with this one. That's why people aren't happy. It wasn't a horrible season but it left so much more to be desired. Yet i still enjoyed the journey even that late.

Terrible season. I don't understand why D&D made us wait 2 years for this nonsense. Rushed and disappointing.

Disappointing ending to this Epic Show! It's like they have picked all the popular theories from internet and packed them into this episode and ended the show! I guess they have gotten tired of running this show! 😒😏

I hope George will finishes the books soon. At least we will get a better ending than this!

Aw, another great show with a totally botched ending...
part of the reason seem's to be that the cast got too expensive per episode, so they made two seasons with fewer but longer ones: season 1-6 were each 10 hours, season 7 was 8 hours (in 7 episodes) and season 8 was 9 hours (in 6 episodes).
in season 7 it showed, but was ok, by season 8 there were just too many of george martin's big plot points left, plus two epic battles to do it in a single season, but i guess they ran out of time, money or both. so they just made a sequence of all the big plot points and battles.
What a stupid idea. I'd rather have them cut the story short and finish the series with the defeat of the night king. 9 hours might just have been enough time to do the characters & the defeat of the night king justice.
just let the characters die in a single battle. it would have been epic if jon had to kill daenerys in order for arya to kill the night king! hell if danny's dragons, missandei and more got killed fighting the night king and with the jon is a targarian reveal they could have made it believable she went mad and turned a liability, then and there. they could've even devoted the last quarter hour or so to arya assassinating cersei & jamie in king's landing. all we'd "miss" tyrion's & vary's plot... that would have been a shame but some things had to be sacrificed.

instead they just sacrificed all character development/interactions, reason, immersion and suspense. in other words the soul of GoT. what a joke.

Woof, here it is. The section I was warned about before I even started Season 1. There is so much to talk about, but I think there's enough people that are just... complaining. instead, I think it is a much more worthwhile conversation to think about _why_ this happened, because the team behind Game of Thrones obviously weren't trying to disappoint fans, they simply failed.

To start with the elephant in the room: Bran becoming king. This seems to be, by far, the most hated aspect of this section, which is completely understandable. For some reason, they tried to change their path twice within a few episodes without putting enough thought into where they were going. For a while, Daenerys was being propped up as the one who will win the war and become queen. It's why she had so much screen time dedicated to her adventure. Then, at the last minute, Jon was being propped up as the best candidate for the throne, with the show even making a big deal of him actually being the son of Rhaegar Targaryen, which means he's Daenerys's nephew, but I'll get to that. Then, at the last second, Bran was the best candidate for the king despite there being no evidence in the text that that would be where his arc ended up. I think I know what they were thinking though. Bran started this story; his fall from the tower is what sparked the events of everything that happened throughout these 8 seasons, so is it not poetic that the man who started this story would be the one to end it? Tyrion even said previously that the best rulers are those that don't want the position, which does fit Bran. Here's the problem though, if that's where the show would end up, then there should have been more signs pointing to that, and him not wanting the position sounds great if it weren't for the fact that he decided to say that he came to the meeting to be king.

As for Jon's relation to Daenerys that I mentioned earlier, I wonder which was decision was made first: Jon falling in love with Daenerys or Jon being related to her. Obviously, the show has never shied away from incest before this, but there was a reason that the only incestuous couple in the show were the villains, and it was necessary as a big tool for the plot. But it's not the incest that I'm most worried about with it, it's the age gap. Daenerys does not look old enough to be Jon's aunt. They both look to be around the same age, and depending on the angle, Daenerys can look younger than Jon. This plot point falls apart when you think about it for more than a minute. I think what they were going for is to create conflict between Daenerys and Jon, which would be great if Jon's true heritage actually ever became important to the story. And a romantic relationship between them was not really needed for their stories, and considering the weird implications it created, should have been avoided. Especially since they didn't have any chemistry.

Speaking of unnecessary romance, I don't want to really accuse the team of anything, but I couldn't help but feel like the writing team got filled with misogynists towards the end. The show always had pretty good female characters, but come this season, most of them got relegated to just being the love of the male characters. I liked Missandei and Grey Worm until it caused Missandei to have nothing to do in the story, then they also tried creating a thing between Sansa and Theon and a thing between Brienne and Jaime despite both pairs not having the necessary chemistry for that. I always supported Brienne and Tormund more, anyway. But I think the biggest offender for me was Arya and Gendry. Nothing that we've seen of Arya indicated that she would have any interest in love or sex until all of her enemies were dead. But based on the fact that she ended up becoming an explorer for some reason, I think it's clear that they didn't really understand Arya's character enough. She would not care about "knowing what it's like before she dies", but some degenerate on the team still felt like what her arc needed was a sex scene. I know that the actress is of age, but when I've been seeing a character as a child the entire runtime, I'm still gonna feel disgusted when I see her without clothing.

Now, it's not like this season doesn't have redeeming qualities. The first few episodes were pretty good. The Long Night being a stand-out case as for the climax that was better built up. And I will defend Daenerys's "character assasination".
Many times, in our real world, when a dictatorship is brought down, a peaceful ruler doesn't come in as the replacement. Instead, dictatorships are often replaced with another dictatorship. To think it happens otherwise is a childish viewpoint of the world. I think that's certainly what they were going for with how her arc ended. And it was a much more natural progression than Bran's arc. We were seeing signs that she would end up like this for a while. She gradually started to trust her advisors less and less, and as she continued to be worshiped as the goddess that would save the world, it's entirely realistic she would end up believing that everything about her, even her worst impulses were right. After all, that's what those around her were telling her for years. Was this progression perfectly, smoothly pulled off? No, of course not. If it were, it wouldn't be as controversial as it was. But it wasn't nearly as sudden as others would have you believe.

The finale didn't stick the landing, unfortunately. It instead landed on it's butt. Not as embarrassing as flipping around and landing on the back, but not what it should have been. But I will appreciate the great adventure that I went on over the past few months that I spent watching this series, and I'll let it's highs overcome it's lows for it's place in my heart. I had a good time with this story, and I am ready to move on to other worlds, but I will remember this journey, and the fun I had during it.
Goodbye, Game of Thrones.

well shit. this was pretty rushed huh.

by game of thrones standards this is easily the worst season, but overall it's an ok season of television.

actually really enjoyed the battle of Winterfell. some big flaws in logic but honestly most big battles in the later seasons are devoid of logic, so it doesn't really bother me. Dany burning King's Landing kinda makes a little sense, since Dany does choose to utilise fear over love beforehand, but it's a bit of a stretch.

Bran was honestly the best choice for king out of everyone left, but still incredibly stupid to say he deserves the throne because he has a good story. bullshit.

overall just fine. ending was alright, but a show like game of thrones deserves so much better. I don't really mind this season as much as most people do. it's just there.

Mindblowing production value aside, one could write a book about all the plotholes and wasted characters in this season. It's such a pity that a show that made a name for itself by having a meticulously drawn story and memorable characters ended up flirting with soap opera dialogues and mediocre Hollywood writing in a matter of minutes.
By watching these last six episodes, I happened to experience two types of anger:

1. The "good" anger, when your expectations are subverted all of a sudden, when the most unfair things happen and your favorite characters get to taste the bitterness of war. There's no way GOT could get away from a bittersweet ending, and not everyone's favorite character could survive or get on the throne. The tragedy at King's Landing was a hard pill to swallow, but the fact that it hurts so bad also means that they did a proper job depicting its unfairness and cruelty.

2. The "bad" anger, that comes from the poor writing and oversimplified plot. The overall flow of the story and sociopolitical development looks pretty coherent to the previous seasons, and I am pretty sure it's primarily based on outlines from Martin himself (even though he has probably changed his mind by now). The problem is not the outcome, but how each character has been brought to that point. Many story arcs that have been carefully drawn over the first six seasons have been conveniently forced in another direction in a matter of minutes (Daenerys, Tyrion), some have been simply cut out with an excuse (Varys, Theon), some regressed (Jaime, oh Jaime), some lost their whole purpose (Bran, Sansa, Brienne), some even ended up being exploited for pure fanservice (Sandor, Arya, Bronn). Not to mention that intense battles like the Long Night got ruined by the main characters fighting like the Avengers, getting out of the most dramatic situations cliffhanger after cliffhanger, with a little more than a bruise.

Another huge thing they messed up big time with is the whole role of the white walkers. I am pretty sure they were supposed to represent the external threat or incoming catastrophe that men kept ignoring while they were too busy killing each others for futile things like name and power. There had to be that revelatory moment when mankind finally realizes that war has only made their chances to survive thinner, that men should help each others. Instead, it looks like the only purpose of the white walker was to decimate Daenerys' troops for a fair confrontation at King's Landing, that Bran's story arc was meant to climax with him being the bait… I know that fans were mostly waiting for the Daenerys-Cersei final showdown, but the walkers had to be kept for last. It would have also made it easier to get characters killed during the battle, as their story arcs had been probably already closed by then, and they would have had plenty of chances to redeem themselves.

Even with their flaws, the episodes were mostly alright; it's just that mediocre writing is not enough for a series that has had high standards until this point. There were also a lot of moving moments, satisfying pay-offs, and especially exciting battles. Still much better than I expected after seeing all the backlash. Even for a terribly wasted opportunity, I still think it was at least worth the journey.

an absolute disaster of a final season

“You are my queen. I don’t know what else I can say.”

This sums up the length of dialogue written for Kit Harington.

Now I’ve held off my thoughts for season 8 for awhile now because...well, if you heard the overall disappointment from fans, just so you know I was one of them. It’s sometimes hard to express disappointment for something you dedicated for six years.

Game of Thrones: Season 8 was awful and a lackluster finale, which shouldn’t be the case right? In a perfect world this should’ve conclude in a satisfying way that fans should reflect back in a positive perspective. However, looking back from three seasons ago, the seeds were planted around season 5 for a beautiful disaster.

I got to give the creative team credit where it’s due. The sets, costumes, score and the visual effects were all superb and beats any show by a mile. I can tell a lot of passion and effort went into making the show look as great as it dose. And just because a coffee cup and a plastic water bottle was left in the shot doesn’t mean that the team stopped trying, but it’s the film makers who scan the footage over and over again to bring into question. The effort is seen on screen, yet the passion is heard in the behind the scenes making of each episode and how much of an honor to been given this opportunity.
The cast were fantastic this season despite the material given to them. I can see the cast putting sweat and tears into every episode.

Peter Dinklage is excellent as usual and in this season it isn’t any different. The scene in episode six ‘The Iron Throne’, where Tyrion finds Jamie and Cersei under neath the rubble - I thought Peter was truly brilliant and his breakdown was so heartbreaking. Unfortunately the writing for his character took a massive nose drive after they ran out of material from George R.R. Martin books and it got so much worst. Tyrion, a once intelligent character that took his dwarfism away from people perspective to instead judge him on his character in terms of his wise wit in a barbaric world, but now it comes down to idiotic jokes like “I’Ve GOt bALLs aNd yOu dOnT lOl”, and makes plenty of dumb decsisons that feels endless. He’s entire plan to convince his psychotic sister Cersei, which by the way she wants him dead and has lied many times before to be trusted, and yet he still believes she can change her own ways. Also, I find it absolutely annoying when Tyrion gets the opportunity to suggest who should be king despite being a prisoner and Grey Worm telling him to hush at the start, but doesn’t say a single word during the discussion. I guess the writers kinda forgot about Tyrion’s intelligence.

Lena Headey was great this season even through she spent the entire season staring out of window drinking wine, which by the way she got top billing. Cersei has been pregnant for quite awhile now and not for a second dose it show. I guess the writers kinda forgot about that.

I feel sorry for Kit Harington, as this show and his character made him who he is today - he never saw it as work. So it’s sad the writers turned Jon into a one note buffon that vomits awful dialogue like “yOu aRe MY qUeEn”, and “ i dOn’T wAnT IT”, or “i lOvE yOu”. With Jon coming back from the dead by the lord of light for a greater purpose that basically goes nowhere. The whole Targaryen thing and Jon being the rightful heir to throne also goes nowhere. I guess everyone kinda forgot about that.

Jamie's entire character arc was completely wasted. The powerful scene in season three where Nikolaj Coster-Waldau delivers such a raw and devastating performance of a man with the weight on his shoulders over a situation that saved millions of lives, including women and children, but was heavily shamed for killing his king. In season 1, me and everyone loathed Jamie. His cockness mix with his despicable actions left a mark through out the show. However, saying Jamie has changed is a massive understatement - he’s almost a completely different person. A new man that’s been re-born after not only redeeming himself, but accepts his past and does what he feels is right. Well all that is gone with one line and one decision that’s so out of left field it makes no sense. “To be honest, I never really cared much for them. Innocent or otherwise”, and returns to Cersei despite disowning her in the last season. I also find it funny when you break down everything Jamie does this season. He leaves Cersei, travels to Winterfell, sleeps with Brienne, doesn’t like it, goes back to Cersei, and dies. I guess the writers kinda forgot about his character arc.

Arya entire training to be a skilled assassin to sneak around and take on any facial form, even through it somehow changes her height and body structure, also goes nowhere. It wasn’t use to any benefit. Sansa, a once vulnerable, yet smart woman who knew when to keep quiet whenever there’s a secret, rumor or any shred of hatred towards her enemies. Now all of that is dropped and replaced with a sassy and salty attitude as she makes her hatred clear as day to someone to spark some conflict. It’s funny how the show costly reminds us that Sansa is really smart, like super smart. And apparently learned from “the best” in this world, who are dead now with the cause of death being their egos. I guess the writers also learned from the best.

Brans entire story arc of becoming The Three Eye Raven goes nowhere as well. He literally does nothing through out the season and still gets named king, because I guess he’s got a more interesting story to tell. There was so much potential for Brans powers to be explored and used against any threats, but his screen time comes down to staring blankly at people while withholding knowledge that could change the future. It’s creepy to know that Bran pretty much knew everything that’s going to happen - millions of people will die and many brave men will sacrifice themselves to save his skin, but I would imagine the outcome will be different if he did or said something. I guess the writers kinda forgot about that.

Out of all her roles, Emilia Clarke truly shines as The Mother of Dragons, Khaleesi. Although, her best efforts were sadly overshadowed by the poor material given to her. This season was so rushed that Khaleesi whole descent into madness wasn’t earned at all and had no impact on me as a viewer. I hate how people try to point out how it was heavily foreshadowed in the past seasons, most notably in season 2 where we see a vision of her walking towards the iron throne surrendered by the ruins of King’s Landing covered in snow. Yes snow, not ash! Please don’t defend this. It wasn’t ash, it was snow on the ground, because you can hear the sound of crunching as she’s walking, while ash doesn’t. So yeah it was completely out of character for her to burn and kill innocents.

This is the structure of season 8: The first and second episode focus on the preparation for an upcoming battle - while Cersei really wants her army of elephants. Episode three is the battle itself that last for only one night. “The Long Night” was a mixture of great to anticlimactic. Yeah more like “The Short Night”. Despite the episode being incredibly dark to see, but the cinematography was still extraordinary and some striking imagery that struck a core with me. The intensity was off the roof. There’s a quick and yet horrific split moment when the Dothraki army are charging with their firey swords towards the dark where death awaits. A split second you see very briefly the army of the dead striking mid motion at the Dothraki, and then cut from a far distance where all the lights go out one by one with their screams being drowned out by wind - the end of the Dothraki...until they showed up again later on in the season with a bigger army than before. Anywhere, I was worried for the characters even through the plot armour kept them all safe and the disposable characters died pretty easily. The Night King, a once menacing and mysterious antagonist turned into a pointless laughing stock that got defeated by a character that had zero involvement in the whole whiter walker storyline.

Episode four our heroes celebrate in victory, but not for long as they are thrust into another war with Cersei. Episode five is the battle of King’s Landing and where Khaleesi release her inner mad queen. Episode six Jon kills Khaleesi, cutting her reign of terror short. Bran becomes king and Tyrion moves some chairs around, which was longer than Khaleesi death scene. The end. All of that in six episodes and none of it felt earned.

Overall rating: It’s quite amusing how a TV show that was once considered the greatest in television history suddenly into an internet joke - a punching bag that everyone took turn beating. My problem isn’t the ending itself, just how we got there.