Opinion: Game of Thrones’ final season wasn’t that bad

Ashley Weyler

Photo Credit: HBO

With Game of Thrones officially over, many fans, including myself, are feeling all sorts of ways about the final season. Here’s one fan’s opinion. SPOILERS AHEAD.

I’m just going to come right out and say it: This season of Game of Thrones wasn’t that bad.

I know the million signatures on this petition say otherwise, to which I can’t roll my eyes at enough.

This is probably unpopular, and you may be reading this and saying to yourself, “You know nothing (Jon Snow).” But let’s put things into perspective. Even a bad season of Game of Thrones is better than 90% of the other crap on television.

Maybe you feel like this last season was rushed. I am feeling that, too.

Maybe you’re annoyed that production made some obvious mistakes. It’s understandable because they seemed careless.

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Maybe you hate the ending. Guess what, it’s not the first show to disappoint fans with an ending, and it won’t be the last.

There were lots of great moments during season 8, too! And when you give yourself some time to heal from your grief of losing this show, I think you’ll come to realize the final season of Game of Thrones wasn’t all that bad.

Six episodes weren’t enough

And I’m not saying this because it’s my favorite show and I wanted more (which is also true). Game of Thrones has always been so good because the story was always presented as a slow burn. For multiple episodes, nothing seemingly extraordinary would happen until BAM – the main protagonist is beheaded, or the next hero gets a dagger through the heart. Then you realize all that boring stuff in between was really important and led to this very moment.

It’s an element that made me fall in love with this series and a genre I never thought I’d love.

Season 7 was criticized because the pace felt quicker. I gave it a pass because it was working toward a finale and they didn’t have time to waste showing people traveling around Westeros to get to the nitty-gritty. I get it. I supported it.

BUT…

Season 8 should have been split into two seasons, even if it were two shortened seasons.

This season could have been all about the Battle of Winterfell – the preparations, the reunions, the coming-to-terms with possibly dying. All of this was jam-packed into the first two episodes, and it felt rushed. I would have liked to see Jon and Dany’s love story develop more. It would have given them time to develop more chemistry and a believable love story. It would have made his killing of her, in the end, carry so much more weight.

Then, the Battle of Winterfell could have been the penultimate episode, and the last of the season could have been the aftermath and the hinting that Dany is growing into her Mad Queen role. Maybe even end with the truth about Jon’s parentage instead of revealing it to him before the battle.

Season 9 could have been all about Dany’s descent into darkness. And like I said yesterday, the penultimate episode could have ended with her death and the last episode would be the aftermath.

Maybe those who are pissed about Dany’s story arc would have had time to process it. Just a thought.

Photo Credit: HBO

Stupid mistakes

By day, I work in communications. I know what it’s like when you create something, put it forth into the world, and then find out there was a silly misspelling or missed comma somewhere. It sucks.

So, I can’t imagine the way production felt when fans discovered a coffee cup or a water bottle making it into a few scenes by accident. It happens!

BUT…

How many people had their eyes on that film and missed it? The president of HBO even watched it all and missed it. Isn’t that someone’s sole job to look for continuity mistakes?

I was disappointed at the attention these mistakes received because it took away from otherwise brilliant acting and a brilliant show. The production crew worked so hard to build amazing sets and create innovative special effects, and all people will remember about it was that Starbucks cup was left on the feast table.

Coming to terms with that ending

How would I have ended Game of Thrones? Daenerys would defy the odds and not become the Mad Queen. She and Jon would rule the Seven Kingdoms together.

Arya would have killed Cersei and then convinced Gendry to travel the world with her.

Unfortunately, I’m not George R. R. Martin. He apparently gave David Benioff and D. B. Weiss the skeleton of the story, and they were to fill in the rest of the body. This means Bran would always have been King. Daenerys would always have become the Mad Queen. Jaime was always going to go back to Cersei. The North was always going to secede from the rest of the Kingdoms, and Jon was always meant to kill Daenerys and be a wildling.

It’s a tough pill to swallow because it’s not what I had always imagined.

BUT…

If the storyline had been given more time to breathe, maybe we would be able to accept the fates of these people instead of feeling so confused. All the signs were there; we just weren’t paying enough attention.

(L to R) Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen – Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO

Now, some positives

What I’m most bummed about is that Game of Thrones is over. Like I said in the beginning, a bad season of this show is better than the majority of what’s on television. The show as a whole is some of the best – the acting, the production, the directing, and the writing.

I can live with the fact that eight percent of the entire show isn’t as great as the rest. Not all of the last six episodes were bad either.

In “Winterfell,” we found out that our favorite fire-haired wildling survived the collapse of the wall. There were so many amazing reunions, and Bran finally laid eyes on Jaime Lannister again, after not seeing each other since Jaime pushed him out the window in episode 1.

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I don’t care what any of you says, Arya and Gendry getting together is amazing. And how can you not be happy about Jaime knighting Brienne in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”? It also gave us that incredibly acted tense scene between Sansa and Daenerys, followed by Sansa’s reunion with Theon. This episode made be the best of the season.

If you say “The Long Night” wasn’t amazing, you’re just dead wrong. ARYA FREAKING STARK KILLED THE NIGHT KING.

In “The Last of the Starks,” we starkly see the contrast between the agony of mourning and the joy of celebration. We begin to see Daenerys’ descent into darkness. And hello? Jaime and Brienne finally act on their feelings. And you get to see Sansa put to use some manipulation skills she learned from Littlefinger.

You may not have enjoyed “The Bells” if you’re a loyal Daenerys fan, but that was a spectacular episode. Just knowing how production built the entire set in a parking lot and made it look like a city was incredible.

And, in “The Iron Throne,” the acting alone was top-notch. You may hate how it ended, but at least give props when they’re due.

Photo Credit: HBO

Final thoughts

Some Game of Thrones episodes, in my humble opinion, are damn-near perfect – the Battle of the Bastards, for one. That right there was probably my favorite hour of television I have ever watched (and I watch a lot of T.V.). After that, the show transcended to another level for me.

I began to expect so much from the show that I set a bar for it, that it would probably never top. And I think everyone else did, too.

That, combined with an almost two-year wait for new content, and you have an over-amped audience who only grew in numbers from new binge-watchers. It’s like giving a bunch of toddlers Red Bull – giving pop culture geeks perfection and then making them wait for more.

I don’t envy the creators, that they were tasked with topping themselves. But how can you ever top perfection? They were also tasked with filling in the gaps of a story that wasn’t all the way written. Sure, they’ve taken liberties before, but Martin told them his vision, and they ran with it.

Maybe this was Martin’s ultimate joke on them. Maybe he’ll see fan reaction and change the books… that’s if he ever finishes them.

All I am saying is cut these guys a break. The show brought you a ton of enjoyment for 73 episodes. So what if it didn’t end how we wanted it. They’re not losing sleep over it, why should you?

Farewell Game of Thrones. Thanks for the bloody memories!

Ashley Weyler

Ashley Weyler, or simply Smash as her friends call her, is a freelance writer from Philly. She spends most of her time writing, watching movies and TV, singing karaoke, and cheering on her beloved Philly sports teams.