How Did Game Of Thrones Miss The Landing So Badly? *SPOILERS*

Like most people, I love Game of Thrones. I took a while to jump on the bandwagon, but by the time I had binge-watched all four seasons that were available at the time I was fully on board. I have read all the books, I have re-watched the show a number of times, so of course I was as excited as anyone when it came to the show's eighth and final season.


I don't need to tell you about the reception season 8 received. You've seen it already, and you've read all the reviews, and I'm sure you've heard about the petition to remake season 8 with "competent writers" (that has managed to rack up more than 1.7 million signatures at the time of me writing this!). But yes, the writing did take a sharp dip, something that has often been attributed to the lack of source material for them to fall back on since moving beyond "A Dance With Dragons" around the end of season 5. But for the most part season 6 was excellent, and for it's flaws and pacing problems season 7 was also doing a pretty decent job of fulfilling third act obligations. So what went wrong with season 8?

Firstly, the good things need to be acknowledged, because for its writing flaws it still remains to be one of, if not the most breathtaking shows on TV on a purely technical level. The costumes, the sets, the seamless mixing of practical effects and CGI, the direction (including some typically amazing work from Miguel Sapochnik) and the acting are all what you come to expect from a show like Game of Thrones. In particular I thought that the way Sapochnik handled episode 3 "The Long Night" was astounding; to be able to watch an episode like that which is centered entirely around one battle and it not become boring or one-note in the slightest was a huge relief. But this blog is specifically about the ending and understanding why it was so unsatisfactory for so many people, so enough of the glowing praise for such a wonderful show that so many people spent so many years working tirelessly on - it's the negative stuff that we all want to hear, obviously.

But in all seriousness, how did such an amazing show end up crashing so hard at the final hurdle? Regardless of what you actually think about the ending, it is undeniable that it did not meet the expectations of fans in a satisfactory way. I actually think that the show had been setting itself up to fail right from the start. One of the things that is so wonderful about George R R Martin's source material is that it delights in subverting and demystifying the wonder and the myth of fantasy, showing us a much more murky, morally ambiguous, violent and uncensored version of the common tropes that we all know. Whereas Tolkein's Lord of the Rings (a very clear influence on Martin that he readily acknowledges) sets the sides of the conflict in very clear terms - the clean, good looking good guys and the dirty, ugly bad guys - and resolves the whole thing in a huge battle for ultimate victory, Martin paints a story in which things are never that simple. Good people do terrible things, and terrible people sometimes do good things. Battles are never staged as good guys against bad guys, they are between groups of people that you have spent time with on both sides, both of whose motivations you understand. War is portrayed as something that only causes suffering and death, not something through which the good guys can beat the bad guys in a morally unambiguous conflict for all that is good. People get hurt, and the consequences are felt. When characters make mistakes, they don't get let off through plot armor. There are stakes, and if you mess up, you face the consequences. All of this means that reading A Song Of Ice & Fire and watching the seasons that draw from it is an experience that is intensely involving. But what happens when you set up your show to be subversive to its core but need to wrap it up somehow? How do you provide a satisfying ending to a fantasy story that has been doing its hardest to spit in the face of common fantasy tropes?

Regardless of whether or not the TV ending we got is the same one that Martin has planned for his so-far unfinished books, it is an ending that for the most part indulges in a lot of the fantasy tropes it was trying to subvert. Unlike the morally ambiguous and complex battles we had seen up until very late in the show, chunks of season and all of season 8 seemed to have fallen back into the very clear-cut goodies vs baddies template, which is not what we had been promised. We had been promised an ending that would be surprising and subversive, not one that played largely into what everyone has come to expect from a fantasy epic.

That's not to say that the show didn't try. To suggest that the writers didn't swing for the fences is to be disingenuous and dishonest, because the evidence is clear. But one of the obvious attempts at this was the much-maligned character arc of Dany. I will again say that there will be heavy spoilers ahead for season 8 of Game of Thrones, so if you do not want important plot points spoiled for you stop reading now.

The clearest attempt the show made at subverting expectations in its final season was the decision to turn Dany into the main villain. By the time she sat astride Drogon atop the walls of King's Landing in victory, her lifelong goal of sitting on the Iron Throne withing touching distance, something snapped and she became the monster that her father had been before her, setting alight every man, woman and child. Unsurprisingly, it is a choice that divided fans right down the middle. Some claimed it was one of the best and boldest choices the show has made in years, and one that has been consistently foreshadowed as far back as season 1, while others insist that it is a complete betrayal of Dany's character and a tragic misstep and incompetency from the writers that is completely devoid of logical explanation. In fact, it's fitting that one of the most popular TV shows of all time had a penultimate episode that lit the internet alight in the way that it did, because it has been a show that has kept people talking for as long as it has been on the air. Season 5 drew criticism for some of its depictions of sexual violence, in particular in the ways that it deviated from the source material. Early seasons drew criticisms from critics for its use of what was termed "sexposition", by placing important scenes of exposition and character development amidst graphic nudity or sexual activity. But given that the finale episode is the lowest rated episode on IMDb by a long way (4.2 at the time of writing), the reaction to Dany's snap in "The Bells" is one that has left a lasting taste in the mouths of viewers.

To be honest, I don't think the show deserves the criticism it received to the extent that it did. But I do agree generally that Dany's decision to rain fire on the citizens of King's Landing came completely out of the blue and went totally against her character. On the one hand, the show had been building up her propensity for violence well. Her decision to execute the Tarlys by burning, her spectacular blitz of the Lannister forces as they travelled back to King's Landing with the Tyrell gold in season 7, her execution of Varys, and her sacking of Slaver's Bay towards the end of season 6 all added to the feeling that Dany was becoming more and more a ruler that was not afraid to use violence to achieve what she wanted. But I am also reminded of her insistence to lower all of the children that had been crucified along the road into Meereen. All along her journey she made it very clear that it was her desire to spare as many people as possible, and only bring violence to the people that directly deserved it in her eyes. Collateral damage was never an option, and this was the reason why she didn't just fly her dragons over to King's Landing and take it by force back in season 7 when she had every opportunity to do so. Having characters start to talk about this idea of every time a Targaryan is born the gods flip a coin and the world holds its breath within the final season is not sufficient foreshadowing to justify such a radical shift in character.

Granted, there was plenty of work done to establish the wedge that was beginning to appear between her and Jon. But too often I have heard people bring up those scenes as evidence for Dany turning into her father's daughter. By the time Dany decides to "let it be fear, then" at the end of a wonderfully written scene with Jon in the final season, I was just confused as to why the conversation was being forced to be about such scope when it was clearly meant to be an intimate conversation between two people that were beginning to grow apart almost as soon as they had been brought together. That was one of the most compelling parts of season 8 in the early episodes, but again, by the time we reached the pointy end that had been largely forgotten in favour of huge action set pieces and visual effect spectacles.

So at the end of episode 5 I was shaken, surprised, a bit disappointed but certainly not bored or as angered as a lot of people were.

Then there was the finale.

Let's start with all the glaring issues. Because this episode is an absolute mess.

• Apparently the Dothraki were completely wiped out by the army of the dead back in "The Long Night", but they seem to be absolutely fine and represented in large numbers at Dany's victory speech amidst the ruins of King's Landing. 
• The same thing can be said about the Unsullied. Didn't they all sacrifice themselves in "The Long Night"?
• In what sense is Bran a good choice to be King? Even on the logic of him having "the best story"? He spent most of the show either being carried around by braver people or hiding under a tree.
• Apparently dragons understand symbolism?
• In what way was the election of Bran a fair and even representation of the people? What's more, the Starks now have control over all of Westeros. In what universe would the other Lords allow that to slide? And no one else seems to care that the North has become its own kingdom - really??
• Why does anyone even pay Tyrion the slightest attention in the dragon pit?
• Dany's death scene just felt so anticlimactic. 
• Greyworm turned into an idiot overnight.
• Why don't the Dothraki tear Jon apart as soon as they hear that he has killed their Khaleesi? Did the writers just forget that they were her bloodriders?
• Why the hell is Bronn on the small council, let alone Master of Coin? Remember back in season 3 when Bronn said that he'd never borrowed money before because he wasn't clear on the rules? In what universe is he remotely a good candidate to be Master of Coin?

For the final episode to be riddled with so many glaring issues, and to be such an anticlimax to a show that I had invested so much time in was definitely a major disappointment. But like I said, maybe it was never going to be the amazing finish that we always dreamed it would be. When a show like Game of Thrones is of such a high standard for such a long time, and when it continually broadens its horizons with no signs of slowing down, it becomes increasingly unlikely that the showrunners will be able to stick the landing. After becoming such a massive pop culture icon and amassing so many fans over its time on TV, was it ever really possible to come up with an ending that would be universally praised?

Probably not.

But also, the reaction to season 8 is a massive indicator of the aggressive and entitled environment that writers and creators exist in today. When people become as attached to a show as they did to Game of Thrones they develop a sense of ownership. This leads to completely farcical notions like starting an online petition to get a season of TV remade because you didn't like it. In what universe is it ok for people to feel that entitled to something that many other vastly more talented and dedicated people put years and years of effort and dedication into? Unfortunately, the one we live in today. To be honest, it is insulting to the actors, directors, set designers, cinematographers, make-up artists, props department, and everyone else who tirelessly put in an eye-watering number of hours of effort to bring one of the greatest fantasy stories ever to life on screen. To quote one of my favourite comedians: "how quickly the world owes you something that you only knew existed ten seconds ago." Relax. It's just TV!

But anyway, I feel like this rant has gone on long enough and un-filtered enough. Regardless what you thought about the finale and the final season, Game of Thrones was such a treat for so long. And guess what? You can go back and rewatch all of your favourite episodes whenever you want to! Or even better, you could go and read the books!

Speaking of which, I am thinking about doing some stuff on George R R Martin's books, with The Winds of Winter hopefully coming out next year (how many times have we said that?) and plenty of reasons to go back and dive into the prophesy and lore of Martin's world now that the show has wrapped up and the final two books are (hopefully!) just around the corner. Keep an eye out for that, but in the meantime feel free to let me know what you thought of season 8 of Game of Thrones, I'd love to hear from you!