When I previewed season 8 of “Game of Thrones,” I wrote about the sense of dread that many fans had over the final season of the sprawling fantasy show. The previous season left many fans feeling frustrated that key plot points were rushed, and characters made foolish decisions just to reach certain plot points. With one fewer episode in the final season, fans feared their favorite characters and plot threads would get similar treatment.
Given that more than a million fans have signed a petition to “Remake Game of Thrones Season 8 with Competent Writers,” it’s safe to say many of those worst fears have been realized.
Much of the frustration with the final season was due to the dramatic heel-turn of Daenerys Targaryen in episode five, which has been covered in excellent depth by this publication. But this unearned 180 from Daenerys has not been the only character taken down by a mixture of sloppy writing and sloppy logic all in service to getting to certain plot points.
Take Jamie Lannister. During the show’s run he has gone from the most hated man in Westeros, after pushing Bran out of a tower window in season one episode one, to one of the most beloved. His scene with Brienne where he reveals that he saved the million residents of King’s Landing by killing the Mad King is one of the show’s highlights and truly a turning point for his character. After abandoning Cersei, defending the realm from the White Walkers, and finally consummating his love with Brienne, it looked like his character transformation from selfish Lannister to noble knight had been complete.
But then abruptly he decides to head back to Cersei, claiming he “never cared for the people of King’s Landing, innocent or not.” This is a direct refutation of almost all of the character’s words and deeds up to this point. Not only is this a betrayal of his character but a betrayal to the fans who have spent their time learning to love his character.
The same could be said of the decision to have Bran be king of the now-Six Kingdoms. While Bran seemed like an unlikely ruler, his choice certainly seemed like a “breaking of the wheel” that Daenerys and the show was hinting at. The larger issue is there is little reason why Tyrion should think Bran would be the best choice. For a show that has prized itself on excellent dialogue between characters, most of their conversations happen off screen, leaving fans in the dark and blindsided by Tyrion’s choice.
Many have been rightly critical of showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss for opting for the shorter seasons, even though HBO offered the pair the funds to do the traditional 10-episode seasons. Their decline of this offer doesn’t seem to be made in service to the story, but rather a desire to finish the series so they could move on to other projects, such as directing the next Star Wars films.
It seems the showrunners underestimated their own fans when it came to reasons why they loved “Game of Thrones” in the first place. It wasn’t for the excellent battles and action scenes, though the final season certainly did deliver some of the most spectacular visuals ever to grace television, but for the time and care given to the excellent characters created by George R.R. Martin.
While the series has wrapped up most of the major questions fans had (Arya killing the Night King and Sansa being queen of the North) many fans still feel empty that the characters they had grown to love over a decade of television didn’t get time for the proper send-off they deserved.
For a long time, it seemed the definitive version of this story would be the television show, not the books. But as many fans were left feeling unsatisfied with the ending of the show, it looks like the books may once again hold that distinction — if George R.R. Martin ever finishes them.
Buy hey, at least Bronn got his castle.
Eric Peterson is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is a native of Illinois and an all-around nerd. His love of film probably comes from the fact that “Groundhog Day” was filmed in his hometown, which he heard about over and over and over again.
