Season 8 of HBO’s Game of Thrones might be the most hated and execrated season of television by fans around the world. How did one of the most beloved shows suddenly become one of the most hated? Did the writing actually disappoint to that extreme? The simple answer: People have nothing better to do, and no it didn’t.
Let’s look at what we know about Game of Thrones. Season 1, they beheaded their main character. Season 3 they killed off the primary members of the Stark family plus Robb’s baby. Season 4, to everyone’s delight Joffrey is murdered. Season 5, I don’t even want to talk about this season. This was truly the worst of any season, the obnoxiousness of the High Sparrow, killing Jon Snow only to bring him back? Ridiculous. Season 6 was by far the peak of the show, the satisfying explosion of the High Sparrow and his cult-leading to the shocking suicide of Tommen.
Game of Thrones doesn’t hesitate to write what people don’t want, that uncertainty has been what attracts people to the show. Figure A1 above, a meme after Episode 5 premiered, is incorrect. The character development from the first seven seasons actually led Daenerys to become the Mad Queen. “A Targaryen alone in the world is a terrible thing,” “When a Targaryen is born the gods flip a coin,” Daenerys even says “I will take what is mine with blood and fire.”
There is a cut to a close-up shot of Daenerys in episode 4, when Tormund refers to a ‘Madman’ in the line: “Who would climb on the back of a fucking dragon: A madman or a king?” that defines her insanity (18:11 Ep. 4 Season 8). Game of Thrones is full of ambiguous quotes and meanings it is hard to predict but no one should have been surprised when Dany turned King’s Landing into a pile of burning rubble.
Fans of the hit series aren’t upset with the ending of the show, instead, they are upset with how the writers got there. The writing made little effort to impress audiences as it had in earlier seasons. There were no moments that left viewers speechless, unable to describe what they had just seen, like the epic cinematography of the battle of the bastards or the incredible effects as The Night King burned down The Wall. Season 8 was good, but it failed to live up to the hype and expectations set after a year and a half of filming and the unpredictable writing we had seen in previous seasons.
Season 8 did everything well, but it was missing the turmoil and brutality between characters the rest of the show had to make it great. The show depicted the internal struggle between right and wrong but failed to portray how that moral ambiguity made itself physical, distinguishing the line between right and wrong. For example, when Cersei is about to explode the High Septon, she sends The Mountain to ensure Tommen cannot get to the trial. However, as Daenerys starts to burn down King’s Landing she has no notion of protecting her army, the Northmen, or Snow; she simply annihilates anything that moves. Often our actions to protect the ones we care about from the bad decisions we knowingly make have more importance than the actions itself. Cersei leaving Tommen to watch Margery burn in the High Septon led to him jumping out the Red Keep’s window.
Grant's Entertainment Review 