It's been a year since the controversial finale of HBO's beloved "Game of Thrones" series. What do you think now?
You know what I've discovered to be a fantastic conversation starter? The series finale of Game of Thrones, which made even the awful endings of How I Met Your Mother, Lost, and the lumberjack illogicality that was Dexter bearable to watch—combined!
Over the past year I've realized that, if I'm bumbling in an awkward conversation and mention my seething disgust for the GoT conclusion and the person responds, I have suddenly found a kindred spirit.
Because even after a full year, and repeated listens of Ramin Djawadi's "The Night King" and another binge of the show during this quarantine time, I still have the strongest urge to chuck my laptop out the window when I watch Bran mother-freaking Stark ascend the throne.
Even after a full year, the image below best summarizes most people's feelings on the show.
First hitting the HBO lineup in 2011, the fantasy series picked up steam after its main character, Eddard Stark, played by Sean Bean, was killed off in the first season, giving the show its unofficial catchphrase, "no one is safe." From there, millions eagerly watched it every Sunday night, biting nails over who would die or what Cersei would do next. For the most part, it succeeded in captivating audiences, its flaws only becoming apparent when, typically, the seasons began outlasting George R.R. Martin's books and the directors no longer had a source to draw ideas from.
But it was really only when the final season came out that things turned ugly.
I remember watching every new episode of Season 8 with my aunt. When the first episode, "Winterfell," aired, we had such high hopes for what was to come: the battle against the White Walkers, the overthrow of Cersei, and, most importantly, the person ascending the Iron Throne.
And then it all ended up being absolutely terrible (in my opinion). Here are a few reasons why it was so poor:
- After being built up as an end-of-the-world threat since the series' first 10 minutes, the White Walkers were a little too easily defeated.
- Nobody big died in the "The Long Night," with even director Miguel Sapochnik admitting he wanted to slaughter everyone (but the directors wanted to save such horror for "The Bells").
- Countless characters' arcs were destroyed for the sake of the directors hitting plot points.
- There were some gaping plot holes, too, like Rhaegal being shot down when Daenarys should have known about potential attacks from below.
- ... Yeah, so basically everything except Arya and the Hound's relationship, the culmination of Brienne's story, and Ramin Djawadi's soundtrack (at least someone didn't let us down).
Overall, the last few episodes were so gouge-my-eyes-out awful a petition started for HBO to remake the final season ... and almost two million people signed it! What does that say about this show? That, when the discussion for worst finales ever takes place, Game of Thrones, unfortunately, is at the top of the list.
One year later, it still remains as one of the most disappointing, soul-crushing series finale ever.
At least Ghost got his pets.
Has your opinion of the Game of Thrones finale changed over the past year? Are you still angry or happy with how it ended? Comment below!