So what did you all think of the GOT final season and finale?

[Bizhiins]

I?m looking for Game of Thrones fans here what did you all think of the final season and finale?
Personally I?ve been a huge fan of the episode since season three and have dedicated huge portions of my life to it. I love the show and the books so much that I was anxiously waiting for the final season.
I still loved the last few seasons too!
My main thoughts:
-Contrary to popular opinion, ?The long night? (3rd episode) was my absolute FAVORITE episode and loved how artistic it was.
-I do think they rushed the season and should have spread it out between more episodes (at least 12!)
-I think the most interesting plot point was that basically everyone in the show became everything that they tried not to be (Daenerys became a tyrannical ruler, Jamie ended up going basic to Cersei and dying for her crazy self, Tyrion risked everything for his family that he had fought to get away from, Arya chose not to fight, Missandei died in chains, Grey worm fought for a crazy ruler, Sansa basically became Cersei and did everything to protect her family, etc etc)
-I think they could have made the final episodes way more shocking than they were, especially for a show known for those moments.. I really didn?t expect such a ?heartwarming? ending
-So many things felt incomplete - I think they could have done a lot more with the white walkers
-I did still love watching the episodes, I love love love the show still and will keep watching all seasons over and over
-I kind of knew that having such high expectations would leave everyone disappointed (if you think this has a happy ending, you haven?t been paying attention!)

So what?s all your thoughts and feelings on it? I?ve only heard from my small circle of friends and popular Youtubers (who are mostly pissed!)

 

[2kimi2furious]

The first three episodes were amazing. I was literally yelling and dancing when Arya killed the Night King.

Then things got horrible. It seems like the writers really rushed through the season so they could be done with it instead of taking time to make the outcomes of everything make sense. Like, Dany being crazy at the end could have worked so much better if they hadn't spent 7 seasons making everyone love her and then out of the blue been like SEE, SHE DID THESE INCONSEQUENTIAL THINGS THAT ALL THE MALE CHARACTERS DID BUT SOMEHOW THAT POINTED OUT TO HER SECRETLY BEING CRAZY THE WHOLE TIME. Like, in the books, they do a better job of planting the seeds of her being a bad ruler and really only enjoying the conquering aspect of it, so I can see the books arriving at the same place with her character, but it seemed like it was rushed and came out of left field in the show.

Also, Bran being king. I think it is stupid, and I still wouldn't be thrilled with it if it happens in the books, but also in the books Bran has kept his personality. Even the previous Three Eyed Raven (or Three Eyed Crow as he's called in the books) has retained his personality. He didn't become some weirdo creep with no emotions. It really felt like the writers don't really understand the characters and were doing what they thought was cool instead of what made sense or was narratively satisfactory.

I also think they assassinated the characters of Arya and all the Lannisters. Even Gendry to an extent (WHY WOULD HE SUDDENLY BE A ROBERT BARATHEON FANBOY WHEN IN THE BOOKS HE HATES HIM AND DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HE'S HIS SON???). I just... It is infuriating how everything went down. The show really went off the rails when they got past book 5. There were some great episodes here and there, and even some great seasons, but the way the show was wrapped up really made me feel horrible about the series as a whole. Nobody learned anything, nobody grew, nothing changed. It's bad storytelling.

 

[UglyMonsterFace]

The first three episodes were amazing. I was literally yelling and dancing when Arya killed the Night King.

Then things got horrible. It seems like the writers really rushed through the season so they could be done with it instead of taking time to make the outcomes of everything make sense. Like, Dany being crazy at the end could have worked so much better if they hadn't spent 7 seasons making everyone love her and then out of the blue been like SEE, SHE DID THESE INCONSEQUENTIAL THINGS THAT ALL THE MALE CHARACTERS DID BUT SOMEHOW THAT POINTED OUT TO HER SECRETLY BEING CRAZY THE WHOLE TIME. Like, in the books, they do a better job of planting the seeds of her being a bad ruler and really only enjoying the conquering aspect of it, so I can see the books arriving at the same place with her character, but it seemed like it was rushed and came out of left field in the show.

Also, Bran being king. I think it is stupid, and I still wouldn't be thrilled with it if it happens in the books, but also in the books Bran has kept his personality. Even the previous Three Eyed Raven (or Three Eyed Crow as he's called in the books) has retained his personality. He didn't become some weirdo creep with no emotions. It really felt like the writers don't really understand the characters and were doing what they thought was cool instead of what made sense or was narratively satisfactory.

I also think they assassinated the characters of Arya and all the Lannisters. Even Gendry to an extent (WHY WOULD HE SUDDENLY BE A ROBERT BARATHEON FANBOY WHEN IN THE BOOKS HE HATES HIM AND DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HE'S HIS SON???). I just... It is infuriating how everything went down. The show really went off the rails when they got past book 5. There were some great episodes here and there, and even some great seasons, but the way the show was wrapped up really made me feel horrible about the series as a whole. Nobody learned anything, nobody grew, nothing changed. It's bad storytelling.

I pretty much agree with you on everything. I'm so annoyed that all the character growth for characters like Jamie was thrown out the window. I liked that Brienne was knighted but I feel like her story was hurt by making her Jamie's one night stand. I always liked their relationship because they obvs respected and admired one another but for her to get hurt like that and Jamie did that to her? Sorry but no.

Tyrion's character was absolutely ruined since he joined up with Dany but it's been worse with the final season. Putting women and children in the crypts with dead people knowing their enemy raises the dead? Trusting Cersei? Blind faith in Dany? Tattletaling on his oldest friend Varys? And then randomly suggesting Bran become king?

Cersei being... nothing. This whole season she was just staring out a window. She's the most conniving evil woman and she literally didn't have a better plan to deal with Dany other then use the people as a shield? I don't think Cersei is the type to cower and give up and have no plan!

I'm mad about a lot of things but I don't have enough time to write them all down lol. But for sure everything was rushed and the writers basically just flushed it all down the toilet since they just wanted to get it over with. They obviously don't respect the show they were creating since they were given 10 seasons and supposed to be 10 episodes for this final season but they decided that rushing it was the best choice. -_-

 

[SnakeEater]

It was leaked to the internet beforehand so I was prepared for it, but ultimately I was disappointed by this season and the last. It does a disservice to the brilliant seasons that came before it.

 

[Heyden]

I could go on all day about it, but in summary, very disappointed. In my opinion a show shouldn't rely on shock factor, but rather focus on plot points that actually make sense, even if they're predictable, and that's where they went wrong. Plus tied in with god awful writing which most people have heard a million times but, Bran becoming king (wHy Do YoU tHiNk I cAmE aLl ThIs WaY???), Bronn becoming lord of Highgarden (the most populated region in Westeros given to a nihilist with no governing experience, but the fans love him woo!) and Daenerys going mad in 1.5 episodes really set me off.
I'll rewatch the series in the future, and I'll always appreciate S1-S7 and the first half of S8, but 8x04-8x06, nah. Should've made more seasons but too bad the writers were too infatuated with moving onto Star Wars and making more money.

 

[succulents]

I was so, so very disappointed with what they did with this final season. I really loved the first two episodes, hell, I didn't read the leaks until the morning of episode 4. After that, everything immediately began spiraling downhill. By episode 6, I couldn't care less on how the series ended because of how bad the writing turned out to be. It felt like D&D had no passion left for the GoT series and were ready to move onto the next franchise, Star Wars. The characters were so bland and badly written it hurt me a lot to see them like that. Like, come on, more than half of Jon's dialogue was "She's mah queen." Also, was it just me or were the first two episodes a bit too fan service-y? Don't get me wrong, I loved seeing all of the reunions, but I think an entire episode dedicated to that was unnecessary and could have been used more wisely to expand on character development. (Daenerys) It was also a bit cruel to see the reunions of many characters only to be broken up the next episode. Jaime left Brienne for Cersei, Theon died before we could actually see any dialogue between him and Sansa, and Arya left Gendry because... she didn't want to be a lady? I could go on about all the things I didn't like (like Bran and the Night King), but I've decided to turn towards the asoiaf books and perhaps get a better ending than the tv series.

 

[pinkbunny]

I was SO disappointed with this last season, the ending especially. It's like the writers just threw all the character arcs right out the damn window. It honestly just didn't make any sense. There are also multiple facts that don't make sense. Bran stated before that he "didn't want to be the lord of anything" but then becomes king???? And the unsullied made jon snow go to the wall, but they ended up leaving anyway. Yeah idk, not impressed at all.
When Dany died I felt NO emotion, and she was one of my favourites. You know the writers messed up bad when you don't feel sad during a characters death.

 

[2kimi2furious]

Lol, I am glad I'm not the only one who felt this way. I'm finding solace in reading/writing fanfiction to fix everything. I shouldn't have to do it, but it is what it is.

 

[ams]

Oh god don't get me started. They needed about 5 more seasons of character development for any of it to have worked.

 

[G0DFlesh_88]

rushed to start the star wars gig

 

[LadyDestani]

I didn't hate the final season like a lot of people did. I actually enjoyed most of it. I liked the battle against the White Walkers, especially Lyanna Mormont's death (taking a giant with her) and Arya being the one to defeat the Night King. I did think that things ended too quickly, though. I didn't really believe that destroying the entire army was going to be as simple as killing the Night King, but I could live with that.

Then, the next to last episode disappointed me because Daenerys went crazy and burned down the whole city. I had loved her character up to that point and wanted to see her succeed. I wouldn't have minded so much if they had led up to it better, given more clues that she was going to break. I know she was harsh sometimes, but all leaders have to be occasionally and, like Tyrion said, she was hard on bad people so we cheered her on for it. Her purposely killing innocent people just felt like it came out of left field for me.

Then, there was the finale. Ok, so Daenerys did what she did and Tyrion and Jon are both obviously in shock. But only Tyrion had the guts to stand up to her. Jon needed to confront her about it, not in public because he wouldn't do that but in private. Instead, he goes about in denial, defending her to Tyrion. That also would have been fine if we had time for his feelings to play out, but we didn't. He goes from "she's my queen" to stabbing her in a matter of minutes. I agreed that he needed to do it, but his change of heart happened too quickly.

And then, we get Bran as the new king. That was probably the lowest point for me. I hated his character after he became the Three-Eyed Raven. He lost all personality. Tyrion's speech about how a king is the keeper of stories or whatever he said was just all BS. That's not what a ruler is. A ruler needs to be wise and charismatic and compassionate. I guess you could say Bran was wise because he had all the knowledge in the world, but he definitely wasn't the other two. He would have made a better advisor than a king. I honestly don't know who I wanted to rule after Daenerys's downfall, but definitely not Bran.

...And not Sansa either. I despised her character since season 1, but in the end she got everything she wanted. She kept the North separate and she's the Queen of the North. She's heartless and cold and I was hoping (although I doubted) that she'd meet a grisly end, but instead she ended up as well off as any of them and I don't think she deserved it.

The only main character whose ending I liked was Arya's. I know people were upset that she didn't stay with Gendry, but I'm glad she didn't. I wouldn't have minded if they had become traveling companions, but for her to settle down and become a lady would have absolutely ruined her character for me. I still wish that she had killed Cersei, but I kind of knew that wouldn't happen because they had already given her an epic moment killing the Night King.

I also would have liked to see Jaime kill Cersei in the end. I pictured him trying to convince her to give up and ring the bell, but of course she would never give up. So I expected him to realize that she would never change and be forced to kill her. If things had played out differently, I would have preferred that over what happened with Jon and Daenerys.

I was happy that Sam and Brienne got fitting roles at the end. But that's about it.

 

[Rosalind]

I didn't hate the final season, but it was definitely disappointing, mostly because of how rushed it was. If it ended the way it did but with more time for the characters to develop I probably would have enjoyed it a lot. I am especially sad about Cersei, she had nothing to do for the entire season.

 

[Romaki]

The choices they've made were understandable at best, but it was so badly written and paced within the last two seasons. I'm only digging at the second-to-last season because it should have been a stronger arc alondside the last season. But the last season was bore and overly dramatic, like shocking your audience and doing something unexpected shouldn't be your goal. Your goal should be proper writing of a dramatic story that knows no happy endings. With that in mind even the good parts failed.

 

[oath2order]

I'm so glad it's over and it sucked because I hate the show and to see it crash and burn is glorious.

 

[Bizhiins]

The first three episodes were amazing. I was literally yelling and dancing when Arya killed the Night King.

Then things got horrible. It seems like the writers really rushed through the season so they could be done with it instead of taking time to make the outcomes of everything make sense. Like, Dany being crazy at the end could have worked so much better if they hadn't spent 7 seasons making everyone love her and then out of the blue been like SEE, SHE DID THESE INCONSEQUENTIAL THINGS THAT ALL THE MALE CHARACTERS DID BUT SOMEHOW THAT POINTED OUT TO HER SECRETLY BEING CRAZY THE WHOLE TIME. Like, in the books, they do a better job of planting the seeds of her being a bad ruler and really only enjoying the conquering aspect of it, so I can see the books arriving at the same place with her character, but it seemed like it was rushed and came out of left field in the show.

Also, Bran being king. I think it is stupid, and I still wouldn't be thrilled with it if it happens in the books, but also in the books Bran has kept his personality. Even the previous Three Eyed Raven (or Three Eyed Crow as he's called in the books) has retained his personality. He didn't become some weirdo creep with no emotions. It really felt like the writers don't really understand the characters and were doing what they thought was cool instead of what made sense or was narratively satisfactory.

I also think they assassinated the characters of Arya and all the Lannisters. Even Gendry to an extent (WHY WOULD HE SUDDENLY BE A ROBERT BARATHEON FANBOY WHEN IN THE BOOKS HE HATES HIM AND DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HE'S HIS SON???). I just... It is infuriating how everything went down. The show really went off the rails when they got past book 5. There were some great episodes here and there, and even some great seasons, but the way the show was wrapped up really made me feel horrible about the series as a whole. Nobody learned anything, nobody grew, nothing changed. It's bad storytelling.

(Sorry for late reply) yeah I still just feel disappointed, I think that they could have just done way more with all of these important characters and it felt like it was going somewhere.. but then it just kinda wore away to nothing and didn’t shock me like I wanted it to. I felt it going on that direction after those first seasons but I wanted to believe they were building it up to something great! I just feel kinda empty now haha. I’ve been avoiding getting into any other tv shows now since then because I got so invested and don’t wanna waste my time and emotions again

- - - Post Merge - - -

I pretty much agree with you on everything. I'm so annoyed that all the character growth for characters like Jamie was thrown out the window. I liked that Brienne was knighted but I feel like her story was hurt by making her Jamie's one night stand. I always liked their relationship because they obvs respected and admired one another but for her to get hurt like that and Jamie did that to her? Sorry but no.

Tyrion's character was absolutely ruined since he joined up with Dany but it's been worse with the final season. Putting women and children in the crypts with dead people knowing their enemy raises the dead? Trusting Cersei? Blind faith in Dany? Tattletaling on his oldest friend Varys? And then randomly suggesting Bran become king?

Cersei being... nothing. This whole season she was just staring out a window. She's the most conniving evil woman and she literally didn't have a better plan to deal with Dany other then use the people as a shield? I don't think Cersei is the type to cower and give up and have no plan!

I'm mad about a lot of things but I don't have enough time to write them all down lol. But for sure everything was rushed and the writers basically just flushed it all down the toilet since they just wanted to get it over with. They obviously don't respect the show they were creating since they were given 10 seasons and supposed to be 10 episodes for this final season but they decided that rushing it was the best choice. -_-

Definitely agree! It could have been way more planned out if they just took their time.. it sucks that we have to live in a world where people will prioritize other things in their career and rush through certain things.. it felt so rushed. I heard they were offered to make at least twelve more episodes and they turned it down and said they wanted to do less. And yes the character development!! There was so much growth towards character development for all the characters that had actually lived through all the BS (and we all know how many main characters they had killed on the show) especially with Jamie/Cersei and Daenerys. This show should have had an ending that left me speechless in a good way! I’m glad to know others feel the same way because I thought my anger about it would fizzle away but honestly I’ve been getting more irritated about it lately thinking about all the time and emotions I invested into the show and how I don’t even want to rewatch it now because of the later seasons

- - - Post Merge - - -

I was so, so very disappointed with what they did with this final season. I really loved the first two episodes, hell, I didn't read the leaks until the morning of episode 4. After that, everything immediately began spiraling downhill. By episode 6, I couldn't care less on how the series ended because of how bad the writing turned out to be. It felt like D&D had no passion left for the GoT series and were ready to move onto the next franchise, Star Wars. The characters were so bland and badly written it hurt me a lot to see them like that. Like, come on, more than half of Jon's dialogue was "She's mah queen." Also, was it just me or were the first two episodes a bit too fan service-y? Don't get me wrong, I loved seeing all of the reunions, but I think an entire episode dedicated to that was unnecessary and could have been used more wisely to expand on character development. (Daenerys) It was also a bit cruel to see the reunions of many characters only to be broken up the next episode. Jaime left Brienne for Cersei, Theon died before we could actually see any dialogue between him and Sansa, and Arya left Gendry because... she didn't want to be a lady? I could go on about all the things I didn't like (like Bran and the Night King), but I've decided to turn towards the asoiaf books and perhaps get a better ending than the tv series.

Agreed, I?m definitely waiting to read the books and get something that will shock me. Most of the time I was like... really? This is it? Where is the crazy twist? It often took so many episodes to see intricate things woven together in the first seasons, and by the last they were making huge swaths of time and plot times crunched into a small episode that wasn?t really explaining why it was all happening. All of their directions seemed really out of character, and not in a way that was highly detailed and intricate, shocking or interesting.

 

[Bizhiins]

I didn't hate the final season like a lot of people did. I actually enjoyed most of it. I liked the battle against the White Walkers, especially Lyanna Mormont's death (taking a giant with her) and Arya being the one to defeat the Night King. I did think that things ended too quickly, though. I didn't really believe that destroying the entire army was going to be as simple as killing the Night King, but I could live with that.

Then, the next to last episode disappointed me because Daenerys went crazy and burned down the whole city. I had loved her character up to that point and wanted to see her succeed. I wouldn't have minded so much if they had led up to it better, given more clues that she was going to break. I know she was harsh sometimes, but all leaders have to be occasionally and, like Tyrion said, she was hard on bad people so we cheered her on for it. Her purposely killing innocent people just felt like it came out of left field for me.

Then, there was the finale. Ok, so Daenerys did what she did and Tyrion and Jon are both obviously in shock. But only Tyrion had the guts to stand up to her. Jon needed to confront her about it, not in public because he wouldn't do that but in private. Instead, he goes about in denial, defending her to Tyrion. That also would have been fine if we had time for his feelings to play out, but we didn't. He goes from "she's my queen" to stabbing her in a matter of minutes. I agreed that he needed to do it, but his change of heart happened too quickly.

And then, we get Bran as the new king. That was probably the lowest point for me. I hated his character after he became the Three-Eyed Raven. He lost all personality. Tyrion's speech about how a king is the keeper of stories or whatever he said was just all BS. That's not what a ruler is. A ruler needs to be wise and charismatic and compassionate. I guess you could say Bran was wise because he had all the knowledge in the world, but he definitely wasn't the other two. He would have made a better advisor than a king. I honestly don't know who I wanted to rule after Daenerys's downfall, but definitely not Bran.

...And not Sansa either. I despised her character since season 1, but in the end she got everything she wanted. She kept the North separate and she's the Queen of the North. She's heartless and cold and I was hoping (although I doubted) that she'd meet a grisly end, but instead she ended up as well off as any of them and I don't think she deserved it.

The only main character whose ending I liked was Arya's. I know people were upset that she didn't stay with Gendry, but I'm glad she didn't. I wouldn't have minded if they had become traveling companions, but for her to settle down and become a lady would have absolutely ruined her character for me. I still wish that she had killed Cersei, but I kind of knew that wouldn't happen because they had already given her an epic moment killing the Night King.

I also would have liked to see Jaime kill Cersei in the end. I pictured him trying to convince her to give up and ring the bell, but of course she would never give up. So I expected him to realize that she would never change and be forced to kill her. If things had played out differently, I would have preferred that over what happened with Jon and Daenerys.

I was happy that Sam and Brienne got fitting roles at the end. But that's about it.

Yes! Like I said there were things that I did like! I didn?t totally hate it, just some parts that I was really hopeful about that disappointed me.
I was a huge fan of Daenerys as well and I don?t think that her turn towards killing innocent people was well justified or explained enough. Maybe her character would have ended up there anyways, but I really don?t believe that and there just wasn?t enough detail in the episodes to even explain it because they were so rushed. She had such a strong character development that felt like it was just thrown away for a quick ending.
Jon should have had way more of a role and time at least explaining why he was choosing to be so stubborn, or shown changes in character or thought before he switched like that. Seriously, for characters that actually survived for so long, things like that shouldn?t be left out. Sometimes it feels like they did that just to make it easy and get it over with.
Also I never liked Sansa either, although I felt bad for her a lot and I hated seeing the things Ramsay and littlefinger did to her and her family, she didn?t feel like she showed much character growth at all and I didn?t feel as much support towards her as I did for Daenerys. And seriously, the whole birthright thing of Jon was so rushed, all it did was stop Jon and Daenerys from being a happy couple ruling together which ultimately led to Daenerys going crazy, but it felt like it wasn?t explained well enough to really make sense. My favorite character was Arya and the face-changing ability she had gained wasn?t even really used, she did kill the night king but after that she didn?t do much.
I felt like Jamie/Tyrion should have definitely ended up killing Cersei and it was not a good ending to make Jamie go back to her, after would have made a lot more sense after all the character development they had gone through and how shocking it was when Jamie left her.
I also was really sad that tormund didn?t get to be with Brienne after they made Jamie lead her on and then leave her like that.. but that?s probably more fan fiction- appealing writing

 

[Verecund]

I was pretty let down by the White Walker battle; they had been talked about ever since the beginning and I was expecting something huge, but it just ended with one battle that resulted in almost no deaths of the major characters. It just seemed too easy and not enough loss, although Arya killing the Night King was pretty cool.

And then Cersei's ending... she was my least favourite character for the last several seasons; she was so evil and cunning and she blew up the whole sept and killed so many innocents, and I was so excited for her to get what she deserved, but when Daenerys set the city on fire... Cersei didn't even have a plan; she just stood there and did nothing. I was hoping for a great showdown between the two of them, something where Cersei actually tried and would have a chance and was her horrible ruthless self, because to go down how she did just didn't match her character. Her death was too easy and not rewarding enough for my liking.

And Jaime, for him to finally leave Cersei, just when it seemed like he and Brienne could be together, he goes back to Cersei. Come on. He went from my least favourite character in the first couple of seasons to one I really liked, and for him to just crawl back to his sister and die with her... ugh.

Jon was sent back to the Night's Watch, which seems to have absolutely no point now. And for him to do people a favour by killing Daenerys (who I think should have had more buildup to her going crazy, because it seemed a little sudden for me) only to get himself banished is pretty sad. Too bad no one could convince the Unsullied, Yara, etc. that it was for the best.

The worst part of the season for me was Bran becoming king. I was never really attached to him, and in recent seasons I stopped caring about him at all and honestly I kind of wanted the Night King to kill him in that battle because he was so useless. As for Tyrion saying he had the best story out of any of them... what about Sansa, who was trapped in King's Landing, had Joffrey betray her by ordering her father's death right in front of her, was forced to marry Tyrion, was thought to have killed the king, escaped King's Landing, was almost killed by her aunt and then lied to cover up her murder, married Ramsay, escaped Winterfell, was responsible for getting the Eyrie's army to defeat Ramsay, and personally set the dogs on Ramsay to kill him? How about Arya (even though she likely wouldn't want it), who survived Harrenhal, became a Faceless Man, was turned blind, killed the girl who tormented her for ages, killed the entire Frey house to get revenge for her family, and killed the Night King? There are a lot of better characters with way better stories than Bran, who was so unimportant he wasn't even featured for an entire season and had zero personality to make him likable. He was just so useless and boring.

That being said, I think the season did have some good points, too. Sansa got a good ending, as did Arya (although poor Gendry). Tyrion, Brienne, and Sam seem well off as well. My favourite part of the finale was probably where Brienne filled in Jaime's pages in that book. But yeah, overall... I was pretty disappointed.