Despite Its Poor Culmination, 'Game of Thrones' Was a Groundbreaking TV Series Overall

When Game of Thrones was already six seasons in, I wasn’t watching it yet.  Still, considering it’s arguably the biggest TV show this decade, it was impossible not to get wind of what was going on with it through the years.  Game of Thrones was everywhere in the Internet.  Thus, even though I wasn’t watching it, I became familiar of its major characters and biggest happenings.

But while its sixth season was ongoing, someone gave me A Game of Thrones – the first novel in A Song of Ice and Fire, the fantasy book series on which the show was based from – as a birthday present.  Of course, I had to read it.  And since I already got and read the first book, I was compelled to buy and read the rest of the ASoIaF series.  And since I was already reading the book series, I just had to start watching the show as well.  That’s just how compulsive completionist geekery works.

So, I did jump into it.  And I had the unique experience of experiencing this franchise for the first time through reading A Song of Ice and Fire (the five available novels so far) and watching Game of Throne (the six seasons at that point) side by side, shifting between chapters and episodes.  A couple of weeks later, I got caught up with where the story and fandom were at that point.

Because I got to basically experience the books and show simultaneously, I felt that I got to closely compare them.  And the conclusion I arrived at?  The show was superior – and I still think so up to now, until George R.R. Martin proves otherwise with The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring (when he gets around to finishing them, whenever that will be).  Game of Thrones didn’t always get it right (it definitely did a discredit to Loras Tyrell), but most of the time, it  did a brilliant job in picking what parts from the books were worth adapting and then in realizing these on screen magnificently.  During the junction where the books and the show were heading toward their separate ways with the plot, it seemed to me that the latter had the more intriguing vision and tighter storytelling as a whole.  On the other hand, I honestly thought A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons were messily convoluted at parts, and they made me feel that the ASoIaF series was starting to fall a little bit under the weight of all the complexities it had set for itself.

Unfortunately, after seven great seasons, Game of Thrones couldn’t deliver an emphatic finale.  Very few fans were satisfied with it.  The eighth and final season really felt off when compared to the rest of the series.  Now, the first two episodes were actually pretty good.  The third one had the stupidest battle plan ever, but it was still a mostly okay episode.  However, the cracks were showing at that time.  And then, everything just went downhill from there.  The last three episodes were shockingly badly-written.

Season 8 definitely suffered from being a shortened one.  It felt rushed, especially those final four episodes.  It felt like the narrative was cramming a lot of things into itself, while at the same time, it was progressing at a rapid pace in which nothing was marinating and making sense properly.  Now, the seventh season also had a shortened season.  However, although it was uncharacteristically fast-paced, it didn’t feel rushed in the same sense.  It just felt, well, uncharacteristically fast-paced.  A second viewing may expose the flaws in the seventh season’s writing, but at that time, they weren’t apparent – or, if they were, they weren’t worth making a big deal out of – since the burden of giving the show a proper resolution didn’t hang on its head.

Nevertheless, I think Game of Thrones would have had a better tail end if it had more episodes for both seasons 7 and 8.  That way, the storylines would have had more room to gel and be fleshed out thoroughly, and thus, the controversial choices that were made down the stretch would have been sold much better to the audience.

Of course, I had some preferences with how things should have ended.  But I have no problem with most of the decisions done on the story.  The problem, really, was on the execution, which was sloppy, unearned, and unappealing.  It was as if things happened just because.  I have no problem with Daenerys becoming unhinged and murderous, but the problem lies on the unpersuasive execution leading toward it.

As a result of poor execution, which stemmed from the combination of bad writing and the lack of adequate number of episodes to work with, many of the character arcs and key events in season 8 – Jaime returning to Cersei; Tyrion and Varys, two of the smartest and most cunning characters in the show, mysteriously forgetting how to be smart and cunning; Bran becoming king; etc. – felt utterly BS.

Especially Bran becoming king.   It was so random.  There was no sensible build up to it whatsoever.  Surely, nobody was satisfied with Bran becoming king.  In addition, Tyrion arguing that Bran was the best choice for king because he had the “best story” was dumb.  What does that even mean?  Sure, Bran is nigh omniscient, and thus, with every relevant information available to him when making a decision, he can potentially bring about the best outcome for the realm at all times.  On the other hand, he also seemingly lacks empathy.  Thus, the “best outcome” to him may be what’s efficient and practical, and as a result, his decisions will be solely reliant on that cold outlook, and will have no room for considerations based on compassion or charity.  He’s basically Dr. Manhattan.  And such character becoming a ruler is bad news.  Bran is much better off as an adviser to a monarch, instead of the monarch whose words are absolute on the land.

Another symptom of the bad writing was the lingering sense that several plot threads were not tied neatly.  Not only that, but there were definitely plot points that were forgotten about.  It was, like, after years of building up the narrative in a way that progressively increased the engrossment and anticipation of the audience as a result, the writers had no idea how to wrap it all up properly – as if the story became too big for them to handle.  Thus, they failed to integrate into the final season appropriate payoffs for the intriguing plot elements they introduced in the past.  For example, in one of the show’s greatest twists, it was revealed in season 6 that Bran can not only see the past, but also affect it.  Surely, such game-changing introduction would play a major part in the future of the story.  But, nah.  Apparently, that was it.  The only thing that came out of it was Hodor’s origin.   (Heck, the writers didn’t even have the decency to finally tell Tyrion’s anecdote about the jackass and the honeycomb he brought to a brothel at its full.)

And what was the whole point of resurrecting Jon Snow and then revealing that he was Aegon Targaryen?  Did anything rewarding about his arc came out from those big twists?  I don’t think so.  Now, I wasn’t really been a big Jon Snow fan.  In my opinion, among the main characters, he had the least impressive arc and characterization.  Still, he had been arguably front and center of the narrative, so I wish the writers handled the character in a better manner.  I wish his arc had had a fantastic resolution.  I have no problem with him not ending up on the Iron Throne, or with his exile Beyond the Wall – this was actually a spot-on development for the character.  Nevertheless, I think it would have been better if it wasn’t the others who decided his fate, but rather, he was the one who actively chose where he would end up.

Here’s my fantasy scenario for Jon Snow or something similar to this: after getting locked up by the Unsullied for killing Daenerys, he is soon busted out of his prison by Drogon – to the Unsullied’s great astonishment.  Meanwhile, most of the Seven Kingdoms – due to the efforts of Sansa and Tyrion (assuming he was able to work inside his cell or he managed to escape prior to it), who reveal Jon’s true ancestry to everyone – rally behind Jon.  With a superweapon (i.e. Drogon) and the Seven Kingdoms on the side of Jon Snow, the Unsullied are left with no choice but to sue for peace.  The lords of the Seven Kingdoms insist that Jon becomes king, but he firmly refuses.  He proposes that the old ways be abolished, and that the lords instead discuss among themselves and then choose a leader who will serve for a specific period of time, and at the end of that period of time, he can either continue being the leader or be replaced, depending on the decision of the lords – essentially laying down the groundwork for the democratic process in Westeros.  Jon can even agree to becoming that first leader, but only if his term won’t be extended.  Afterward – either after he convinces the lords during that initial dialogue or after he served his term – he then heads out to the far north, and retire there with Ghost and the free folk.

I was also disappointed with how Tyrion Lannister, my most favorite character, was handled in the show’s last leg.  My most preferred scenario for this character was for him to end up on the Iron Throne (which I still hope will happen in the books).  At the very least, being arguably the smartest character in the show, the script should have given him a moment or two where he thought out or planned something notably smart (convincing everyone to make Bran king was the opposite of this) during these closing episodes.  Unfortunately, Tyrion came off as unimpressive or a non-factor – or even dumb – in the final season.

Nevertheless, even though its ending was a massive let-down, Game of Thrones should still be remembered as a revolutionary TV series.  It was unprecedented in so many levels.  Nothing like it had ever come out of TV before.  In due course, many new TV series that followed gave the impression that they were trying to be the next Game of Thrones.

Its impact was evident from the immense, widespread popularity it got; it’s probably the biggest IP in the 21^st century next to the MCU.  It is a pop culture institution.

In fact, in a way, the considerable frustration for the quality of its final season is simply a testament to how tremendous the benchmark quality the show had set for itself.  At its peak, the script, character development, and storytelling were sublime.  Moreover, even when the writing became bad, the other technical aspects never did.  Production value was constantly high, and – other than the occasional Starbucks cup left on set – attention to detail was solid.  This TV series met the best of cinematic standards most of the time.  The production design remained superb until the end.  So did the cinematography and the acting – especially this!  Truly, this show had some of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen on both big and small screen (most especially from Peter Dinklage).

All things considered, Game of Thrones was an amazing show that completely changed the TV landscape forever.