Game of Thrones (HBO) TV Show • Page 483

Yep. A lot of people were ready to dislike this episode before it even aired.

 

I do not need another season. I definitely have fatigue. Just get it over and done with and give us a good conclusion.

 

It will be very interesting to see how things shake out after the finale ends. Some of these could go down even further if they don’t resolve it well, or they could be redeemed a bit if the payoff works.

 

I think "good conclusion" is directly impacted by shortened, rushed seasons though.

 

The answer wouldn't be too add another season though. They could have done a better job in the middle seasons of progressing story lines instead of having them meander along for 10 episodes.

 

They certainly rambled on for 18 pages.

 

Yeah it’s definitely gonna be interesting!

 

All the talk of episode rankings lately made me go look at Dexter on IMDB. It has mostly 8s and 9s until the last season, then it just takes a giant dive into the 7s and the finale has a 4.8. It’s pretty hysterical to see the general fan hatred in such a succinct little picture.

 

Generally, that's how I feel too. Like they have spent 6 or 7 seasons building up the characters and progressing their development only to try quickly zig-zagging back and forth right at the end to create unnecessary conflict and contradictions.

There are way too many examples to sort through, but the article posted earlier about The Night King's smirk and how it sort of undermined the bigger picture summed it up pretty well: the show has recently picked up a habit of sacrificing overarching themes or character developments in favor of short-term "exciting" or dramatic moments. I would say, in general, it's why the show still feels exciting in the moment but overall leaves me feeling underwhelmed and kind of confused on the direction (I still enjoy it but it's just not what I thought it would be after the first six seasons, I guess).

Like Sansa, for example, has been shown (from the beginning) to be smart enough to learn to play the game/survive as well as strong enough to endure all of the horrific shit that has happened to her. Yet in this episode it's like she accredited her longevity and strength to Littlefinger and Ramsay and what they did to her. It's stupid and not at all where that character has been heading. As if they gave it no long-term thought at all and just decided "Hey, that's something shocking for her to say in the moment. Let's do that".

 

FRONT and BACK!

 

I think the scene with Sansa is even worse than simply going for shock value. It seemed like a calculated middle finger to all the people who criticized that plot when it happened. It was trash.

 

It’s just rough any way you look at it. Just completely sloppy at BEST.

 

Did they ever explain why these last two seasons were shortened? I dont recall at the moment last season too well but i cant help but figure 2-3 additional episodes just to let it breathe would have been better, same with this season. These 81 minute episodes still dont feel nearly long enough for what theyre trying to get done in the time allotted.

 

RIP Starbucks cup

 

I really hope the rip I have has the cup in it. I wanna remember forever

 

I’m really hoping the books expand on what we’re getting (if we ever even get the books).

 

You could always get a tattoo

 

I hate that I half considered this (mostly cuz coffee rules)

 

I feel bad for all the people who aren't enjoying the show anymore but at the same time I was pretty much always 100% prepared for this to happen once the show blew up like it did. Of course there was going to be a mass backlash against the show as it concluded. It's one of the most popular, most talked about, most theorized-upon pieces of media in history. There are countless different theories/wishes/hopes/dreams/ships/etc. spread out across this fandom, and the show is only going to satisfy one fraction of them when it ends. And because of the time we live in, with Twitter and thinkpieces and weekly episode reviews and the like, most of the people whose personal wishlists for the series finale aren't met will turn on it at some point. It's inevitable.

Not saying anyone in here is doing that, but most of the general public watching this show probably doesn't think about it as critically as the people in here do. It just kind of is what it is, the people who are happy with how it ends/who can separate their own desires from what the show decides to do will be fine with it, but they're absolutely going to be the minority.

 

A few things to note as I've been absent.

How the fuck did that Starbucks really make it through editing?!

The way Rhaegal died was so stupid, like how could they not see those ships coming? I'd have preferred at least an epic battle in the next episode where he dies (or not at all, gotta love the dragons!).

Seeing Ghost with an ear missing was pretty heartbreaking and not even a pet well done from Jon before the potential final goodbye? Come on!

Overall my least favourite episode this season.

I really hope they don't go with the rumoured 'mad queen' storyline as that would be one epic fail in character growth.

 

Speaking of series finales, this is like the year of so many shows I enjoy ending all at once: Thrones, Broad City, Veep, Legion, Mr. Robot, Archer (supposedly), Arrow (getting a final shortened season). It's crazy.

 

It’s almost like this season has been entirely written and directed by men

 

I do think a lot of it will also come down to how “well” they do it regardless of which theories end up confirmed or dismissed. If they manage to tie up what threads they have into something coherent that is true to how most people see the characters, that will soothe a lot of people who are currently raging. That’s sort of the best any show can hope for at the end is being confident in its own storytelling and themes and hopefully the audience agrees to come along and see why it works.

This show is definitely on thin ice as far as a lot of that goes at the moment, which may make the fractures among fans even worse. I keep seeing a lot of sentiment of, “I was actually rooting for this ending and even I don’t understand the writing to get to it,” with big and small moments alike, and that is a very troubling sign.

It’s also interesting to compare it to Endgame, which comes from the very similar place of a pop culture juggernaut ending after a decade of work and even longer history from outside sources and yet has been mostly acclaimed and enjoyed by fans from all different interest levels.

 

I legitimately think that, even if these final two episodes were absolutely flawless in their execution and tied everything up in a way that makes complete narrative sense, the majority of people watching the show would dislike or outright hate it. It's going to be literally impossible please the majority of people at this point, purely from a narrative perspective.

I feel like Endgame is the only thing of this scale that has come out and managed to actually have an overwhelming majority of its fans actually love it and accept it regardless of what their personal theories/hopes were. It's pretty wild. But it's also very much the exception and not the rule.

I, of course, and am not one of those satisfied people however because I'm very much upset that they didn't go with the shrunken Ant-Man up Thanos' ass theory.

 

I don’t know that hatred by most fans has been an inevitability, just based on the fact that the vast majority seemed to be ok with the general changes the story has taken up until like maybe last week. As of right now I think they are absolutely headed to a trainwreck, but because of specific choices in the narrative as opposed to destiny from being super popular.