Game of Thrones (TV, fantasy) Thread

[gmillerdrake]

....and that scene of Drogon nudging a dead Danys body to get her to ‘wake up’ was emotional. It’s odd how I felt so bad for a computer generated character. Kudos to the CGI crew on his character in this show. From him rescuing Dany in the fitting pits of Mereen to roasting the Lannister army....he truly was an awesome character and it’s bittersweet that he’s now free to roam yet if he’s capable of love...all he’s loved is gone.

I really liked that scene, but I could have done without the throne burning. I get the symbology of it, but odds are that dragon wouldn't have understood to any degree what that thing represented.

I’m glad the throne burned. That action right there gained me (4) pts in our office pool and I won 58 pts to 55. $140 

[gmillerdrake]

....and that scene of Drogon nudging a dead Danys body to get her to ‘wake up’ was emotional. It’s odd how I felt so bad for a computer generated character. Kudos to the CGI crew on his character in this show. From him rescuing Dany in the fitting pits of Mereen to roasting the Lannister army....he truly was an awesome character and it’s bittersweet that he’s now free to roam yet if he’s capable of love...all he’s loved is gone.

I really liked that scene, but I could have done without the throne burning. I get the symbology of it, but odds are that dragon wouldn't have understood to any degree what that thing represented.

But seriously, i doubt Drogon knew what he was doing. He was pissed and upset about Dany dying but also knew he couldn’t roast the Targaryen. So, he picked the only thing in the room and laid waste to it.

[cramx3]

It was a shiny object still standing after Drogon destroyed everything else and maybe was smart enough to understand some importance not only to the throne itself, but to why Dany died.  And maybe had it been anyone else besides Jon, Drogon would have taken his anger out on that person but Jon being a targ I guess saved him from that. 

Anyway with no more throne and a king who uses a wheel chair, this seems like it could be the next iteration:

[New World Rushman]

I didn't question Drogon's understanding of what the Iron Throne symbolized. In some fantasy worlds, dragons are depicted as highly intelligent beings. Some even with the ability to speak.

[Samsara]

I didn't question Drogon's understanding of what the Iron Throne symbolized. In some fantasy worlds, dragons are depicted as highly intelligent beings. Some even with the ability to speak.

Agreed. Drogon was extremely intelligent. He knew who Jon Snow was, obviously, and wouldn't attack him. It's not like its a pet dog. The dragon was loyal, but intelligent enough to know what was going on. Burning the throne was honestly very in-line with what I expected from Drogon. A symbolic outburst for the ages.

The complaints regarding the final episode are just that -- complaining. I get some of the logical reasons for some people not liking how things turned out. I didn't *like* that Bran became king, but it made perfect sense. I thought the ending with Jon was perfect too. He got what he truly wanted. As did Tyrion, as did Sansa and Arya. It wasn't in the *way* many of us probably envisioned, but we got there. I felt the whole season was one red herring after another, keeping in tradition with the show.

The only head-scratcher for me was Tyrion not being executed on the spot by Dany. I get they needed to delay it to make their story work, but given Dany's past executions, that was odd. But obviously we knew why a few minutes later....

[Elite]

I feel like after this finale a lot of stuff went unanswered and also quite a lot of "it" (being the entire story to some extent) either doesn't make sense or was just downright pointless.

[Pettor]

Oh my. Not even sure what to write really. I have been in love with GOT since it's start and got invested in the books etc. George RR Martin is an exceptional writer and the GOT books are some of the best fantasy I have read. The TV-series has been fantastic and is the first true fantastic fantasy on screen since LOTR for me. Just exceptional and in a completely other direction. Somehow they managed to put the exceptional writing of GRRM onto the screen. I don't care about GOT having unexpected turns, that is not why I love it. I love the world and how it's a type of fantasy I seldom see. One where politics exists but still giving it sparks using fantasy elements.

I am one of the people that thought the show has gone in a clearly worse direction ever since the book material couldn't be used as a direction for the show. Season 7 irritated the guts out of me and the show went to become a much more traditional fantasy series, not really in the vein of the GRRM books anymore. There just wasn't time for the world anymore and so we had to follow the heroes and a simpler path.

Season 8 has been hit and miss for me. Battle of Winterfell kinda shows how just fantastic the show can look but at the same time have highly frustrating writing. The Bells episode was actually more to my liking and just choosing to look at the episode in isolation I think the story worked well. Still the feeling that the show had about 20 characters to do something with and just revealed a plot twist of the magnitude that should be given several episodes just to digest wasn't the best foreshadowing for me. How could they ever sum it up with 1h and 20m.

This episode just didn't do anything right for me. I get that it's insanely hard to end this show and I really don't want to see it from the negative side, but I would be lying if I said anything was satisfying for me. If it wasn't for the fantastic visuals of the show anyone could easily have tricked me that this episode was from a fantasy b-series that tried to use the GOT hype to get viewers.

I thought the direction was completely off. It was feeling like amateur theater instead of anything Shakespearean like that GOT kinda got known for at it's high. I am not even that irritated about the story. I was getting used to illogical things and how the TV-series stopped giving a damn about the universe it was located in since some seasons ago.

It was goofy, quick and simple. And it really didn't need to be. The GOT world is dirty, hardly working and complex. End it with a small notion of progress within a world that's hardly gonna change anytime soon. I just can't stand all this goofy character jokes about suggesting democracy as the new ruling method. Or how the new rulers happily discussed brothels with the new goofy crew without even understanding who the hell they rule for (everyone outside is dead ...). There was nothing I actually believed in the episode.

They went for a LOTR ending without the hits and emotions that LOTR managed to deliver. There is nothing remarkable about the LOTR ending from a story point of view, and it's the ending of a book trilogy with much simpler ideas. But the LOTR ending has impact and a great way to end and say goodbye to the big journey. I always feel like I did witness the exhausting trilogy and can say a small goodbye to the world when it ends. I am sad I can't feel that with GOT. Not even having a character I like anymore at the end is such a pity. It was full of great casting and characters.

I am happy it's over since it just wasn't the same show. They didn't drag it out either, one could even argue the opposite. I just hope the books will end up with an ending that is good enough to make me get the same reward of reading the end of LOTR or any other great fantasy series. GRRM is exceptional writer and I believe he will do that.

Needed to write this of my mind and couldn't find anywhere else to put it. In Sweden we can't discuss it until tomorrow you see. I am not trying to let down the ones that liked it. Good for you and hope it stays that way!

[cramx3]

Why did the show runners say that the lights going out at the battle of winterfell was essentially the end of the dothraki yet one of the last shots of the show was them essentially taking over as the common folk of Kings Landing.  Like, that's fine, but why did they make it first look like they all died, the show runners said they were over, and then we saw them again before the attack on kings landing so we knew they werent all gone, but also they are now the residents of the capitol.  They clearly aren't over as a group of people.  Kind of interesting to think what King's Landing looks like in the future.

[Phoenix87x]

Why did the show runners say that the lights going out at the battle of winterfell was essentially the end of the dothraki yet one of the last shots of the show was them essentially taking over as the common folk of Kings Landing.  Like, that's fine, but why did they make it first look like they all died, the show runners said they were over, and then we saw them again before the attack on kings landing so we knew they werent all gone, but also they are now the residents of the capitol.  They clearly aren't over as a group of people.  Kind of interesting to think what King's Landing looks like in the future.

Yeah, I thought the same thing. It was like all of a sudden, she barely lost any. And wouldn't they just run wild after her death and start pillaging and plundering westeros? Are they really gonna listen to the Unsullied?

And I would have just waited for the Unsullied to sail away and the be like "hey jon, you are pardoned, come on back"

And when the council suggested the Unsullied take the Reach and start a house of their own. What? A house of one generation? They can't reproduce, lol.

[Elite]

How about Bran suggesting they need a master of whispers when he can see everything! What the hell

[cramx3]

How about Bran suggesting they need a master of whispers when he can see everything! What the hell

I couldn't tell if that was a joke 

Also, does anyone else think a lot of the open ended endings could have been done so there's open room for sequels following maybe someone's path specifically.  Such as a Jon in the North or Arya to the west type of show.  I know the prequel is in the works and HBO was apparently looking into other options before so maybe they also would consider doing a sequel type in some time?  Seems like a long shot, but also seems like the story unfolded to leave those possibilities. 

Also, just finished watching Talk the Thrones and they mentioned how after Drogon left with Dany's dead body, that was essentially the end.  I kind of agree and like it like that, all the rest is just some extra filler for us fans to feel like everyone else got a happy ending, but the true ending of the story is Jon killing Dany and the Iron Throne is melted so it is no more. 

[Phoenix87x]

I'm guessing she was hiding forces? She goes from this:




to this??

[The Walrus]

Something I totally forgot about after the first 10 minutes of the episode... the end of episode 5 showed the entire keep's basement crumbling around Cersei and Jaime, archways and all... HOW TF are the archways intact again in episode 6, with TONS of clear walking room for Tyrion!? Argh. Best not to even think about it at this point...

Phoenix, that's just a small entourage accompanying her to the (attempted) parlay with Cersei, not her full army. Although the numbers are baffling by episode 6.

[cramx3]

Yea, the number game doesnt add up, but that picture isn't fair either since it was just a small group going in for talks, not the whole army.  I think there was a shot of the armies in episode 5 outside the walls and they looked much bigger.

[Samsara]

I am one of the people that thought the show has gone in a clearly worse direction ever since the book material couldn't be used as a direction for the show.

I am with you on that. If I recall correctly, George R.R. Martin told the writers basically what he (at the time) envisioned the outcome (which probably has changed four or five times in his head by now, since he hasn't actually written it). So they (the writers) pretty much had artistic license to do what they wanted to get to that point. And unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as good without the level of detail Martin had provided with the books.

Great series overall, and I'm glad to have watched it. But I'm more looking forward to the final books, at some point before we all die, so we can see how George wanted things to go.

[MirrorMask]

Late at night here and I'll coment more tomorrow, very quick fresh off the episode judgement: it does not solve all the seasons' problems, but given where the story was, it was the best possible finale we could realistically get. Not perfect, but I am satisfied.

But right now, allow me some melodrama.

Tonight we saw the final episode of Game of Thrones.
It came to us in 2011, another fantasy show based on a books series not unknown, but neither famous as The Lord of the Rings was.
It grew into a worldwide phenomenon, with its first 4 seasons acclaimed and praised to no end.
From season 5 onwards, no longer following source material, some fans criticized the story and the writing, but the cinematography, the music, the efforts of the actors and everyone involved remained always stellar.
We shall never see the likes of this show again.

And now our watch has ended.

[CrimsonSunrise]

But right now, allow me some melodrama.

Tonight we saw the final episode of Game of Thrones.
It came to us in 2011, another fantasy show based on a books series not unknown, but neither famous as The Lord of the Rings was.
It grew into a worldwide phenomenon, with its first 4 seasons acclaimed and praised to no end.
From season 5 onwards, no longer following source material, some fans criticized the story and the writing, but the cinematography, the music, the efforts of the actors and everyone involved remained always stellar.
We shall never see the likes of this show again.

And now our watch has ended.

[cramx3]

And now our watch has ended.

Probably surpassed Lost as my all time favorite show.  A rushed ending is better than a shit ending, I don't think this season was garbage, it was just paced too fast so all the detailed plots we were used to were rushed and therefore at times didn't always make sense, but the story overall was good and the closer and ending was surprisingly happy from my perspective when we had a lot of terrible stuff happen during the show.  They managed to tie up enough of the story from the TV perspective pretty well.  All the extra stuff in the book, even stuff that the show may have hinted at, is well, just extra stuff left for GRRM to figure out.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

As a lurker of the thread these past few months and someone who's only crammed and binged the entire series for a similar length of time, and not one who's been around since the show's beginning, I'd like to ask: what do you all think of the immense backlash this finale seems to have garnered? I was surprised to see the reaction to it on this forum was much more positive than on other corners of the web.

[KevShmev]

As a lurker of the thread these past few months and someone who's only crammed and binged the entire series for a similar length of time, and not one who's been around since the show's beginning, I'd like to ask: what do you all think of the immense backlash this finale seems to have garnered? I was surprised to see the reaction to it on this forum was much more positive than on other corners of the web.

People love to complain.  The last scene was not perfect, and I think there are plenty of valid criticisms, but these cries of it being terrible/awful/etc. are just ridiculous.  It happens so much on the internet these days, where criticism catches on like wildfire and spirals out of control.

No offense to anyone, but if you (the general "you") are a fan of this show and weren't moved at all by the last five minutes last night, with that gorgeous score by Ramin Djawadi, I would have to ask what is the matter with you.

[faizoff]

MP chimed in as well on the finale and was taken aback as well by the intense backlash and low rating of the episode on IMDB. I am now waiting for the documentary next weekend and the eventual boxset. The show may have not ended on a high note with a flawless execution but I'm still happy with what we have.

[CrimsonSunrise]

People love to complain.  The last scene was not perfect, and I think there are plenty of valid criticisms, but these cries of it being terrible/awful/etc. are just ridiculous.  It happens so much on the internet these days, where criticism catches on like wildfire and spirals out of control.

No offense to anyone, but if you (the general "you") are a fan of this show and weren't moved at all by the last five minutes last night, with that gorgeous score by Ramin Djawadi, I would have to ask what is the matter with you.

Well said Kev...  Life is too frikken short to dwell on the negatives.  Or to micro dissect something that is entertaining and meant to be enjoyed.  Sometimes the internet is just ridiculous.

[RuRoRul]

Big finales always seem to be treated as exaggeratedly good or exaggeratedly bad. Probably even more so in today's pop culture ecosystem where the connectedness through the internet and social media pushes reception of things to be pretty binary: either something's amazing or utter shit.

Also I feel the damage was already done earlier in the series rather than the final episode. Both in terms of quality decline and storyline choices, and in terms of the momentum of the fanbase attitude. To be honest I don't see any way that finale alone could have won many people back over; it had to conclude the controversial plot that previous episodes had started on, and it had to put the final stamp on a saga so huge that the original creator has found it unfinishable. All that presenting it to an audience that has (largely) already turned on and lost its goodwill towards the show, with a waiting social media that knows that maximum "engagement" will likely come through memes catering to that audience. I'm not saying that quality or nature of the finale didn't matter, but with those variables it was just a question of how much it could limit the inevitable negativity rather than avoid it.

Plus, a story like Game Of Thrones with so many competing protagonists lacks the same obvious "end states" as some other stories. Series with a clear central character usually have an obvious question about the fate of that character, and the audience can usually guess which options are on the table for a series finale (OK, often it boils down to "do they die?"). Big fantasy series usually have a clear end result the protagonists are aiming for, and it's just about what it costs to get there. With Game Of Thrones, there were more possible end states (in simplistic terms). That means it's going to lose a lot more of the audience (or face an uphill battle) based on storyline choices alone, before even considering the execution. A finale where Daenerys becomes a somewhat villainous figure and is killed is always going to be controversial and divisive, even if it had the subtlest, most nuanced writing since GRRM last published a Winds of Winter sample chapter.

Personally I'd be more curious how someone who binged the series recently feels about the ending. Do you notice the huge difference or decline in the seasons that many online do? Does Season 8 seem obviously far below everything else in the show if you watch it all close together?

[KevShmev]

Personally I'd be more curious how someone who binged the series recently feels about the ending. Do you notice the huge difference or decline in the seasons that many online do? Does Season 8 seem obviously far below everything else in the show if you watch it all close together?

As a recent binger - I didn't start the series till last year, put it on hold for a bit, and then got back into it early this year, and caught up in time for the final season - it didn't feel to me like the drop-off was as severe as others do.  Sure, the first four seasons were the best, but 5-8 were all still really good, for the most part.  My interest never wavered.  I certainly agree that this last season would have been best had it been 10 episodes where certain things could have been fleshed out a bit more, but even though Bran got the crown, last night really felt like Sansa, Arya and Jon were the true winners, albeit in a bittersweet way, which is why they were the focus of the final segment.  All hail House Stark! 

[MirrorMask]

To be honest I don't see any way that finale alone could have won many people back over; it had to conclude the controversial plot that previous episodes had started on, and it had to put the final stamp on a saga so huge that the original creator has found it unfinishable.

Well, it won me back over. It was unrealistic to expect a complete 180° turn, but given where the story was, I think they ended in the best possible and realistic way, giving closure to many characters.

Some random thought:

- Wonderful scene of the aftermath of the carnage with Tyrion walking in King's Landing's ruins.

- Speaking of Tyrion, they finally redeemed his character by giving him awesome moments: his witnessing of the destruction, the finding of his siblings, him tossing away the Hand pin like a  boss, the wonderful speech to Jon, and of course proposing Bran for king.

- More on those two final points: the "Everywhere she went, she killed evil men and we cheered her for it" was awesome. With a more detailed, paced out, and nuanced story, it would have been a very poignant moment, to make us all reflect on which kind of character we were all rooting for all these years. Too bad it was made too simple, "she loses a dragon and Missandei in one episode, she sees the Red Keep and snaps for reasons, didn't you hear the voicover at the beginning with all that stuff about the coin flipped and the crazy Targaryen blah blah blah".

- I like the choice of Bran, in a simplicistic, "Well, what the hell do we have to lose anyway at this point" kind of way. Really, everyone died, the capital's destroyed, good luck finding a proper claimant to the throne, might as well start over and change the system - break the wheel as Dany wanted.

- Jon totally pulled a Ramsay on Dany, "Let me hug you so I can kill you". Roose Bolton sends his regards.

- Drogon calling for mommy.... AWWWWWW  "If mommy doesn't get the chair, no one will", good job in melting the Iron Throne and it was poetic that he flies away with mommy. Poor Dany, she didn't even place her butt on the throne, you're there, try it out at least once girl!

- LOL at the final council with the actors brought out just to play one more time a non talking Robin and a sadly talking Edmure.... Sansa shutting him up was funny  and random tanned dude in a golden robe just to prove that Dorne was still there somehow?

- Epic closure for the Stark siblings. The scenes of all of them meeting their final fates was glorious and as nice as it could get.

What to make of this finale? it was not perfect, for example it's unbelieavable that Jon wasn't dismembered on the spot after he killed Dany, and his Targaryen heritage meant nothing whatsover - he could have been just Ned Stark's bastard for real, and his story would have been exactly the same. The small council is made up of fan favorite characters who get a sitcom ending of "Well, life goes back to normal", maybe that was a bit too much on the nose. And I'm sure people can point out many other things that make no sense, and I'm equally sure I'll eventually agree with them.

Still, as RuRoRol said, it was one hell of a complex ending that they had to achieve, and overall I think they managed to do justice to the story. Many characters got closure and we have a sense of the main story ending. The incredibly rushed season could have not been saved by the finale, but it was a good finale, it made overall sense and as I said gave closure, and it leaves a nice taste in the mouth, it's no Dexter as a lumberjack, not at all. I'm satisfied with it and I can look forward to an eventual rewatch, after the heat of the delusion for some of the choices will have cooled down, knowing that the ending is nice and coherent and gives a sense of conclusion.


Oh, and what's "West of Westeros"? I decide that west of Westeros you find East of Middle Earth. Arya will eventually reach the lands east of Mordor and will make her way to Gondor and hang out with Aragorn and will eventually go around Middle Earth and visit the Hobbits in the Shire, AND NO ONE WILL EVER CONVINCE ME OF THE CONTRARY 

[Shooters1221]

Personally I'd be more curious how someone who binged the series recently feels about the ending. Do you notice the huge difference or decline in the seasons that many online do? Does Season 8 seem obviously far below everything else in the show if you watch it all close together?

As a recent binger - I didn't start the series till last year, put it on hold for a bit, and then got back into it early this year, and caught up in time for the final season - it didn't feel to me like the drop-off was as severe as others do.  Sure, the first four seasons were the best, but 5-8 were all still really good, for the most part.  My interest never wavered.  I certainly agree that this last season would have been best had it been 10 episodes where certain things could have been fleshed out a bit more, but even though Bran got the crown, last night really felt like Sansa, Arya and Jon were the true winners, albeit in a bittersweet way, which is why they were the focus of the final segment.  All hail House Stark! 

Pretty much nailed it for me too. I did not ever read any of the books, I watched from day1 but new I had some time off and recoup time coming up so I decided to go ahead and hit every ep. from start on March 29th and barely made it. It was strange seeing Ned again and Bran & Arya so so young just a few weeks ago and I really didn't realize how much of the entire show was laid out in season 1 alone.
Gosh, when your caught up in that world condensed in to a few weeks I really had withdrawal when Season 8 started and had to wait a week. I really did enjoy the final season and am still wanting more but knew it had to end. I wish they would have stretched it out a bit to add more details when buttoning some of the story lines up but no major complaints here.

[gmillerdrake]

[faizoff]

GRRM wrote a blog post offering his thoughts on the completion of the show (not the finale or season itself). He writes a bit about the remaining books as well, this is the relevant part.

And I’m writing.   Winter is coming, I told you, long ago… and so it is.   THE WINDS OF WINTER is very late, I know, I know, but it will be done.  I won’t say when, I’ve tried that before, only to burn you all and jinx myself… but I will finish it, and then will come A DREAM OF SPRING.

How will it all end? I hear people asking.   The same ending as the show?  Different?

Well… yes.  And no.  And yes.   And no.   And yes.   And no.   And yes.

I am working in a very different medium than David and Dan, never forget.   They had six hours for this final season.   I expect these last two books of mine will fill 3000 manuscript pages between them before I’m done… and if more pages and chapters and scenes are needed, I’ll add them.   And of course the butterfly effect will be at work as well; those of you who follow this Not A Blog will know that I’ve been talking about that since season one.   There are characters who never made it onto the screen at all, and others who died in the show but still live in the books… so if nothing else, the readers will learn what happened to Jeyne Poole, Lady Stoneheart, Penny and her pig, Skahaz Shavepate, Arianne Martell, Darkstar, Victarion Greyjoy, Ser Garlan the Gallant, Aegon VI, and a myriad of other characters both great and small that viewers of the show never had the chance to meet.   And yes, there will be unicorns… of a sort…

Book or show, which will be the “real” ending?   It’s a silly question.   How many children did Scarlett O’Hara have?

How about this?  I’ll write it.   You read it.  Then everyone can make up their own mind, and argue about it on the internet.

[MoraWintersoul]

They will quote "If you think this ends well, you haven't been paying attention", because apparently a throwaway delusional Ramsay quote is now the heart of this show.

Mora, I adore you and your passion, but this is where you lose me.  I think that Ned Stark, Catelyn Stark, Rob Stark and his wife Talisa and his army, Hodor, Oberyn Martel, Myrcella Baratheon, Khal Drogo, Yoren, Renly Baratheon, Jeor Mormont, Rickon Stark, Margaery Tyrell, among others, would take exception.  It's ALWAYS been the heart of the show.  There was never going to be a "happily ever after". 

It's also always been at the heart of the books and pretty much everything that GRRM has said about them.

And yeah I've also been loving your observations and insights Mora (whether I agree or not) but similarly there's the odd point that I just don't really understand.

Oh, I'm late for this discussion, but I just wanna say that I am fully aware that the books contain a lot of deaths and a lot of what you expect to happen won't happen, but that's because it grows organically out of the character choices. The showrunners and fans want to pretend people have disliked this because they want a happy ending - when in fact, the last season of the show contained a lot of unneccessary fan service. All the secondary characters that survived the Battle for Winterfell just so that they could sit on Bran's council, for starters. GRRM would have killed half of them off. Sansa shushing her uncle so the Starks can have a happy ending, when the last time the Starks ignored minor characters' wishes ended in the Red Wedding. Dany's army and dragon conveniently dropping off the face of the earth. Sam conveniently remaining on his post with his wife/GF and baby, instead of going back to the apparently not yet defunct Night's Watch. Tyrion being rewarded with his dream job after he ended his exceptionally bad council job for Dany by committing treason. Et cetera. There's loads of happy endings that don't make sense, so I don't think I am unreasonable in asking the show to have an overarching theme other than "well lol some people die when you don't want them to that's life I guess".

In fact, this kind of is my happy ending! I'm a Stark gal. The more Stark power, the better. I realized either Dany or Jon would die, because they can't both exist simultaneously. Wasn't holding out for full Targ restoration. I wanted Jon's Targ roots to be known and influence the story, but I never wanted him to be king. Bran as King is a compelling storyline. Always wanted to see Tyrion survive his siblings. The only thing I really wanted and didn't get was a neat resolution of the northern ice magic storyline. I should be perfectly happy with this but I am not.

And I would have just waited for the Unsullied to sail away and the be like "hey jon, you are pardoned, come on back"

To be fair, Jon being exiled works because in order for this elective king shit to work, you can't have the descendents of the lawful son of Rhaegar running around and making attempts to claim the throne for themselves. Then again, the situation at the end of the show will only last for about three months until Dorne secedes, Bronn sinks the treasury and goes off threatening whomever he wants to get whatever he wants and Daario hears news of Dany's death and sails to wage a vengeful war against all of Westeros

[cramx3]

To be honest I don't see any way that finale alone could have won many people back over; it had to conclude the controversial plot that previous episodes had started on, and it had to put the final stamp on a saga so huge that the original creator has found it unfinishable.

Well, it won me back over. It was unrealistic to expect a complete 180° turn, but given where the story was, I think they ended in the best possible and realistic way, giving closure to many characters.

I wouldn't say it "won me back over" but it definitely was satisfying for me even after my complaints this season.  Once I accepted this season was going to feel rushed, I enjoyed it much more and was able to really just enjoy and accept the ending.  I enjoyed the last 3 episodes of this seasons and thought it was a solid ending.  They could and probably should have given more time to make this extraordinary like this show was for a long time, but they didn't and so be it, but it was still enjoyable. 

[Nick]

How about this?  I’ll write it.   You read it.  Then everyone can make up their own mind, and argue about it on the internet.

[/quote]

That's fantastic.

[Samsara]

 

[gmillerdrake]

After a bit to reflect...I would say that I'm perfectly fine with everything that has happened in this final season....my only real hang up is that the 'rushing' through the story the past two season had an obvious effect on how well they told that story. All of the outcomes and the way it ended are perfectly acceptable and in line with how the story was unfolding...it's just that nagging emotion of 'what if' they'd had say 4-6 more episodes to allow those storylines to build and mature a bit more.

But, that being said....this is easily one of...if not 'the' top series that has been undertook thus far in television history. It was so well done for so long that for me at least....the issues I had/have with the final two seasons do nothing to diminish the credibility of the actors, writers, directors....all who were associated with it. What this show has given to me as far as entertainment and pure enjoyment far outweighs and exceeds any misgivings.

[faizoff]

I had the exact same thoughts this morning, I rewatched the final two scenes of the finale and they are the absolute perfect way to end it IMO. I'm very glad it ended on a 'uplifting' note for the Starks. The music in this season has been nothing short of phenomenal. I've been listening to the soundtrack on repeat since it was released yesterday.

I must've listened to the track The Night King a million times already since they released it right after the 'The Long Night' episode aired.

I'm going to do a full rewatch of the season soon and I have a feeling I will be very pleased with all of it apart from the 'rushing' aspect.

[cramx3]

I'd care more about GRRM's quote if I knew for a fact he would finish the books before he or I die.