REVIEW: ‘Game of Thrones’ final season

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!

After nearly ten years, 73 episodes, untold millions of dollars and an estimated 200,000 slayings, the award winning show Game of Thrones finally came to an end. Fans were finally able to see who would be crowned king or queen of the Iron Throne. The end of season 7 left fans at the edge of their seats when it was relieved that John Snow – known throughout the 7 seasons as Lord Ned Stark’s bastard –  was actually Aegon Targaryen, son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, the late Prince of Dragonstone. This meant he was the last true heir to Iron Throne. By the end of season 8 very few knew his real identity. After all of John’s triumphs and failures no one deserved the throne more than him.

Another issue with the final seasons was that it consisted of only six episodes unlike the ten episodes that were part of the prior second season. Obviously fans want more episodes to watch but the extra episodes were very necessary do to that fact that much of the information felt rushed and crammed together. This caused a great deal of confusion and frustration for fans. With a budget of 90 million dollars – 15 million per episode – the directors had a huge budget to to work with adding more detail and explanation.  

It was revealed at the end of the hour and a half finale that Brandon Stark was announced king. In the middle of the season Brandon became the three eyed raven which gave him the ability to perceive past, future, and current-but-distant events. Many viewers were confused by this decision to name Brandom King after Brandon said he could not be Lord of Winterfell, since he was the three eyed raven, but could be King.  

There were many aspects of the show that were hyped up only to have little to do with the final season. The White Walkers were essentially the main part of the show. Winter was coming for 7 seasons only to be killed off very quickly – even though it was a challenge. There was a whole season dedicated to Arya becoming a faceless man only to have very little to do with the show later on.

The one thing the writers did do well was killing Daenerys during the final episode. The end of the season Daenerys had followed in her father’s footsteps by turning the Mad Queen. Jon Snow killing her was not only shocking but the right way for her to go. Despite being in love with her Jon’s integrity shined true once again but doing what he knew in his heart was right for the people of the kingdom.

The final season definitely did not live up to fans expectations. There was a magnitude of  wasted opportunities, squandered goodwill and failed to do justice to its characters. While the finale was not what fans wanted it was true the series’ overall nature of not giving the fans what they want, but by giving them the unexpected.