It brought movie-quality production values to the small screen, legitimized the fantasy genre on the awards circuit, and united the world in a shared cultural conversation. Some of that spectacle was really outstanding, and it’s one of the reasons why the series’ place in the TV canon will always be relatively high. Instead of being the slow-burn, cerebral tale of chasing power at any cost, Game of Thrones’ final season gave itself over entirely to spectacle, to the detriment of story. Though most fans would agree that how things ended up could have worked with more time, the extremely rushed plots and character developments (or more accurately, lack thereof regarding the latter) ultimately diminished the quality of the series. There was always going to be an immense amount of pressure surrounding Game of Thrones’ final season, but the choice that showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff made to only carve out six episodes to tell this epic, complicated series’ swan song was a mistake from the start. Dramatic highs: The battle against the Night King, Dany’s sacking of King’s Landing, the Queen in the North, that fireside singalong.ĭramatic lows: Dany suddenly going “crazy,” Cersei only drinking wine and looking out a window all season, lore and prophesy not mattering, a nonsensical finale, Jaime’s sudden turn back to King’s Landing, and a rushed announcement of Westeros’ new leader.
