The Bittersweet Legacy of Game of Thrones

 by Nicholas Lemieux

What is dead may never die.

Somehow, as a side effect of the sheer distortion of time 2020 afflicted us with, we now rapidly approach it being 10 years since the premiere of Game of Thrones.

Being 8 years old at the time, I have no memory at all of the initial hype surrounding its premiere. I’m sure there must’ve been some hype considering the built-in fanbase it had from the novels but as the years went by and the critics continued to rave, it became increasingly harder to ignore how thoroughly Thrones dominated pop culture throughout the 2010s: cosplay, tattoos, MMORPGs, set visits by the Queen herself you name it. Throughout the entirety of its run Thrones sat comfortably upon the Iron Throne of must-see TV. And yet, as everyone has resorted to binge-watching again to fend off lockdown boredom, it’s become quite noticeable that barely anyone has expressed interest in revisiting Westeros again. Across the pandemic, we have witnessed numerous critically acclaimed shows such as Avatar: The Last Airbender or The Office receive a massive surge in popularity even though it has been years since they ended. So why is it that Thrones, a programme once highly regarded as the best TV could offer, has failed to elicit so much as a mention?

Well for starters, how’s about we discuss the big elephant in the room? And by big elephant in the room, I mean Season 8.

In the two years since its conclusion, it’s become common consensus that, for a show as popular and acclaimed as Thrones, Season 8 didn’t entirely stick the landing. Admittedly, there were some subsections in the fanbase that would insist that the decline began as early as Season 5, when the series started overtaking the books story-wise (in retrospect, the Sand Snakes should’ve rung huge alarm bells for what was to come). For most, however, as late as Season 7, the show was still firing on all cylinders in delivering phenomenal episodes packed with great writing and direction as well as ground-breaking visual effects, especially for just a TV show.  I still remember the weekend of April 26-28 2019 being especially hyped up as the weekend pop culture as a whole would peak: Avengers: Endgame was coming out on Friday and it would be shortly followed by the long-anticipated Battle of Winterfell on Sunday. What more could a fan want?

Well, Endgame came out and was considered by many to be a strong conclusion to the first 22 films of the MCU. Thrones, on the other hand, was anything but. Okay, it did amazing ratings-wise but critics and fans were more mixed. The promotion for the Battle of Winterfell did a great stop in stirring fans up in a frenzy. The showrunners made a big deal of the sheer effort put into this with 55 gruelling night shoots. It would be to Thrones what Helm’s Deep was for Lord of the Rings. But, when it came to the ultimate execution, something just felt off.

Whilst the production value and scale of the battle was phenomenal, how the events actually unfolded came across as a huge disappointment. The writing, particularly on the battle tactics and strategy for the conflict, was packed with baffling character decisions that made the heroes come across as idiots; for a show that prided itself on how not even the main characters were safe from death, there were numerous moments where it seemed ridiculous for certain characters to survive in the face of overwhelming odds; the bizarre lighting for the episode made it hard for anyone to even understand what was going on. Plus, there was the overall anti-climax of the White Walker conflict, when they were abruptly defeated with three episodes of the show still to go.

To many fans, THIS was supposed to be the big climactic battle for the series. Since the opening scenes of episode 1, the White Walkers were being built up as the ultimate threat for humanity. Each following season gave us more fascinating hints about their true nature as we got to learn more about their true powers and even get introduced to their intimidating leader, the Night King. And then Arya Stark comes out of nowhere and abruptly kills him which is enough to wipe out the entire species. 8 seasons of build-up and the White Walkers were completely annihilated barely three episodes after actually entering Westeros. It just begs the question, what was the point of them if this was the pay-off?  

Adding to the lack of catharsis present, the nosedives for some of the other characters became just as unbearable to watch unfold: Tyrion Lannister, once one of my favourite characters for his witty yet compelling dialogue, abruptly turned into a walking joke whose sole role was to make stupid decisions and jokes about his height. Jaime Lannister, who had gone through so much development across the show’s run as man, had his entire redemption arc thrown out the window over the course of one episode, making all those scenes emphasising how much he had changed utterly pointless.

Most controversial of all was the penultimate episode of the series which depicted Daenerys Targaryen’s descent into insanity as the Mad Queen. Conceptually, the idea of Daenerys becoming disillusioned with humanity and falling into her family’s old insane ways on account of the tragedy she has endured isn’t necessarily a bad writing choice. In fact, if given the proper build-up and writing, it could’ve actually functioned as a strong twist that holds true to the show’s bleak mythos. But for as long as the first half of Season 8, nothing in Daenerys’ character indicated the possibility that she, one of the most compassionate characters in the series who wanted freedom for all, would’ve ended up going through a complete 180 in her decision to condemn so many innocent civilians to death in a bloody massacre. The idea almost succeeds due to Emilia Clarke’s fantastic performance but her descent is portrayed so hastily across only two episodes that it feels rushed and unearned. The final season needed more than 6 episodes to wrap everything up and there’s nowhere that feels more prevalent for that than Daenerys’ character assassination.

For a show that received heaps of praise for how it transgressed the boundaries of traditional television storytelling, the final episode of Thrones feels bland and unremarkable with little in the way of catharsis. I guess it’s neat, the final shot of the series, where Jon Snow travels beyond the Wall, directly mirroring the very first shot of the series, but then to remember how he got there, due to some banishment out of nowhere, just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Even a considerable number of the cast members were clearly disgruntled by the manner in which Thrones ended. My highlights include Kit Harington abruptly summing up the final episode as “disappointing” before hastily changing his statement, Emilia Clarke awkwardly professing the final season to be the “best season ever!!!” and Peter Dinklage heaping the highest of praises upon the writing for the finale in a deadpan tone as if he were being held at gunpoint.

Since then, discussion of Thrones has mostly disintegrated into bitterness of what could have been. Although there probably are still some diehard fans out there, Thrones has rapidly died out from discussion in the mainstream, apart from when people rag on Season 8 The showrunners, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, have spent the last two years practically in hiding now that the entire Internet has turned against them. Of course, there’s always the possibility that George R.R. Martin will actually finish the book series he started but it’s also been 10 years since the last book. There are still apparently two more books to go and, if even a global pandemic hasn’t given him the time to finish Book 6, then nothing will.

To me, Game of Thrones is the definition of the journey being better than the destination. The first four seasons, in particular, are still outstanding and remain some of the best of what TV has to offer. Hell, even in spite of all that happens later, the final two episodes of Season 6 still rank among some of my favourite episodes in all TV. But to learn how all those great characters and writing and fight sequences were building up to a conclusion as disappointing as Season 8 disaffects you from the show as a whole and makes re-watching earlier seasons harsher in light of the sheer wasted potential. Maybe in 30 years or so someone will revisit Westeros and give it the consistently strong story it deserves. But in the meantime, I’ll just go back to my Lord of the Rings DVDs to get my fantasy fill.