It’s officially done. After several years of drama, betrayals, victories and defeat, Game of Thrones has finally come to an end. Easily becoming history’s biggest TV series over its 10 years, Game of Thrones is known for its ability to exceed all expectations – deeply investing in its characters, lore and drama. So in the months, weeks and days leading up to Season 8, we were all ready for the war between the living and the dead, the final showdown between queens of dragons and lions – and, most importantly, how each of the show’s big characters would close out their stakes in the game. Once again, our expectations were challenged with every week’s instalment this season, but not always in the way we’d hoped or would have liked. While its strength has always been in its ability to surprise and shock its audience, this approach during its final season may just have been its biggest weakness.
Warning: While we don’t delve deep into plot details, we will be discussing certain characters and high level developments. If you’re looking to go into the season completely unaware, make sure you watch it first before reading on.
We were all a bit cautious long before the first episode of Season 8 had aired, when it was announced that the whole saga would be wrapped up in just 6 episodes. Of course, the show is no stranger in using their time effectively – often creating some of the most memorable scenes through a single, tightly woven sixty-minute episode. Yet the final season of Game of Thrones somehow manages to make it feel as if 6 episodes was too many at some points, and hardly enough at others. At least half of the instalments feel like drawn out monologues and build up for the bigger moments, which would have been fine if the bigger moments didn’t come and go as quickly as they did.
These slower episodes allow the immensely talented cast to continue providing great turns as their respective characters, often displaying raw emotion and strong performances even in the most subtle scenes. Some of the more complex moments are simply where two characters share a moment, line or even a glance across a room – somehow managing to convey years of character development and plot building. A moment with Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) during the final scene of episode one shows us just how far his character has come since his arrival at Winterfell in Season 1. Another between Arya (Maisie Williams) and the Hound (Rory McCann) later in this season is a fantastic nod to both of their progress across the entire series.
While these moments are great and rewarding for long time fans, there is just a significant amount of long, drawn-out scenes of dialogue and ground-setting for much of Season 8’s runtime. Often amounting to very little actual development of the plot and some very minor character moments, it feels as if these moments were shot solely as a way of putting all the cast around the campfire for one last hurrah. While it’s great to have these scenes to reflect on each of our favourites before the big battles, majority of these moments lead to almost nothing in the wider scheme of things – and leave us feeling as if the limited time could have been spent better focused somewhere else. The Night King and his army could have easily got a bit more backstory in these episodes, something to get people actually invested in what his goals and motivations were. Even some more time with Cersei (Lena Heady) would have been great, given she was criminally underused all the way through this season. There were also a lot of screentime given to the dragons in the first half of the season, generally just feeling like a waste of time and budget with how little real impact they brought during their scenes. Again, some strong character moments here save things from slipping too far downhill – Brienne (Gwendoline Christie), Sam (John Bradley) and Sansa (Sophie Turner) having some particularly standout scenes. The real big events however, are saved for the Season’s huge showdowns and set-pieces.
As promised, winter finally came this season in the form of the Night King and his army. From Game of Thrones‘ opening scene several years ago, the threat beyond the wall has always been coming for the living – and the showdown finally came in the middle of Season 8. Shot over multiple months under the cover of night, the fight was easily the biggest choreographed fight scene in TV history. Despite being hidden in a cloud of darkness for its runtime, the war between the living and the dead was shot excellently – full of effects generally reserved for the biggest of cinema blockbusters. Almost every character in the series gets a piece of the action here, with Ser Jorah (Ian Glen) and Theon (Alfie Allen) given some real payoff moments for those who have followed them from the start. In true Game of Thrones fashion, the fight doesn’t play out as we’d expect – with its conclusion leaving us with some mixed feelings on how the great saga of the Night King was dealt with this season. Despite this, the fight was still an absolute marvel to experience – peppered with tense moments, epic encounters and some memorable departures. It’s also the point in which this season began to tilt slightly, bending under the weight of the plot it still had to cover in what little time was remaining.
Being the final episodes of Game of Thrones, we were always going to get some sort of conclusion on the titular game that has been played across the last 10 years. This is where Jon (Kit Harrington) and Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) take centre stage, following from the revelation that came about at the end of Season 7. Unfortunately it’s here that the cracks start to show, as the writers aim to deliver significant plot beats in a very short space of time. In hindsight, the story that plays out between the two (and those around them) sounds great on paper. Its got as much character and world development than any of the past seasons, however it’s just rushed through far too quickly to have the right impact. For a series that built itself on a deep attention to detail and complex narratives, the blazing ride to the end felt particularly jarring. This is most noticeable in the penultimate and final episodes, where the loose ends and remaining character arcs are tied up as much as possible. What should be a series of great conclusions to the stories of our favourite (and not so favourite) Westerosi cast, it instead feels like a bunch of odd decisions and unfulfilling departures.
While it can be argued that the show has successfully used shock plays and surprise deaths in the past, these here just feel like they had no real purpose in furthering the story at large – often just leaving us questioning why on earth a scene played out as it did and wishing for some further meaning. It’s frustrating as you can almost see what writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (under the watchful eye of George R.R. Martin) were trying to achieve with some of these moments, but the decisions end up coming through as a bunch of out-of-character moves made on a whim. It’s not all missteps however, with the closing moments being a great reflection over how far some of our longest-serving characters have come – including Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion, proving that he’s always been the real glue that held all the pieces together. The cinematography and performances were also absolutely top notch, regardless of the plot they were serving. Watching a fully realised dragon emerge from the snow alongside the show’s stirring soundtrack is still a thrill, and will be remembered despite Season 8’s storytelling flaws.
In saying this, there still will be many who are unhappy with how things played out – we’d be lying if we said we didn’t have big problems with some of the choices made ourselves – and unfortunately its the plot that will ultimately be remembered here. At the end of the day, Game of Thrones‘ final season is a grand spectacle and a sprint to the finish – crumbling here and there under the weight of some lofty expectations and rushed plotlines. It will likely be a long time before another phenomenon can move the Song of Ice and Fire from its throne atop TV history, but for now – our watch has ended.
Game of Thrones – Season 8 stars Kit Harrington, Emilia Clarke, Maisie Williams, Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Heady & Sophie Turner – Streaming on Binge in Australia and on HBO Max in the US now.