**Spoilers for last night’s “Game of Thrones episode, “The Bells,” will be discussed, heavily. If you haven’t seen the episode, feel free to read our recap.**
Last night, fans of HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones,” which has won more Primetime Emmys than any other show to date, saw a battle that was teased since the very first season. And much like the Battle of Winterfell from a couple of episodes ago, the Battle of King’s Landing was a massive disappointment. And now, as we are less than a week away from the final episode of this landmark series, we have reached the point where it has to be asked — What the hell happened to “Game of Thrones?”
2019 was supposed to be the year that ‘Thrones’ fans rejoiced. After waiting two long years for the conclusion to the fantasy epic, series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were expected to deliver a final season that would be remembered for decades to come. Fans were teased relentlessly about how huge the season would be, with inflated budgets, extended run-times, and battle scenes that have literally never been done before. And yet, five episodes into a six-episode season and viewers are not only disappointed, but enraged.
No, this isn’t an issue of acting, as the cast seems to be turning in some of the best work of their careers (Peter Dinklage earned his Emmy win last night for that scene between Tyrion and Jamie), and it’s not a problem with production value (coffee cup and lighting, aside). Instead, the downfall of Season 8, and the reputation of ‘Thrones,’ as a whole, is solely the result of the series plotting by the aforementioned Benioff and Weiss. And these story issues peaked with last night’s episode, “The Bells.”
As Dany, Jon, Arya, the Hound, and most of your favorites descended on King’s Landing to take the throne away from the evil Queen Cersei, fans were already bitter. Over the previous four episodes, viewers were treated with an epic, and anti-climactic, battle with the Night King and what amounts to three “table setting” episodes, which normally are some of the best of the bunch but failed to excite this year. Then, last night, we witnessed the biggest villainous turn of the entire series, with Dany becoming, in essence, the Mad Queen, leading social media to erupt with a collective “What the fuck!?”
It’s not that the heel turn was a surprise, as many predicted this is what would happen with Dany’s story. It’s just the disappointment that the story leading to this development has felt so rushed and unearned. If you’re going to turn the biggest hero (sorry, Jon Snow, but Dany has been built to be the hero of this series) into the show’s last villain, especially considering she’s been shown to be one of the strongest women in all of TV history, then you need to make sure you earn it. And if you don’t, shame on you.
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The plot seeds that led to this latest twist truly have only been planted since episode two of this year, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” Before the battle with the Night King, Jon Snow revealed to Dany that he was, in fact, her nephew and the true heir to the Iron Throne. That means that we’ve only had four episodes for the Khaleesi to sit with that information before suddenly deciding to break bad and kill thousands of innocent men, women, and children, as she comes to terms with the fact that Jon is the one that many want to rule. But you might say, “Hey, that’s not fair, she’s also pissed about the deaths of Jorah and Missandei!” Not good enough, Mr. Benioff and Mr. Weiss. Turning Dany into a Mad Queen should be a process, not a twist.
Sure, fans (and in this case, they’re apologists) will say that Dany has had many instances over the years where she’s shown ruthlessness. However, those scenes (such as last season’s execution of the Tarly men or the crucifying of the slave owners in Meereen) could be interpreted as hard justice and almost always at the expense of evil men. Those stand in stark contrast (pun not intended) to last night’s slaughter of innocent men, women, and children, for absolutely no reason. It makes sense why fans would wake up today feeling betrayed, not by Dany and her actions, but by Benioff and Weiss and their terrible plotting.
As far as I can surmise, the turning point in story quality came during the end of Season 6 and the beginning of Season 7. Season 6 marked the end of the normal, 10-episode seasons that the series was known for. While many would say that the pacing of those early seasons was a bit slow going, they weren’t ready for what was to come in 7 and 8.
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Last season contained only 7 episodes, which led to everything speeding up. Convenience ruled the day, as characters were able to move from place to place quickly (with fans joking about jetpacks) and storylines being wrapped up at a breakneck pace, just for the sake of tying up loose ends. Instead of taking a leisurely victory lap in the final 13 episodes that make up the final two seasons, giving every character a proper send-off, Benioff and Weiss started sprinting to the show’s conclusion, and losing the series’ true magic in the process.
Season 7 also saw the ramping up of the battle with the Night King. Entire episodes were devoted to the evil supernatural threat north of the Wall. Dany, Jon, Tyrion, and others were begging their worst enemy Cersei for help fighting this seemingly unstoppable force. Earlier seasons hinted at the Night King, and had brief interludes with the army of the dead, but politics and human evil was always the real threat. Last season, prophecies and magic were teased as the series moved from its roots (which separated the ‘Thrones’ from its fantasy brethren) to a more supernatural realm. Fans were led to believe that the true end of the series would actually be with the Night King, and the fate of the Westeros.
But yet, by Episode 3 of this season, that supernatural threat had been eliminated, and in a quite unsatisfying way. Sure, the action of the episode was epic (if not a bit difficult to see), but this existential threat that seemed like the ultimate evil was vanquished with one stab in the gut. Fan theories about The Prince That Was Promised, Bran’s relation to the Night King, and so on were proven to be nothing more than fan speculation and red herrings, as none of it panned out in any meaningful way. Hell, Jon didn’t even get to kill the Night King himself.
From there, we’ve had two episodes planting the seeds that Dany was likely going to turn bad and Jon would have to fight her for the good of the Seven Kingdoms. Clearly, that’s the story that Benioff and Weiss have been building towards and have been wanting to tell all along. But if this is the battle that the series has been building towards, then why are we given such little time to watch it play out? The only logical explanation is that Benioff and Weiss dropped the ball, plain and simple. In limiting the number of episodes in Seasons 7 and 8, as well as focusing on inconsequential things, the showrunners became bogged down with too much plot and not enough time.
If Benioff and Weiss knew that they were going to end the supernatural aspect of the story so quickly and with such finality, why not end Season 7 with the Battle of Winterfell? Give fans a conclusion last season, instead of a cheap cliffhanger, and two years to anticipate the fight for the throne and the fall of Dany. Jon could have told her about his parentage by the end of last season, letting her sit with it for a significant amount of time and allowing the paranoia to build slowly. And for the love of the Seven-Faced God, give these actors a chance to really dig into the new status quo and flesh out these developments through a multitude of actions and whip-smart dialogue that the series is known for.
And it has to be pointed out that Dany’s story isn’t the only character arc that is getting shortchanged in this abbreviated, and rushed, season. Sansa’s rise to power and discovery of her inner strength, which has been maybe one of the best developments in the entire show has felt slightly ruined after the character recently explained that sexual assault made her stronger, a far too simple of an explanation for such a nuanced subject. Brienne’s knighting, the love affair with Jamie, and final refusal of Tormund happened all in the span of 20 minutes. Bran’s ascension into being the Three-Eyed Raven seemed like it was going to pay dividends this season but seems to have been all a plot device for a faulty battle strategy. Euron Greyjoy was positioned to be a big villain in the series but ultimately became a punchline and was wiped out fairly easily with one dragon (after Dany failed doing it with two…for some reason?). Lord Varys was one of the best, smartest characters in the entire series, but was abruptly killed after spreading gossip in the last episode. Missandei was quickly fridged without very much characterization, even though she’s been a main character for years. Cersei was one of the most hated people in TV history, but died an undeserving, honorable death after crying and, effectively begging for forgiveness, when not 20 minutes earlier she was smirking from her tower. Gendry and Arya’s love affair happened and then fizzled just as quickly. And let’s not even bring up Ghost. Seriously, I’m only cutting this short because these resolutions are making me want to throw my laptop across the room.
Eight years, and 72 episodes, have been building to next Sunday. And no matter what happens, the untitled final episode of “Game of Thrones” will leave people upset. Not because of the choices made by Benioff and Weiss about who wins and who sits on the throne, but instead, about why they chose to end the series this way.
In a short amount of time, “Game of Thrones” has turned from being the gold standard for Peak TV to becoming one of the biggest disappointments in TV history. Obviously, you can’t please everyone. But the way that the series is stumbling to its conclusion is not only heartbreaking, but ultimately, avoidable.
