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[Dontero]

Well it was horrible ending. Obviously it killed it much like ME3 ending killed mass effect.

The problem with show started when they run out of books since that time every main character got plot armor and every outcome was good for characters involved, even if there was something that didn't pan out right after they found the way to completely 180 situation.

Reason why people love GOT was that you couldn't predict at all what will happen as no one had plot armor. Good example of this was Red Wedding. He killed off one of favorite characters and pretty much main leaders of "good faction" just like that. Since they run out of books they never had balls to do anything.

Best case where they could do something amazing was when Yas Queen killed parents of Samwell and whole his family. That should be the point where shit should get real with Samwell stabbing her possibly taking her out from picture which would spew complete shitfest as force defending wall would rebel and bloody war between north and south would ensue.

The worst part is that they made out of ending basically the avengers where all good guys ensemble to defend humanity. It is soo not GOT that it is hard to even imagine more impossible scenario from GOT perspective.

Arya shouldn't be playing good assasin but became true faceless possibly killing part of her own family for her own ends. That would fit GOT a lot better.

 

[Hydroxy]

They fucking completely ruined it. Deserves to be forgotten never to be mentioned again

 

[Nester99]

Never seen anything so hot turn so bad so quickly. It used to be cool, now it’s embarrassing.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

Bigger disappointment:

GoT Season 8

or

The Sequel Trilogy

?

 

[NeoGiffer]

'Game of Thrones' star Carice van Houten says she loved the 'randomness' and 'clumsiness' of season 8, and doesn't think the writers deserved the backlash

She also told Insider she had "no idea" the "brown eyes, green eyes, blue eyes" line from season three would be so important in season eight.

www.yahoo.com

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

#Cancelled

 

[Rentahamster]

Bigger disappointment:

GoT Season 8

or

The Sequel Trilogy

?

Yes

 

[NeoGiffer]

#Cancelled

 

[Valonquar]

Don't worry. If GRRM manages to actually finish the books, there will will probably be a CGI or anime adaptation that might get it closer to right.

 

[Kenpachii]

Ending was good for what it was. The series kinda died after john snow got ressurected sadly and the writers gave characters plat armor as thick as the earth itself.

The great part about the series was that characters would die off and the story would shift away to the next area. Everybody could die at any time until characters became populaire and boom the series was over.

The last good season was season 4 i think, after that it went downwards hard.

 

[diffusionx]

I stopped watching it when they butchered Stannis Broatheon. It showed me they had no idea what they were doing, had no understanding of the characters, and were just meme-ing on the fly.

I believe the following seasons proved me correct.

 

[GAMETA]

I think it even ruined the books.

In other forums I'd always see threads about Winds of Winter but not anymore. I'll still read it if when it comes out, but no hype anymore.

 

[diffusionx]

I think it even ruined the books.

In other forums I'd always see threads about Winds of Winter but not anymore. I'll still read it if when it comes out, but no hype anymore.

Ironically, the failure of the show may actually make the book more likely, it killed interest in the franchise so maybe GRRM won't be doing a million appearances with his stupid hat on all the time.

And hey with this pandemic, maybe he's actually writing? Who am I kidding...

 

[Coolwhhip]

Yeah the last season made every fan just hate it.

 

[Thaedolus]

Everything leading up the the red wedding could foretell what was about to happen. Robb Stark betraying the Freys and beheading the Karstark for murdering the Lannister kids was exactly the kind of slow setup for his downfall that took time and made sense after it happened.

Seasons 5-7 though...Jesus Christ

 

[Stouffers]

I thought it was ok.

 

[newtypepilot]

all the fans just kinda forgot about the mess that is the last season.

 

[levyjl1988]

It was a good cultural phenomenon until it lasted. It seems that it is very difficult for entertainment to stick the landing. In movies, one of the most satisfying was Avengers End Game, but that's a movie to end the decade long movies Marvel has been building upon. Stars Wars, however, yeah, not at all. The Mandalorian is what's keeping Star Wars afloat with Baby Yoda, much like Baby Groot did well in Guardian of the Galaxy 2.

 

[n0razi]

I know a handful of people who named their kids or pets after GoT characters.... regrettably lol

so its still alive in some sense

 

[Ememee]

It kind of makes me feel vindicated in never getting into it. Same with Lost. Seemed like the whole world was about those two. On the other hand, I’m sure some fans still look back fondly at the good times.

 

[lock2k]

They lost me on

Spoiler: ...

hold the door

Lame as hell.

 

[Grinchy]

Bigger disappointment:

GoT Season 8

or

The Sequel Trilogy

?

Easily Thrones S8. Star Wars was never really all that good anyway, so it wasn't all that big of a deal for it to get worse. GoT was so fucking good until the writers couldn't piggyback off of stories that were already written.

 

[Stiflers Mom]

Battlestar Galactica's ending was horrible as well..
Anyone remember that buildup to the "opera scene"?

And what it turned out to be in the end?

 

[Furlong]

Reason why people love GOT was that you couldn't predict at all what will happen as no one had plot armor. Good example of this was Red Wedding. He killed off one of favorite characters and pretty much main leaders of "good faction" just like that. Since they run out of books they never had balls to do anything.

Never really been impressed with killing off main characters. Years ago I read an interview with Stephen King that stuck with me where he was talking about getting writers block as he was writing The Stand and in the end got so fed up he had a bomb go off to sweep away half the characters - including who up to that point had been the main protagonist. I think Martin has been doing something similar, he writes himself into these corners and then has to drop a few bombs to clear a path out.

 

[Shrinky Dink]

So, who do you guys think will write the ending novels?

 

[Dontero]

Nah it is just different kind of writing. On record he said that he doesn't follow traditional storyboard with crescendo and downs but lets story take over.

Writing like this is just like switching your game from normal to hardcore. Once you start to play hardcore it is really hard to go back to "safety" of normal because it takes out completely the thrill of being near death and knowing your character which you invested 100s of hours could die in next 2 seconds.

This is why GOT was success. Because you couln't predict what will happen to characters and there was no "plot armor" expectation. Once show runners took off that from the show, show became effectively standard fantasy people don't like.

Similar thing occured with The Walking Dead. It shocked people and became phenomenon because characters did not have plot armor. Characters could die any second in that show regardless if they were leads or not.

 

[O-N-E]

So, who do you guys think will write the ending novels?

If it's not GRRM, then probably Daniel Abraham. A buddy of his in his writing circle, and a good fantasy writer himself.

 

[Rentahamster]

I think Martin has been doing something similar, he writes himself into these corners and then has to drop a few bombs to clear a path out.

Maybe, but he has publicly talked about how his writing style is like tending a garden. He plants the seeds and sees where the story goes from there. Maybe he drops bombs as a form of weed whacking, but it's not like they come out of left field. They make sense within the logic and causality of the setting and the actions of the characters.

 

[Scotty W]

Never watched it. I am betting that when the next book comes out, they will adapt that, and act like the original final seasons never happened.

 

[Cutty Flam]

I turned to a random page in the 1st book of GOT and it was describing somebody’s cock is getting chopped off...that’s my first and only experience lol

The books are good though I hear. Apparently, a lot is up to interpretation? The two explaining it to me, or trying to, seemed to have. difficult time in giving me the entire picture. I guess there is a supernatural element in play or something? Idk, I’m going off what they told me, but it sounds like it might be a good read

What do you think? (Calling out all readers)

 

[Lanrutcon]

I haven't read the books or watched the show.

I'm waiting for the...uh...comic book.

 

[GymWolf]

It was already semi-crap since season 5 tbh, season 7 just put the nail in the coffin.

 

[Ballthyrm]

As an early book fan, good riddance.
We can now get back to proper discussions without all the toxic fandom around.

I for one, can wait for GRRM to finish the series. He should take his time and finish his masterpiece according to his own schedule.
In 50 years nobody will care that it took forever for him to write them.
In the end, people will forget the TV show but i hope the books will live on.

There will always be space for another adaptation if the series is ever finished.
Nobody remember the shitty adaptions of the LOTR before Peter Jackson's.

 

[DKehoe]

I haven't read the books or watched the show.

I'm waiting for the...uh...comic book.

That does actually exist

 

[ManaByte]

I thought it was ok.

I thought it was fine, but then again I didn't spend years making "stan" accounts on social media that fantasized about Khaleesi becoming queen and fucking her nephew on the throne.

People spend years making up their own ending, and then when the show (AND MARTIN AS THIS IS HIS ENDING) say "no, this is how it ends" they declare a fatwa against the creator. Fandom entitlement reached its final form with GoT S8.

The entire series, from the first book, intended to throw out fantasy tropes and do what was unexpected. That's why Ned Stark, who'd be the main hero character in any other epic fantasy novel, had his head chopped off in the first book. His crippled son becoming king at the end, instead of the fan favorite incest couple, is the final evolution of that idea that Martin had from the very beginning.

 

[Cleared_Hot]

Once the writers ran out of source material and fell off with the author, it went to shit. There was no sense that anything mattered anymore.

 

[ManaByte]

Once the writers ran out of source material and fell off with the author, it went to shit. There was no sense that anything mattered anymore.

They didn't fall off with Martin. He told him how the story ends. And it ends with Bran on the Iron Throne.

 

[Cleared_Hot]

I thought it was fine, but then again I didn't spend years making "stan" accounts on social media that fantasized about Khaleesi becoming queen and fucking her nephew on the throne.

People spend years making up their own ending, and then when the show (AND MARTIN AS THIS IS HIS ENDING) say "no, this is how it ends" they declare a fatwa against the creator. Fandom entitlement reached its final form with GoT S8.

The entire series, from the first book, intended to throw out fantasy tropes and do what was unexpected. That's why Ned Stark, who'd be the main hero character in any other epic fantasy novel, had his head chopped off in the first book. His crippled son becoming king at the end, instead of the fan favorite incest couple, is the final evolution of that idea that Martin had from the very beginning.

The story had less to do with how much it sucked than the overall pacing, dialogue, session length and honestly it could've been better with one more season to help forest things out better. The story would've worked great just certain things didn't feel earned and others felt completely brushed over or forgotten

They didn't fall off with Martin. He told him how the story ends. And it ends with Bran on the Iron Throne.

Okay thanks for correcting me on that. Now I have a better understanding of why it wasn't great.

 

[HellforLeather]

You mean you didnt enjoy the monster mash fight? Or all the characters making uncharacteristic choices? or smart characters all the sudden becoming thick as a fuckin brick? Or the big existential threat that they had been hyping for 10 years losing the first battle they are in?

My enjoyment of the show was definitely waning by around season 5 but season 7 and 8 completely shit the bed.

 

[-Minsc-]

The last season I watched had this scene where a door needed to be held open by a fellow.

The primary focus was on sex, murder, betrayal, deception, and war.

This here is part of the reason I stopped watching. Another was reflecting on why I started watching GoT in the first place. Basically this lady I had a crush on liked the show so I got into it.

 

[MudoSkills]

There's a big distinction between the people who are angry because the story didn't end the way they wanted it to, and the majority of fans who simply hate the fact they absolutely butchered the execution.

One of the most influential TV drama series of all time ended up a complete joke.

 

[iconmaster]

The show even got its own Oreo type.

I don't know how... that's a family snack and no kid should be watching Game of Thrones.

Its cultural mindshare really did fall off a cliff.

 

[diffusionx]

They didn't fall off with Martin. He told him how the story ends. And it ends with Bran on the Iron Throne.

Its not about how the story ends. It is about the characters, the events, and all that to draw upon. Once they couldn’t use the books, it all just turned to shit.

Even early on I noticed the show‘s weakest parts were when they were freestyling.

 

[Fbh]

Bigger disappointment:

GoT Season 8

or

The Sequel Trilogy

?

Star Wars is worse but GOT was more disappointing .

The Sequel trilogy came after the prequel trilogy which was better but wasn't amazing either. GOT was the ending to a show that at least during its first half was amazing.

 

[VAL0R]

I've never watched it, but OP is right. GoT and its influence dropped off a cliff.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

Polygon just put up a full series review, if you feel like reading that kinda thing

Game of Thrones: the series review

After a deep breath, we look at the full run

www.polygon.com

final two paragraphs seem to summarize the gist

As a culture, we’re not used to being challenged by our fiction. Disney has found unprecedented success by pushing Easy Listening entertainment to its apex, guaranteeing audiences at least three or four digestible and more or less interchangeable movies each year. Art that does deal in bloodshed tends to treat it flippantly or as something that ups its “cool” factor — think the John Wick movies or Ridley Scott’s soporific Gladiator. Game of Thrones sold itself on its violence, but in practice that bloodshed was often anything but fun to watch. I doubt you’d find many people eager to revisit the sight of Princess Shireen burning alive, or of the Mountain cracking Prince Oberyn’s skull like a rotten egg.

In the course of the show’s run, a story about the Hound’s childhood is repeated twice: first by Littlefinger and then, definitively, by the badly burn-scarred knight himself. The story goes that as a boy, Sandor’s older brother, Gregor, caught him playing with one of his toys. Without a word, he seized Sandor and forced his face against a lit brazier, holding him there until his skin ran like melted wax. Sandor’s voice breaks as he tells the story. In that burned man’s voice, seething with old grief and rage, in his constant reliving of the agony around which his whole broken, painful life took shape, Game of Thrones found purpose. Not to press our faces to the fire, but to show us those already burned, and teach us how to hold their suffering.

 

[Elysion]

I suspect that the reactions to the end of the books will be pretty disappointing as well. Most people used GoT (and ASoIaF in general) as great examples for stories that break with established ‚tropes‘. And it‘s true – when I saw the season 1 for the first time, I did not expect Ned‘s death, for example. The fact that every character could conceivably die at any time (well, not really, but it often felt that way) really changed things up.

But tropes exist for a reason – especially in the fantasy genre. There‘s a reason why the ‚return-of-the-rightful-king‘ is such a popular concept in fiction across different periods. The OP also mentioned memes, and I can‘t really think of any that are more popular than ‚return of the king‘ – just think how often it’s been used in the context of console wars, for example, despite the fact that the LotR movies came out almost two decades ago (not to mention the books).

If the ending of GoT is a reflection of the way the books will end (Dany gets killed after going mad, Jon is exiled, Bran is king), then I see no way that such an ending won‘t leave readers with a feeling of disappointment, or emptiness. People often complained that Jon or Dany (or both) ending up on the throne would be too ‚cliche‘ or something, but at least such an ending could be justified: the hero takes his or her rightful place after undergoing numerous trials and hardships – it‘s the oldest story ever told.

But what is Bran‘s story? What is his rise to power supposed to tell us? Unlike Jon or Dany, he has no experience with ruling, and never had to make difficult decisions that effect other people. That‘s true for both the show and the books, and I see no way how George would be able to give him some experience in leadership in the last two books, especially considering still he‘s only a ten-year-old child at the end of the most current book (and is still stuck in that cave).

The only way would be to do what the show did – have Bran ‚download‘ all the knowledge from the weirwood network. But would that really be a satisfying conclusion?

 

[Kamina]

I think even a better ending would have caused the hype to die down by now.

 

[DragoonKain]

I made a thread about it not too long ago how I was still pissed about it and that hasn’t changed. I still think about it all the time.

First of all I don’t even know if we’ll get the books, who knows if GRRM will still be alive in the time it’ll take to finish.

Some people argue it fell off after season 4, and I don’t really agree season 5 wasn’t great, but it was still very good, but season 6 was excellent. Even without the source material if they stayed passionate about it and made it 10 full seasons it could’ve ended just fine. Once they decided to make it 13 episodes it was done. They didn’t have the time to end it properly.

Even season 7 was fine until they came up with that stupid plan to go beyond the wall and capture a wight, which made no sense on any level. Cersei wasn’t gonna join then and they should’ve known that, and the army of the dead had no shot getting beyond the wall. It held them for thousands of years nothing indicated they had the means to change that before they GAVE THEM ONE.

After that everything was compensating for that mistake and rushing to finish the story.

It should’ve ended with the Night King, he wore an armor that didn’t even cover his heart, how dumb is that. Then the final episode was just laughable, they let a prisoner pick the next king and Grey Worm was the end boss, are you fucking kidding me.

That’s just the cliffs notes, I could go on for hours.

 

[DKehoe]

I suspect that the reactions to the end of the books will be pretty disappointing as well. Most people used GoT (and ASoIaF in general) as great examples for stories that break with established ‚tropes‘. And it‘s true – when I saw the season 1 for the first time, I did not expect Ned‘s death, for example. The fact that every character could conceivably die at any time (well, not really, but it often felt that way) really changed things up.

But tropes exist for a reason – especially in the fantasy genre. There‘s a reason why the ‚return-of-the-rightful-king‘ is such a popular concept in fiction across different periods. The OP also mentioned memes, and I can‘t really think of any that are more popular than ‚return of the king‘ – just think how often it’s been used in the context of console wars, for example, despite the fact that the LotR movies came out almost two decades ago (not to mention the books).

If the ending of GoT is a reflection of the way the books will end (Dany gets killed after going mad, Jon is exiled, Bran is king), then I see no way that such an ending won‘t leave readers with a feeling of disappointment, or emptiness. People often complained that Jon or Dany (or both) ending up on the throne would be too ‚cliche‘ or something, but at least such an ending could be justified: the hero takes his or her rightful place after undergoing numerous trials and hardships – it‘s the oldest story ever told.

But what is Bran‘s story? What is his rise to power supposed to tell us? Unlike Jon or Dany, he has no experience with ruling, and never had to make difficult decisions that effect other people. That‘s true for both the show and the books, and I see no way how George would be able to give him some experience in leadership in the last two books, especially considering still he‘s only a ten-year-old child at the end of the most current book (and is still stuck in that cave).

The only way would be to do what the show did – have Bran ‚download‘ all the knowledge from the weirwood network. But would that really be a satisfying conclusion?

Bran has a pretty decent number of chapters in Clash of Kings of him learning about ruling at Winterfell and reflecting on what he has learned form Ned, Robb, Luwin and Rodrik Cassel. Bran's one of the intersections of politics and magic in the series. He follows a pretty traditional heroes journey structure. He's also the first character Martin came up with so it kinda makes sense he ends up having a prominent role in the end. But he's never been a character Benioff and Weiss were all that interested in. I feel it will fit better in the books, since Martin is more invested in him. Much like Dany going mad has been heavily foreshadowed in the books and the show shied away from that aspect.

I remember reading someone in the ASOIAF fan community lay out why he views Bran as the protagonist of the series back in 2016

I went and looked it up. Here's his reasoning:

1) He’s the first recurring POV, and that first chapter of his sets the tone in a lot of ways for the series–we get Ned’s musings on justice and bravery, the introduction of the direwolves, etc.

2) And in his second chapter, we learn one of the series’ most important secrets (the twincest) and GRRM hits us with the first of many agonizing plot twists: the fall.

3) And in his third chapter, we’re introduced to the metaphysical plot, to which Bran is more closely tied than any other character. He’s hovering above the rest of the story.

4) Indeed, there’s no multi-character “three heads of the dragon” going on with Bran. He’s singular in his place in the magical infrastructure, which IMO puts him a step above Jon, Dany, and Tyrion in the protagonist sweepstakes.

5) And unlike them, his powers have him poised to start playing an active role in storylines across the world. He can put all the pieces together like no one else.

6) As Bran the ReBuilder, he’ll lead the way in the post-Others reconstruction.

7) He’s a little kid who wants to be a knight, and is going to save the world with his magic, and is an exile prince who loves and understands his castle more than anybody else. Even more than Jon or Dany, his story is just chock-full of classic fantasy imagery, as if GRRM was trying to create the ur-protagonist for his genre.