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[Afrodium]

I agree with the general sentiment of the article in the OP, and have noticed it myself in the most recent season. Things that made the show attractive, like main characters actually dying and story beats coming out of characters interacting with the world of Westeros during the course of their travels don't play nice with a story attempting to wrap up. Plot armor has to come into play if you want to have big set piece episodes but still have the characters you need for the conclusion, and there's no time any longer to spend a character's entire plot for a season in their travels from point A to point B.

I think this has a lot to do with why TWoW is taking forever to come out and may have been broken out into more and more books, as GRRM can't bring himself to write a condensed series of the events like the show has opted (or is required) to do. I wouldn't be surprised if the books turn out very different because GRRM ends up going off on tangents during journeys that weren't even shown on the show or kills characters because he couldn't write a convincing conclusion to their scene in which they didn't get killed.

 

[Gunslinger]

The ending can't be worse than sopranos.

 

[KahooTs]

Not disappointing for HBO, it will rate. Not disappointing for D&D, they'll be finally out. Those that like what the show is dishing up now will like it, like people like Fast and Furious movies. Those that don't like what the show is dishing up now will dislike it but watch it anyway because the first three to four seasons suckered them in.

 

[Nameless]

Show me an ending that pleased everyone. Of course it will disappoint. Plenty found reasons to be disappointed by the Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Sopranos endings, why would it be any different here, especially given the circumstances?

Honestly I don't envy the position D&D were put in. Not only did they have to try and make two dry, boring books palatable to a national audience just as the show's popularity was booming, but they signed up for a seven book adaptation and suddenly found themselves responsible for wrapping up GRRM's incredibly dense & complex world/story/ensemble of characters using a rough draft of his Cliffs Notes. What!?

D&D have made plenty of mistakes along the way but they exceeded my wildest expectations with Season 6 which features some of story's highest highs, book or show, so I won't overreact to Season 7 taking a few steps back. Plus Sapochnik will probably return in a big way for S8 so there's that.

 

[Hoya Destroyer]

I hope the ending is Ned Stark waking up and realizing it was all a dream.

 

[VDenter]

wasn't s6 passed the books too? but everyone seemed to love it

Season 6 was almost just as bad as season 5.

 

[Warm Machine]

I've enjoyed all of the seasons. None of which have been bad. I'm looking forward to the show ending as well though because it simply needs to now that the character pool is so thin and the motivations are established.

 

[cackhyena]

I've enjoyed all of the seasons. None of which have been bad. I'm looking forward to the show ending as well though because it simply needs to now that the character pool is so thin and the motivations are established.

Thin? It still has a ton of compelling characters. If anything, too many.

 

[RDreamer]

I just hope the last season is better than 7 was. That was a disappointing mess and the show has become a shadow of its former self. I know it won't go back to what it was and I probably can't count on anything better than trash writing but I hope it closes things up well enough.

 

[The Illiterati]

Series which was about politics and machinations became about huge battles and dragon fire once the books ran out....what do you know?

 

[SolidChamp]

I enjoyed season 7, with all of its flaws and inane storytelling quirks, it was super entertaining.

Having said that; shortening the last two seasons was a massive fucking mistake.

 

[Protein]

D&D are going to write their own ending and GRRM will have a different ending in the books. They struck a last minute Lannister deal to sell more books.


Creatively, it made sense.

 

[BrassDragon]

I think they can deliver something emotionally satisfying that won't hold up to scrutiny, like much of the show's best moments in the latter half.

They've abandoned all pretense of realistic warfare, intrigue, movement, logistics and feudal organization. Stuff just happens at the writers whims now. So whoever wins the Iron Throne or the War of Winter will be completely arbitrary with no chance for viewers to see that outcome as something that was gradually built up over time. It'll just happen and if you're still with the show at this point, you'll just accept it if it's executed well artistically.

I hope they at least make some non-obvious and controversial choices to keep in the spirit of the earlier seasons.

 

[Ambient80]

It'll be fine but nitpickers and hate watchers will go nuts on the loose threads.

lol this. There’s some folks here who I swear get off on being critical on the show and repeating how much they don’t enjoy it. It’s fine if people don’t enjoy it, doesn’t bother me a bit, I just think it’s funny how the same folks talk about how much they hate it, then watch it week after week just so they can come back to forums with an updated reason as to why they hate it. Seems like a waste of time, but to each their own.

 

[PabloBolivar]

After the last episode of this season my wife an I watched the very first episode of season 1. It was much worse than I could have ever imaged.

 

[SolidChamp]

After the last episode of this season my wife an I watched the very first episode of season 1. It was much worse than I could have ever imaged.

What do you mean?

 

[Cipherr]

It'll be fine but nitpickers and hate watchers will go nuts on the loose threads.

lol this. There’s some folks here who I swear get off on being critical on the show and repeating how much they don’t enjoy it. It’s fine if people don’t enjoy it, doesn’t bother me a bit, I just think it’s funny how the same folks talk about how much they hate it, then watch it week after week just so they can come back to forums with an updated reason as to why they hate it. Seems like a waste of time, but to each their own.

Yeah basically this. It'll be just fine no matter how it ends to be honest. Been a great and worthwhile show to watch for years, and nothing erases that. But there's that section of people that are just miserable.... and those folks are never going to shut up about its ending and how much they dont like it, regardless of how it ends. I guess its fitting that there's somehow a way to start semi-bitching about it before it even happens.

 

[PabloBolivar]

What do you mean?

Bad effects, low budget and the imp looked like Milo.

 

[Nintendo's Witch]

Is not the end what it counts, it's the journey.

 

[RangerX]

lol this. There’s some folks here who I swear get off on being critical on the show and repeating how much they don’t enjoy it. It’s fine if people don’t enjoy it, doesn’t bother me a bit, I just think it’s funny how the same folks talk about how much they hate it, then watch it week after week just so they can come back to forums with an updated reason as to why they hate it. Seems like a waste of time, but to each their own.

Conversely there seems to be many here who apply no critical analysis whatsoever to the show's writing,logic, character development and many other elements. I'd rather listen to someone who can construct a sound critical argument than "lol brilliant theres a dragon!".

 

[ResidentWeevil13]

It's been disappointing me for seasons. And while I'd love to place all the blame on D&D's bad writing, they signed up to ADAPT Asoiaf, not finish the exceedingly complex story.

I think the cardinal sin of Game Of Thrones is that it was greenlit before the series was finished.

 

[SporeCrawler]

i really liked season 7... iin fact because of episode 4 alone it might me my favorite yet.. internet people will always claim they can do it better. and if they can kudos to them. ill watch it if its good as this.

 

[Gnome Scat]

This last season was pretty disappointing and the show is heading in a really predictable direction, so probably.

 

[VDenter]

Bad effects, low budget and the imp looked like Milo.

What about good writing? You know the most important part when telling a story. I guess that does not matter when you have explosions and special effects.

 

[crimzonflame]

I want a happy ending or at least a reuinion between certain characters. Also Davos better survive.

 

[CloudWolf]

wasn't s6 passed the books too? but everyone seemed to love it

Season 6 was better than 5, but overall still much worse than the first four seasons. Three good episodes don't make up for 9 mediocre ones.

 

[purg3]

I agree it will mostly end in disappointment, but I've learned to appreciate this series for what it has now become. It's more or less been reduced to a television spectacle, but it's damn entertaining.

I do miss a lot of what made the earlier seasons so good. The idea that no one is safe in this world has seem to be lost on the show runners. That along with everything becoming predictable for the most part.

Still looking forward to the final season though. It's going to be an interesting ride for certain.

 

[Knuckle Sandwich]

...Season 3 had the red wedding and Season 2 the battle of black water...so no?

This season had a few cool things too but I still consider it bad.

 

[Plum]

Reposting my ending idea from the main thread:

Since we're talking endings here's how I think it'll go:

Jon kills the Night King, collapses on the ground and we fade to black.

Cut to 10 years later. It's still winter. Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke are wearing unconvincing old people make up as they chill in Winterfell looking down at two of their three kids practicing sword fighting. Jon calls out to Robb Hodor Starkaryen, their oldest, and tells him to practice his shield technique. Dany tells Missandei Drogo Starkaryen to not get too "fired up" as it will harm her chances in the "heat" of battle. She then looks straight into the camera and literally winks at it because fuck you.

Jon notices something, Olly Davos Starkaryen is on the upper walls of Winterfell looking out into the distance. He leaves Dany to investigate. Upon Jon's arrival he prepares to scold Olly for climbing but instead finds staring at a beautiful sunset coming up from the Horizon. Zero dawn time is over and Jon declares that "Summer has come." Dany and the two other kids come up to meet them and they all look smiling into the distance. The orchestra swells and...

Cut to credits.

TBH this is how they should go. Anything else would be highly disappointing.

Nah but seriously the GoT ending will disappoint some in the end, but I think most will be happy no matter how the story concludes. It's impossible to end a TV show like Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones without some people's expectations failing to be met, there's just too many different people expecting different things. Some people want GoT to be a grimdark depression-thon, some people like it for the personal drama, some people just want to see dragons wreck shit, it's incredibly hard to tie all those different kinds of people together. Unless it's some schlock like my joke idea above I can't see "us" being disappointed, some will, but not all.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

They could have satisfied a decent mount of this if they managed their time properly and didn't spend all of Season 6 redoing Danny's military conquest. We could have had those three pillars all been properly expanded on if she crossed the sea and invaded Westeros in early season 6, or even at the end of Season 5. All of Season 7 could have actually been spread out and given time to breath, and we wouldn't be having a mess of rushing through everything.

Now nothing is given time to sink in or settle. The best part of the last episode was the talky bits, when we were given time to enjoy character interactions without being thrown into a huge battle or try to guess when a scene is taking place.

GoT was built on having characters react to events and showing the follow through within episodes/seasons of those consequences. That's what a lot of people enjoyed seeing, but the core pillar of seeing the history of the world interact with characters actions is no longer interesting when you ramp the speed up to 11 and settle interesting plot points like "Danny has a horde of Dothraki, I won't fight or kneel for you" basically be settled with one dragon fire breath. Or the entire aspect of Danny gathering allies in Westeros and fielding an army of natives.

The show failed on itself years ago, we are only seeing the consequences of the lack of proper foresight in the story structure with the rushed nature of multiple stories rushing to conclusions.

 

[parrotbeak]

Ends with Jon and Dani beating the Ice King and Queen (after Cersei gives her baby to the white walkers and marries Ice King). The two Targaryans sit together on Iron Throne with their bleach blond haired son/cousin/nephew playing at their feet.

Flash forward 500 years, modern London, Varis is reading a magazine on a newstand showing Trump on the cover. The Red Woman walks up next to him and comments on how the dark magic has returned to the world. All of this has happened before, Varis says. Varis comments on how the line has degenerated from centuries of incest. Red Woman says the dragons had degenerated during their first reign too. Montage of inappropriate pics of Don and Ivanka together while a edm remix of Rains of Castamere plays.

 

[Nameless]

I'm eager to see how GRRM handles his story going full blown fantasy. Like the show the pacing and feel of the books are about change dramatically if he's actually ending it in 7.

 

[y2dvd]

I feel the same way as the writer. There is just so much more story to tell. 6 more episodes, even though it's extended, simply isn't enough.

 

[WaffleTaco]

I hope the ending is Ned Stark waking up and realizing it was all a dream.

Would pay money for the reactions tbh.

lol this. There’s some folks here who I swear get off on being critical on the show and repeating how much they don’t enjoy it. It’s fine if people don’t enjoy it, doesn’t bother me a bit, I just think it’s funny how the same folks talk about how much they hate it, then watch it week after week just so they can come back to forums with an updated reason as to why they hate it. Seems like a waste of time, but to each their own.

People can be critical of the show, that is something is allowed, especially if it is warranted (for instance this season).

Bad effects, low budget and the imp looked like Milo.

...Except the writing was good and actually had characters that could act. Which is what the show needs more of now.

This season had a few cool things too but I still consider it bad.

Agreed. Season 7 is my least favourite. I still enjoyed the first few episodes and parts of the seventh. Was not a fan episodes 5 and 6.

 

[mugoldeneagle03]

People aren't going to be upset with how Game of Thrones ends they are going to be upset knowing how it will end. In seasons 1-4 and even bits of 5&6 there was always an element of surprise and twists while the writers paved way to the end game. Now that we are here & major plot pieces are set in stone there's nothing else to do but end it and a lot of the fans that watch this show to be surprised and stunned are absolutely going to be let down.

The only thing those types of fan have working in their favor was GRRM's original outline/interview that's been floating around discussing how he DOESN'T want a fairy tale ending like LOTR. I guess that leaves some hope that we might get some last second twists towards the end but at this point I wouldn't bet on it.

Only real shock value scenes I think we could see would be:

Spoiler

1. Bran is the NK, Jon has to kill him (Yawn)
2. Jon sacrifices himself to become the NK to save the world
3. Tyrion becoming a villain
4. Lady Stoneheart

...And No.4 I threw in their just for the hell of it. That shits not happening.

The rest is shit everyone wants to see that we already know about.

Spoiler

Cleganebowl, Jamie V Cersei, Jon + Danys child, the Great War, etc.

 

[Staccat0]

The entire premise of this article is stupid. People might think they liked GoT because of those 3 pillars but strong character-based storytelling was their foundation. If they just tell the story well, the plot mechanics matter less.

Very few of us were disappointed in this season because it lacked history.

Like, some of the best scenes/moments are stuff like Tywin skinning a deer while he bitches at his son or Tyrion and his sister having a proxy war by dragging chairs around the council room.

Season 6 was mostly perfectly cromulent.

 

[CloudWolf]

Ends with Jon and Dani beating the Ice King and Queen (after Cersei gives her baby to the white walkers and marries Ice King). The two Targaryans sit together on Iron Throne with their bleach blond haired son/cousin/nephew playing at their feet.

Flash forward 500 years, modern London, Varis is reading a magazine on a newstand showing Trump on the cover. The Red Woman walks up next to him and comments on how the dark magic has returned to the world. All of this has happened before, Varis says. Varis comments on how the line has degenerated from centuries of incest. Red Woman says the dragons had degenerated during their first reign too. Montage of inappropriate pics of Don and Ivanka together while a edm remix of Rains of Castamere plays.

You forget the part where the Red Woman is like "The Lord of Light..." and Varys stops here with: "You know he doesn't like to be called that."

 

[16BitNova]

Why are people saying this is all becoming worse with no books and that its all the writers whim now? I thought they were in the know of GRRM's intentions on the story and are just going based on that.

 

[WaffleTaco]

I'm eager to see how GRRM handles his story going full blown fantasy. Like the show the pacing and feel of the books are about change dramatically if he's actually ending it in 7.

I think the last book will mostly be fantasy, but Winds will be politics as usual. Arguably Book 7 will begin on a similar note to Season 7. There will be some key changes, though.

My ideas Book 7:

Spoiler

Arya will be back in Westeros
Aegon will sit the throne
Dany will be arriving in Westeros
Stannis & Jon marching south

Unknowns:
Jamie
Brienne
Sansa
Sam

Why are people saying this is all becoming worse with no books and that its all the writers whim now? I thought they were in the know of GRRM's intentions on the story and are just going based on that.

The writers know the outline, however they don't have source material to go off of (basically detailed plots and dialogue). They know the major plot points, but getting there with their characters is entirely on them.

 

[Astral Dog]

I enjoyed the Season 7 finale :^)

 

[Rixxan]

I think the show has had its share of missteps, even great shows aren't perfect, even mad men had the occasional weak episode

The thing with GOT is that it's hit peak cultural phenomenon in terms of an entertainment component

Sure maybe the more recent seasons have suffered from weaker writing (although this complaint is overblown imo - I've recently rewatched the entire series and there is plenty of weak writing riddled throughout the story)

What's happening now is every, single, scene is dissected and analyzed (scrutinized) in a way the show wasn't in earlier seasons - the popularity wasn't anything like it is today - everyone is watching this show

I started reading this series almost 15 years ago, and to be honest, couple the decades of fan theory with the ground swell, there really is no way it'll "satisfy" on a widespread level

There's too much conjecture, too many opinions, and too vast a population of fandom to ever strike the right chords with every viewer

Personally, I'm gonna continue to enjoy my time with this series, as it's rare something resonates with me as much as a song of ice and fire/GOT has - even if it is flawed (everything is)

 

[Brushguy Woodthreep]

I think it will be a mediocre ending with some good points and some bad points, and that's fine. There's no need to build up the ending with expectations that it will be the defining, BLOW YOUR MIND moment of the series when in all likelihood it'll follow some predictable story beats with maybe a twist thrown in.

That said, I fully expect it will go down in history as having the worst, most show-ruining ending ever, because this is pretty much the norm for any long-running serialised show with a lot of eyes on it. The reactions will be extremely negative, and it will say more about the way we consume and discuss media in the modern day than it will about the show itself.

That's my hot take, anyway!

 

[pestul]

I think we're being far to critical of this show. I'm guilty of it. When looked at outside of that bubble, even if the finale ends up being Season 5'esque, Game of Thrones will still be regarded as one of the greatest television shows of all time.

 

[Knuckle Sandwich]

Agreed. Season 7 is my least favourite. I still enjoyed the first few episodes and parts of the seventh. Was not a fan episodes 5 and 6.

Season 1 to me was great. Had some bad bits but overall it was really great and left me psyched for the next season. 2-now have had highs and lows but have never come close to the first season for me and have been disappointing. Maybe I just really love Sean Bean.

 

[parrotbeak]

You forget the part where the Red Woman is like "The Lord of Light..." and Varys stops here with: "You know he doesn't like to be called that."

Oh ya. And when people ask why Red Woman had said earlier they were going to die in this land and then they're still alive, GRRM will admit he never had a plan for them and decided, fuck it, they're angels.

 

[GK86]

I hope they have to summon a Giant Chicken to save Westeros.

 

[Astral Dog]

I mean isn't it basically Cersei, the WhiteWalkers, Jon Snow and that 'Coward dude left? 🤔 they can do it.

 

[Cipherr]

Why are people saying this is all becoming worse with no books and that its all the writers whim now? I thought they were in the know of GRRM's intentions on the story and are just going based on that.

I think its mostly in their heads. Dialogue even through this season is persistent with early seasons and even better in many ways. Especially character to character moments.

Besides, people were literally saying the writing was trash prior to it getting ahead of the books anyway. Then when it got ahead of the books those same complaints changed too "Since its gotten ahead of the books..".

 

[Moppeh]

Yeah, no shit.

 

[Scuffed]

Beyond the Wall was a fun episode but had a lot of problems and the teleportation and super raven issues hurt the season throughout. Overall I really enjoyed the season and still enjoy the show more than anything else on tv atm.