Awe-inducing set pieces and epic confrontations are what most of us watch Game of Thrones for. After all, it’s a fantasy series, so why not indulge our imagination? It does get gritty at times, but violence and grit are not the same as realism, which the series understood perfectly. But the focus shifted from characterisation to set pieces in Season 8. Like many others, I think the season dropped carefully curated resolutions in favour of epic spectacles – which, ironically, is what led to those spectacles feeing a lot less epic than they should have.
The 8th and final season of Game of Thrones sees the various factions uniting against the Night King and his forces, before facing off in a final battle to determine who gets to sit on the Iron Throne. However, victories turn into tragedies, and wars turn into massacres, showing us that what Cersei said was true – either you win the game of thrones, or you die.
Let’s give credit where credit’s due – the battles were fantastic. They were sprawling, epic wars that showed us how brutal and massive the clashes were. Episode 3, The Long Night, was a tightly paced battle that gripped you from the start to finish, even if the characters didn’t always make optimal decisions. Episode 5, The Bells, may not have had that sort of climactic struggle that we were all hoping for, but it certainly showed the sheer power that Daenerys wielded and the extent of the devastation she wrought. They were big, bombastic set pieces that were executed with aplomb.
But as a season, the pacing lurched forward in random spurts. The first three episodes proceeded at a fairly even pace, but the last three episodes were some sort of frantic three-legged sprint towards the finish line that we were all expecting. I did a very rough breakdown of each character’s beats across the season, and it became pretty clear after that why Season 8 was as problematic as it was.
Take a look at episode 5 – that’s where most of the major plot points are crammed. All of those plot points could not have been stuffed into one episode and still be expected to carry their emotional weight. Mechanically, yes, everything is neatly sorted and logically sequenced. But dramatically speaking, when the major plot points are so closely linked and squashed together, it just takes one missed plot point to cause the rest to collapse like dominoes. And that’s where the biggest fault of the season lies – it was too dependent on every plot point hitting the mark, when so many of them didn’t.
If you think about it, Ep 1 and Ep 2’s plot points could have all gone into Ep 1 – they look like they can fit in one episode if strategically placed – then Ep 4 expanded into two episodes, to let audiences have a breather after the previous battle, then have some mental preparation for the final battle. Plus more musing moments for Daenerys, too. Of course, I’m sure there were budget and logistical constraints which resulted in the plotting shown above… but when you can spend months shooting two massive battles, surely taking a week off to flesh out some scenes wouldn’t be too much to ask?
As a result of the really half-hearted plotting in the last three episodes, you have characters suffering from emotional whiplash as they change their minds (see Jaime’s entry for Ep 4). We as viewers hardly have time for those monumental decisions to sink in before the characters make yet another monumental decision. What exactly do they want? No, what do the really, really want? Is their conviction really still there? Why does everyone getting swayed so easily?
It just feels hollow. It moves, it progresses, but none of it really carries any meaning anymore.
I’m not going to touch on the resurrecting Dothraki, the fast travel perk that all characters seem to have unlocked, and Drogon’s amazing level up. I think those are continuity errors that could have been rectified, but they were necessary to drive the plot forward. We’re watching a fantasy drama after all, so this falls well within our suspension of disbelief. If you can believe in dragons, zombie dragons, and giant dragon-killing crossbows, all those problems can be overlooked.
What really irks me is how Cersei, Bran, and Sansa effectively did nothing for most of the season. They’re just there to whine, be put in vulnerable positions, or drink wine – but they don’t actually move the story forward. They’re more like decorative furniture than anything else, and I think it’s a tremendous waste of all the character development they’ve had prior. Surely they could have been in more pivotal scenes? If not, why have them there at all?
Like everyone else, Season 8 was not my favourite. I was pleased to finally have a resolution to Game of Thrones, even if that resolution was rather… Brandom. The battles were there to give me my fantasy fix and sate my medieval adventure cravings (that I never knew I had). But it could have been planned better, and it could have been so much better (even if it were just 6 episodes and with the same budget). The battles could have been toned down so that more motivation provided for the warring. As it is, well. It’s okay. But it should have been glorious.
Should you watch every single episode of this? If you’ve already watched the first 7 seasons of Game of Thrones.
Should you watch it more than once? No.
Score: 2.9/5
Number of episodes: 6
Episode length:
- Ep 1 – 54 minutes
- Ep 2 – 58 minutes
- Ep 3 – 1 hour, 22 minutes
- Ep 4 – 1 hour, 18 minutes
- Ep 5 – 1 hour, 20 minutes
- Ep 6 – 1 hour, 20 minutes
Game of Thrones is a fantasy drama based on the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, which depicts warring families fighting for the titular Iron Throne. Season 8 is the final season, and brings the wars to a conclusion (at least for now).
It is created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss and produced by HBO. It stars Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth), Conleth Hill (Varys), Rory McCann (Sandor “The Hound” Clegane), Joe Dempsie (Gendry), Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), and Carice van Houten (Melisandre).
Game of Thrones Season 8 first aired in 2019
Image credits: CNet
You might also want to read:
- [Book Review] “A Game of Thrones” starts slow and ends well
- [Book Review] “A Clash of Kings” keeps tensions high throughout, Book 2 of a Song of Ice and Fire
- [Book Review] “A Storm of Swords” is a mammoth epic of Pyrrhic victories, Book 3 of a Song of Ice and Fire
- [Book Review] “A Feast for Crows” is sprawling but limited, Book 4 of a Song of Ice and Fire
- [Book Review] “A Dance with Dragons” concludes surprisingly well, Book 5 of A Song of Ice and Fire
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