Now, if you're reading this, then it's probably very fair to say that you have spent the last eight years watching Jon Snow talk about winter. If you're like me, then you've been practically obsessed with this show for what seems like forever now, and last week's final episode left a bad taste in your mouth. I've had a few days to contemplate the resolution to the show, and I feel like now I can properly express my feelings: It was trash.
Yes, I know that is not quite the unique take you expected from such an experienced journalist such as myself, but please hear me out. We all felt cheated for almost all of season eight. Of course, the battle in episode three was fun, but the resolution to that battle left me feeling the same way the final episode did, and there aren't many things out there that have left me feeling so abandoned. The series finale of Dexter; the series finale of Seinfeld; the series finale of How I Met Your Mother...Well, I suppose TV has let me down pretty hard in the past.
The biggest issue with many of these, in my humble opinion, is knowing there's an end coming to the show, and soon. I feel there were a lot more issues for GoT than simply a looming series finale. The writers did an absolutely wonderful job when adapting the books of George R.R. Martin, but it all fell apart once they ran out of material. I have a theory about why: pressure.
There's an incredible amount of pressure when millions of geeks like me are stressing and writing worthless blogs like these about your show. Of that I'm sure. But I believe they only truly realized it was on them after surpassing the books, and when the burden of all that rich and beautiful storytelling was placed firmly on their shoulders, they all said the same thing.
"Shit! Get all this weight the hell off my shoulders!" Then, surprise, the next season had four fewer episodes. They spent seven seasons building the principle villain into this invincible monster only to have him defeated with a single strike and in a matter of seconds. Tyrion Lannister – the wittiest character on the show, in my opinion – morphed into a much more realistic kind of alcoholic instead of the fun, overly clever, wine-sodden strategist we all fell in love with.
It was almost a struggle listening to Tyrion tell the council that their new king needs a "story," and "who has a better story than Bran The Broken?" I dunno, literally every single living character on the show? If the logic behind selecting the new king or queen is directly correlated to who has struggled the most along the way, then nearly every character on that council has a strong claim to the melted throne. Not to mention, Bran is the Three-Eyed Raven; which means he more than likely saw Daenerys slaughtering an entire city full of innocent people. Yet he said nothing. Was it possibly because Bran knew he would likely be king of Westeros if he allowed that potential path to play out? Enjoy that chestnut if you weren't already thinking about it. And of all those main characters likely to succeed Cersei/Daenerys to the throne, Bran was the only one missing from a season (season 5) because our good friend Mr. Martin didn’t finish his book on time.
I am thoroughly convinced this blog post has had more thought put into it than the entire final episode of the show. However, I feel like that may have been by design. The writers of the show rushed the eighth season, and I truly feel it was just to get out from under its crushing weight as soon as humanly possible. I can’t say I blame them for that. I most definitely wouldn't have wanted to be responsible for completing such an epic story, a story that even the original author couldn’t finish, or at least not in time for the show to build around it.
The important thing to remember in all this, in accepting that this ride is at an end, is how much we enjoyed the show these past several years. Sure, it ended rather poorly, but it did help get us through the drudgery of our day-to-day lives while it was on. We would wake up each day, just to make it to that next Sunday, then to that next season. Year after year, Game of Thrones kept us alive, was the reason for living. Maybe I'm blowing that out of proportion a bit, but my point is fair. You liked the show very much. Focus on that.
If you're a bit of a wuss and feel like your loss is worthy of needing therapy, Bark.com is offering “a specialized Game of Thrones counseling service” that promises to “help bereft fans seek support and get the help they need through this tough time.” Fans who are thoroughly grief-stricken can now book with their so called "qualified" counselors for sessions starting at $25. Their professionals will help struggling viewers “digest their feelings and interpretation of the show, which could range from anger and confusion to sadness and grief.” Take that however you'd like, but I couldn't in good conscience post about the show without making this valuable resource available to all my readers.
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