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The great Game of Thrones disappointment: Fans unhappy and confused as final approaches

SPOILER ALERT. It’s one of the greatest shows of all time. So perhaps that’s why viewers are feeling unbearably hurt and angry as it comes to an end.

Emma ReynoldsEmma Reynolds
@emmareyn
4 min read
May 16, 2019 - 1:29AM
Game Of Thrones: Season 8 Episode 5 Recap

Warning: SPOILERS

As one of the biggest television shows in history draws to a close, many Game of Thrones fans are feeling a gnawing sense of disappointment.

Social media and water-cooler chat has been more distressed and bewildered than excited and awed, as sky-high hopes are dashed.

This is not just any fantasy show. It has turned conventions upside down, left us gobsmacked as major characters were brutally slaughtered en masse, and created that feeling of wonder that used to be reserved for the big screen.

Fans were hugely disappointed that Game of Thrones’ best villain, Cersei Lannister, died in the arms of her brother/lover Jaime. Picture: Supplied/ HBO
Fans were hugely disappointed that Game of Thrones’ best villain, Cersei Lannister, died in the arms of her brother/lover Jaime. Picture: Supplied/ HBO
Daenerys’s transformation into the Mad Queen felt too sudden for many unconvinced viewers. Picture: Supplied/ HBO
Daenerys’s transformation into the Mad Queen felt too sudden for many unconvinced viewers. Picture: Supplied/ HBO

This week’s penultimate episode, “The Bells”, has scored the highest ratings in series history, with 18.4 million initial viewers across HBO’s platforms. But it is also the show’s worst reviewed episode, scoring less than 50 per cent on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Chief among the complaints is that the writers tried to do too much in too little time. In their haste to tie up loose ends and usher the characters we are so invested in to the final denouement, the narrative development felt rushed and jarring.

Daenerys’ transformation into the Mad Queen has been foreshadowed throughout the show, when she watched coldly as her brother was killed with a molten gold “crown”, and ruthlessly incinerated her enemies. But as news.com.au’s GoT experts explained in this week’s newsletter, her vicious streak had always been directed at foes, while she showed compassion to the oppressed. In this episode, despite the opposition’s surrender, she suddenly decided to raze King’s Landing to the ground, along with tens of thousands of terrified civilians. It felt unbelievable. Yes, even in a show about magic and dragons, which has always been true to the boundaries of its own reality.

As one of just two non-white main characters, Missandei’s death in shackles was a major let-down for both fans and actor Nathalie Emmanuel. Picture: Courtesy of HBO
As one of just two non-white main characters, Missandei’s death in shackles was a major let-down for both fans and actor Nathalie Emmanuel. Picture: Courtesy of HBO
The special effects looked incredible during the razing of King’s Landing, but social media critics complained it didn’t feel believable within the show’s reality. Picture: Supplied/ HBO
The special effects looked incredible during the razing of King’s Landing, but social media critics complained it didn’t feel believable within the show’s reality. Picture: Supplied/ HBO

Cersei’s inevitable death also provoked anger and confusion. Our favourite villain died in the arms of her beloved brother Jaime, with rubble falling on their heads as they tried to flee the burning city. For some, it was symbolic of their world crashing down around them, together as always — a poetic moment.

But for many, it was infuriating. “It makes no sense after all that build up over the years, that she would just die in the arms of the love of her life,” wrote author Roxane Gay, echoing the sentiment of the masses. “The writing cannot possibly be so bad as to allow that.”

Others joined in her despair, having waited all season to see Cersei suffer a deliciously nasty end. She could have been killed by Arya (and was on the young woman’s hitlist), Jon, or the brother who both reviles and adores her. Instead, she was knocked out by a few bricks, in “one of the biggest missed opportunities in TV history”, as one viewer put in.

What’s more, many thought Jaime’s return to her side appeared to come out of nowhere, after we had watched his redemption arc for several seasons.

GoT devotees were just as flabbergasted as Tyrion by the rapid plot developments. Picture: Supplied/ HBO
GoT devotees were just as flabbergasted as Tyrion by the rapid plot developments. Picture: Supplied/ HBO
Conleth Hill, who plays Varys, confessed ‘the last couple of seasons weren’t my favourite’. Picture: Supplied/ HBO
Conleth Hill, who plays Varys, confessed ‘the last couple of seasons weren’t my favourite’. Picture: Supplied/ HBO

There were many more criticisms — the way the Dothraki appeared to regenerate after most were massacred in battle with the Night King; an invincible Arya quickly giving up on revenge before running aimlessly around the city for a whole episode; Tyrion’s famed intelligence evaporating as he and Varys abruptly turned on Dany; a scheme to poison her that was far too easy to miss.

As the program has careered ahead of George R.R. Martin’s books, it has been accused of losing its edge and ability to surprise, becoming like any other generic fantasy creation.

“Lazy writing,” was perhaps the most damning assessment of showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, who have just been chosen to helm the next Star Wars movie — or “ruin” it, in some fans’ estimation.

And while this episode has drawn the greatest ire to date, the entire final season has been controversial. While episode five was criticised for moving too rapidly, earlier ones were thought too slow, with scenes some found overlong and pointless.

Gifted Bran simply twiddled his thumbs as the White Walkers advanced; a dragon was felled with a large arrow in broad daylight; the showdown came too early in the season; the Dothraki’s battle strategy looked poorly planned; the Night King seemed too easily killed by a knifing from Arya; and Missandei — one of just two main characters played by people of colour — was beheaded in shackles.

‘Invincible’ Arya’s movements in episode five were too aimless for viewers whose dreams look set to be dashed in the finale. Picture: Supplied/ HBO
‘Invincible’ Arya’s movements in episode five were too aimless for viewers whose dreams look set to be dashed in the finale. Picture: Supplied/ HBO
If Bran doesn’t do something soon, people are going to lose it. Picture: Supplied/HBO
If Bran doesn’t do something soon, people are going to lose it. Picture: Supplied/HBO

Perhaps the final episode will resolve many of these issues. Perhaps not. Even the cast have voiced reservations about a final season Collider calls a “hot sloppy mess that also has some of the most striking, beautiful fantasy imagery”.

Lena Headey, who has spent most of her final season playing Cersei sipping wine for $1 million per episode, told EW her first reaction to her character’s demise was “mixed”, since she “wanted her to have some big piece or fight with somebody.”

Nathalie Emmanuel, who plays former slave Missandei, revealed she was “heartbroken” over the way her character died, and acknowledged criticism over the show’s lack of diversity. “Missandei and Grey Worm have represented so many people because there’s only two of them,” she said. “It wasn’t until she was gone that I really felt what it really, truly meant, until I saw the outcry and outpouring of love and outrage and upset about it.”

Conleth Hill (Varys) said it was “frustrating” that his character “became more peripheral” towards the end, confessing: “I suppose the last couple \seasons weren’t my favourite.”

For the episode to receive the worst reviews of the entire series is harsh. But the weight of expectation is almost unbearable at this point.

The sheer brilliance of GoT has set us up for a devastating anti-climax, with the writers doomed to failure.

No ending could please everyone. And one of the greatest series of all time may end up pleasing no one at all.

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