As much of a success Game of Thrones has been since it first premiered well over a decade ago, there were also some undeniable failures on the show’s part. These flaws became more and more prevalent as the series continued, drawing less from the source material and making up plotlines as it went. This resulted in plot points merged for the sake of focusing on the main cast, but in many cases, it came at the cost of the story’s overall pacing and even resulted in some characters meeting fates that were otherwise not in the books.
The major consequence of this is that several episodes of the series are almost universally hated by fans. Most of these criticisms are centered around poor storytelling, or the idea that the realism of the show had been lost in later seasons. Whatever the specific cause for an episode to be panned, there is always some solid reasoning behind. So, here are some of Game of Thrones’ most hated episodes.
10. “Sons of the Harpy” Killed Off Ser Barristan for Shock Value
Season 5, Episode 4
One of the big disappointments of Season 5 was the unexpected death of Ser Barristan Selmy, the commander of Daenerys Targaryen’s Queensguard. His death was a shock for two reasons: The first was the way in which he went out. Barristan and Grey Worm were surrounded and overwhelmed by members of the Sons of the Harpy, a rebel group trying to restore the Masters’ rule ot Meereen after Daenerys took over. Nevermind the fact that most of these men had no formal training and were little more than a gang, Ser Barristan is one of the greatest fighters in Westeros, even at his age. He was too good a character and warrior to go down in such a way because a couple of punks got a few lucky shots in.
The second reason his death was criticized was because it deviated from the book’s storyline entirely. In the books, Barristan is still alive by this point, and even helps organize a council to govern Meereen after Daenerys disappears on Drogon. This confirmed for many viewers that Barristan’s death was done to drum up shock value and maintain Game of Thrones’ tradition of killing off major characters. Unlike the deaths of the Starks though, this character offing felt like a cheap ploy to grab attention.
9. “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” Did Not Live Up to Its Name
Season 5, Episode 6
Starting with the least offensive part of the Sand Snakes’ so-called “plan” which amounted to kidnapping Princess Myrcella Baratheon in broad daylight in the middle of the palace grounds. It’s difficult to tell whether it was impressive that they managed to sneak past security fully dressed for combat or if the Water Gardens’ guards are just terrible at their jobs. To make matters worse, for a group of young women stated to be almost as dangerous as their infamous father, they really didn’t seem capable of handling a one-handed man and a single mercenary. It just really killed the idea that these were characters to be feared
The worst part of Season 5, Episode 6 was the gratuitous sexual assault. In a change to the storyline, Sansa was married to Ramsay Bolton thanks to some plan Littlefinger had that still has no logical explanation. Fans knew immediately that he would treat her horribly, but the full extent of it was worse than anyone could have imagined. Ramsay assaulted Sansa, arguably one of the most innocent characters in the series, and forced Theon Greyjoy to watch him do it. While the episode’s name was meant to draw a contrast between the meaning of the words and the actual fate of these women, it left a bad taste in viewers’ mouths, as if it was mocking them instead of becoming victims.
8. “Mother’s Mercy” Collapsed So Many Storylines
Season 5, Episode 10
Putting aside the fact that this episode ended the season on one of the biggest cliffhangers the show had ever had, something not even the books had answered yet, “Mother’s Mercy” also did little to carry on the story set up in season 5, mostly leaving the characters in a place far more broken than they had started out, which is saying something considering its Game of Thrones. Jon’s unfortunate situation isn’t even the worst thing that has happened on the show since he came back immediately at the beginning of the sixth season.
This episode saw the final decline of Stannis Bartheon as his choice to sacrifice his own daughter inevitably caused his men to abandon him, and yet he still pressed forward with a foolish attack. In the end, being executed by Brienne of Tarth was more a mercy than she could have imagined. Then there are the Stark girls, both of whom were left in far less safe places than when they had started. Arya was blinded and Sansa was forced on the run from Ramsay Bolton. Arguably the one in the best position was Cersei, mostly because the humiliation she suffered in her walk of atonement made her far more determined to get her vengeance on everyone who has wronged her, turning her into an even more dangerous villain.
7. “Blood of My Blood” Is Just Boring
Season 6, Episode 6
“Blood of My Blood” does little to continue the story of Season 6 very well. Fans’ biggest gripe with it is the continuation of Arya’s adventures in Braavos, which were beginning to gee increasingly pointless as she utterly failed to learn the lessons needed to become a Faceless Man. Yet, even as that storyline dragged on, there is another that wasn’t going anywhere in the episode.
Daenerys had managed to secure a new Khalasar for herself, bolstering her forces by over a hundred-thousand men, but while this was a triumph for her the next episode basically wasted everyone’s time by just having her give a rallying speech to her people atop Drogon’s back. Never mind how she actually knew where to locate her dragon, the only purpose this served was to ensure that Daenerys had the dragon when she returned to Meereen. She didn’t have to give yet another speech for fans to get that she is now fully armed and ready for war.
6. “The Queen’s Justice” Killed Off a Beloved Character in a Ridiculous Way
Season 7, Episode 3
Part of the problem with “The Queen’s Justice” is that it begins to portray Tyrion as more and more incompetent. Daenerys specifically took him on as her Hand because she believed his knowledge of Westeros and his own family would give her a clear advantage when dealing with the Lannister forces. Instead, Tyrion’s plan made absolutely no sense, choosing to capture Casterly Rock when it really provided no strategic value to Daenerys’ plan of attack.
Then, to make matters worse, her own armies were decimated by the Lannisters moving to locations they weren’t expecting. Perhaps the biggest loss was the fall of Highgarden, leading to the death of Olenna Tyrell. While she managed to give off one last massive burn before dying, her death rendered her family extinct (which isn’t the case in the books) and also robbed fans of a fan-favorite character.
5. “Beyond the Wall” Really Forgot About How Long It Takes to Run
Season 7, Episode 6
.jpg?q=70&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=1)
As bad plans go, traveling beyond the Wall to find and capture a wight to bring back as proof to an enemy is really up there. Yet somehow, that was the best plan that Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and all their allies could come up with to try and convince Cersei Lannister to agree to an alliance. One pipe dream deserves another after all. It went about as well as one could expect. Jon and his allies were quickly surrounded by the army of the dead, shielded only by a frozen lake that would crack beneath the weight of the walkers. They did manage to send Gendry off to get help though.
This is the art where things get even more ridiculous. Gendry managed to run all the way back to the wall and send a message to Daenerys Targaryen who was hundreds of miles away in Dragonstone, all before Jon and his allies ran out of food or froze to death. Nevermind how the timing on this was supposed to work, the one redeeming thing about this episode was watching Daenerys rescue Jon with her three dragons, but even that was ruined by the question of how they got there so quickly.
4. “The Long Night” Let a Lot of Fans Down
Season 8, Episode 3
After years of buildup to the moment where all of Westeros (or most of it and some of Essos) stand against the White Walkers, the actual product was not what many had hoped for. Seeing the White Walkers over so many years, many fans expected this to be a protracted siege where the forces of the living would have to fall back in a war of attrition as they tried to kill the White Walkers. Instead, they battled the dead in one night. One long, very hard to see night.
The visual darkness of the episode was meant to capture the feeling of the long night, but all it did was impede viewers’ ability to see. Then there was the plot letting fans down by not having Jon be the one to destroy the Night King, instead handing it off to Arya Stark of all people, who pulled a literal deus ex machina and stabbed the Night King in the heart. After so many years of waiting for his and Jon Snow’s climactic battle, this was not what anyone expected or even wanted.
3. “Last of the Starks” Was the Beginning of the End
Season 8, Episode 4
Where to begin with this episode? The Sansa and Arya quickly stirring up trouble by attempting to convince Jon to oppose Daenerys for the throne and immediately violating his trust in them because they didn’t like Daenerys who, up until that point, had given them no real reason to assume she was hostile to them. If anything, Sansa was behaving more like Cersei in this moment than she had ever been her entire life, living up to Cersei’s motto that “Anyone who isn’t us is an enemy.”
Then there is just the absurd way in which the dragon Rhaegal was killed. The producers’ explanation? That Daenerys forgot about the Iron Fleet. In the aftermath of defeating the White Walkers some might be able to buy that, but not seeing the entire fleet in open water armed with heavy ballistae aimed at her dragons? That’s too much of a failure in logic to reasonably explain away. It was also what triggered Daenerys’ rush and botched villain arc.
2. “The Bells” Tolled for Daenerys’ Character Progression
Season 8, Episode 5
There are very few fans who aren’t bothered by this episode. They could already see that Daenerys was fraying thanks to Cersei’s repeated victories in the last episode, but this episode didn’t so much as set her down the path of villainy as it did push her character down a flight of stairs hoping that she’ll stick the landing instead of falling flat on her face. Daenerys’ character was practically assassinated in this episode, taking her from a staunch defender of the innocent who wanted to avoid repeating the crimes her father committed to an indscriminant tyrant who thought she was in the right because she had the power.
Watching Daenerys burn down King’s Landing after the city had surrendered was easily one of the most sobering moments of the show. Not just because of how horrific it was to witness, especially Arya’s desperate dash to safety through the collapsing city, but just by how wrong it felt to witness Daenerys do such a thing. Not even five episodes ago, she was putting her own personal crusade on hold to help her ally save the world and now here she was burning an entire city alive because she was disappointed. There was no amount of suspension of disbelief that could justify her character’s sudden one-eighty into a tyrannical queen.
1. “The Iron Throne” Was an Unsatisfying Conclusion to the Series
Season 8, Episode 6
The biggest question that Game of Thrones fans had going into the series’ final season revolved around who would take the Iron Throne when the time came to settle on a permanent ruler at the end of the series. The answer: Bran Stark, the character who had the least interaction with anyone else on the show and had no practical evidence that he could effectively rule. Instead, they justified it because he was the Three-Eyed Raven, the memory of humanity. Apparently being able to witness the mistakes of the past means he’s wise enough to know how to avoid repeating them. Really, it just seemed more likely that Bran would sit there blankly while members of the Small Council handled things.
It was a completely unsatisfactory answer to a systemic problem facing Westeros. Not to mention the depressing fate Jon Snow got at the end of the series. He had to assassinate Daenerys, the woman he loved, to save the world from her wrath. For this sacrifice, he is banished beyond the Wall and doomed to spend the rest of his life far from his family. The Stark girls at least get good endings, but it just didn’t feel like the right answer for so many problems or proper resolutions to their character arcs.
