In Defense of “Game of Thrones’, Here Are 10 Common Season 8 Complaints That Are Unjustified

The eighth season of Game of Thrones garnered a huge negative reception and some heavy criticism, which is, to this day, commonly talked about in online discussions and forums. A lot of viewers complain about various aspects of the ending, stating that it reached the point of no return and couldn’t recover, and for what it’s worth, I get it. I will certainly agree that the eighth season most definitely did not live up to the quality of the rest of the show. But in my book, even a bad season of Game of Thrones is still better than a lot of the disappointment found on TV nowadays.

A lot of critics and viewers make the final season out like it’s the worst thing to ever happen to television, but I think this reaction is a bit sensationalist and over-the-top. Was it disappointing? For a lot of people, yes. For this writer, not really, because I tend to go into things with very low expectations, so I’m rarely disappointed. Even though I do understand where people are coming from with their vitriol, I think many of the common criticisms of GOT Season 8 really aren’t as awful as they’re made out to be.

10. “Bran is the Worst Choice to be King”

Counterpoint: There’s Nobody Better, and Tywin Indirectly Says This

Many were critical of Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) being present at a council that voted him onto the ashes of the Iron Throne because he was never playing the titular Game of Thrones in the first place. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the reason the show gave for him being there (i.e., that he has the best story) was indeed ridiculous, but Bran being on the throne actually makes a whole lot of sense. First off, the only way to win the Game of Thrones is not to play at all because anyone who does it is likely going to get themselves killed. “You win or you die,” remember?

Apart from that, there’s a conversation that Tywin (Charles Dance) has with Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman) during Joffrey’s (Jack Gleeson) funeral. Tywin has a lot of great quotes in the show, so it’s easy to overlook this one. Tywin says that what makes a great king is not bravery or strength, but wisdom, the ability to know the mistakes of the past leaders and learn from them. Tywin bluntly states that Joffrey was not a good king because of this. That said, going by this logic, who better to choose for king than someone with the entire history of the world in their mind? Bran knows everything, knows the mistakes of the past, and will easily be able to use them to his advantage because of it. He has more wisdom than everyone else in the world combined. Tywin himself would likely, albeit begrudingly, agree that Bran is an ideal choice.

9. “Cersei’s Death Was Underwhelming”

Counterpoint: Maybe, but It Was the Perfect Ending for Jaime

Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) is sort of the main antagonist and is one of the most despicable characters in the show. She’s a cold, unfeeling monster who has caused untold suffering throughout the years, culminating in her violent acquisition of the Iron Throne. It’s natural that, after causing such misery, many are going to want to see some justice, preferably via a long, agonizing, and gruesome means of death. Thus, many were disappointed when she died because her castle collapsed on her, which is admittedly a bit symbolic, isn’t it?

Look, I get it, people wanted a more satisfying death for her, but I think there’s more than one way of looking at it. In the earlier seasons, Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) speak about how they’d like to die. Tyrion famously says he’d like to die surrounded by prostitutes, in his bed, at the age of 80, with a belly full of wine, but Jaime says he just wants to die in the arms of the woman he loves, which happens to be his twin sister, Cersei. As it turns out, Jaime is also crushed by the collapse of the Red Keep, as he and Cersei embrace one last time. Cersei might have deserved more pain, but Jaime got exactly the death he wanted and deserved.

8. “Arya Couldn’t Have Snuck Up on the Night King”

Counterpoint: She Trained with the Best Assassins in the World

Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) has always trained to be light on her feet in combat, from her “water-dancing” lessons in Season 1 to her time at the House of Black and White later on. A lot of fans felt that the moment Game of Thrones jumped the shark was when Arya came barrelling out of nowhere to attack and kill the Night King (Vladimír Furdík), because they felt it would be impossible for her to sneak past all those undead. However, it is literally shown earlier in the episode that Arya is good at being quick and quiet: She can sneak through a library full of wights without making a sound. It’s even shown that blood dripping on the ground makes more noise than she does.

On top of that, she’s snuck into numerous places before. No one ever questioned how she got into the Freys’ heavily-guarded castle before killing their serving girl unnoticed so Arya could assume her identity and get closer to Walder (David Bradley). Arya trained with the best assassins in the world; her ability to sneak up on the Night King isn’t really that far-fetched, in the eyes of this writer. And hey, maybe people just wanted somebody else to kill the Night King, but the fact of the matter is, it’s not really important who does it, because the character doesn’t even exist in the books.

7. “Daenerys Turning Into the Mad Queen Was Too Abrupt”

Counterpoint: Was It, Though?

Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) is a character with a lot of political undertones that people don’t always realize. From the first season, it was always implied that at some point, she would snap, as many characters joked that when a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin as to whether they’ll go insane or not. Much of the Targaryen family was unstable, but Dany herself didn’t appear to follow in their footsteps until the very last second. However, maybe she was just better at hiding her madness. Sure, she says she doesn’t want to be “Queen of the Ashes,” but her threats to burn Qarth to the ground in Season 2 suggest otherwise, as does her apparent callousness towards her enemies.

If you look at Jon (Kit Harington), even though he knows he has to kill his enemies sometimes, he still does his best to show them respect. Also, one has to consider why Dany likes freeing slaves and such. Is it because she actually cares for people, or because she wants people to revere her? In the end, Dany is supposed to be an example of the charismatic leader capable of rallying millions to their cause due to their perceived virtues, but who actually has a pretty sinister agenda. Yes, Daenerys could have been different, but her traumatic life was bound to make her at least a little hateful. Personally, after rewatching the series, I don’t think Daenerys rapidly declined at all during the penultimate episode; I think she was just tired of hiding who she really was.

6. “Jon Deserved Better”

Counterpoint: Jon Got Exactly What He Wanted

I think the main issue behind this criticism is that mainstream media has conditioned audiences into having super happy endings where the main character, who is usually an underdog, rises above the doubters and achieves greatness. Alas, things rarely unfold that way in the real world. Jon is a fan favorite character, and he’s been pretty vocal about not wanting to be in a position of power, despite receiving it. Seriously, how many times did he say he didn’t want the Iron Throne in the last season?

Jon’s exile beyond the Wall might seem unfair to some, but as Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) says: “If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.” It’s Game of Thrones, for crying out loud! Not everybody is going to end up living like a Disney princess at the end. Even if he could have it, Jon doesn’t want that kind of life: He grew up thinking he was an illegitimate child and lived in a world that shunned people like him. Jon never fit in, but felt most at home with a collection of other misfits beyond the Wall. Living in the wilderness with a bunch of outcasts is what Jon came to love most. It might not be the ending that fans wanted, and Jon can’t return to his home of Winterfell again, but he’s going to be fine beyond the Wall.

5. “The Azor Ahai Prophecy Was Never Fulfilled”

Counterpoint: Yes, but That’s Sort of the Point

The Azor Ahai Prophecy, also known as “The Prince (or Princess) That Was Promised,” is closely associated with the followers of R’hllor, the Lord of Light. Many have speculated as to who this “Chosen One” could be, with guesses ranging from Daenerys to Jon. These same fans were also disappointed when the prophecy didn’t play out like it said it would, not even in a metaphorical sense. The problem here isn’t that the prophecy didn’t happen; it’s that prophecies are an overused trope of fantasy, and viewers kind of expect it to come true.

The show is also quite clear about the nature of R’hllor’s cult. The human sacrifices don’t help anyone or do anything, and the afterlife they speak about doesn’t exist, as confirmed by Jon upon his resurrection. There’s no doubt that the priests of R’hllor are magical, but their entire belief system is flawed, to say the least. On top of that, while the prophecy is present in the books, author George R. R. Martin has written in the books that prophecies are effectively unreliable and rarely come true. Considering the circumstances, it actually makes a whole lot of sense that the prophecy never came true, because it probably wasn’t ever supposed to.

4. “The Army Should Have Stayed Behind the Walls of Winterfell”

Counterpoint: Have You Ever Seen ‘World War Z’?

Many are critical about the battle plans for the Battle of Winterfell midway through Season 8, stating that putting the troops out in front of the walls is foolish and needlessly reckless. In ordinary circumstances, the claim would probably be true, but ordinary circumstances these are not, and the army of the undead doesn’t follow the rules of battle. First off, having the Dothraki charge out to meet the undead in the open is actually kind of smart because the show even says that nobody can beat the Dothraki when they’re on horseback in an open field. It’s what they train for, so they’re totally in their element. If you’ve got an asset like this, it only makes sense to use it the way it’s meant to be used.

Also, it’s shown that the wights can scale the walls of Winterfell in no time flat by piling on top of each other, unlike ordinary humans who would require ladders or siege engines to scale the walls. It’s like that scene from World War Z in the safe zone. Staying behind the walls might seem like a good idea at first, but once the undead get over the wall in a matter of seconds, you’ve basically confined yourself to a pen, like a pig waiting for slaughter. There were some aspects of the battle that I will freely admit were poorly thought out, but this wasn’t one of them.

3. “The Ending Was Rushed”

Counterpoint: Well, Kind of, but in Contrast to the Books, at Least We Got an Ending

Okay, so I can admit that the ending was rushed, particularly episode 4, which felt like it was going a mile a minute. Did some aspects feel like they went by way too fast? Absolutely. Did some elements feel a bit brushed to the side? No question about it. But to be honest, there are some important questions to consider. Namely, how can we expect the showrunners to write a better ending than the author of the books, who has yet to write the ending himself? Especially considering it’s been nearly 15 years since the last book came out, and George R. R. Martin still hasn’t released the next installment.

The show ended up outpacing the books due to the languid release schedule, and so the showrunners kind of had to work with what they’d got, which was a few rough notes and not much else. To such a complex story like this one, the only one who could have produced a proper, perfect ending to the story is Martin himself, and it doesn’t seem like that’ll be happening any time soon, if at all. Maybe the ending was rushed; I can concede that point. But I’m at least happy that the story got some form of conclusion, because as the years go by, I’m growing increasingly skeptical that Martin will finish the books at all.

2. “We Never Found Out Who the Night King Was or What He Wanted”

Counterpoint: Yes, We Did

A lot of theories and buzz surrounded Game of Thrones as its eighth season rapidly approached, with many believing that the Night King could be Bran, or a Targaryen, or a Stark, or any number of characters from the lore. The fact of the matter is, these theories were fruitless from the start because the show already showed who the Night King actually was and what purpose he served. There’s a flashback sequence in the sixth season where Bran discovers how the White Walkers were created. The Night King was the first White Walker, and the moment of his conception is depicted on screen.

He’s a nameless nobody, one of the First Men that existed thousands of years ago, who was turned into a killing machine by the Children of the Forest in an effort to combat the invading humans. This moment is shown in full detail to the point that it’s kind of hard to beat around the bush. The White Walkers’ only intentions are to destroy humanity because that’s why they were created in the first place. Also, there was zero chance of the Night King ever being anybody important because, as mentioned, he isn’t even in the books, so for him to be a more major person would be ridiculous.

1. “So Many Minor Plotlines Went Nowhere”

Counterpoint: Do You Really Want to Watch Six Boring Hours of TV Where Every Loose End is Tied Up?

Fine, many minor Game of Thrones plotlines went nowhere, but sometimes that’s okay. There were so many in this show that tying up every teeny tiny loose end would not only be a very long affair, but an exceptionally boring one. Do we really need to know what happened to every single person, every single location, and every single item that seemed to be of minor importance? I get that people want to know and hate having questions unanswered, but book adaptations can rarely do that without being way more boring.

If the books or future shows want to answer more, they will answer more, but it’s not always up to Game of Thrones to answer every single burning question that viewers have without sounding like a broken record, especially considering these answers would likely be pretty mundane. For example: what happened to Quaithe (Laura Pradelska). She probably just went about her business as usual because her story is done, and there’s nothing left for her to realistically do. But if the show were to acknowledge that, suddenly bringing back a character that hasn’t been seen since Season 2, only to show her doing nothing at all, it wouldn’t work very well for television, now would it?