My Spoiler-free, GoT Season 8 Experience
After a three month marathon, I caught up to the fifth episode of season 8 on Saturday and got to watch the final episode of Game of Thrones the following night. It was more like an epilogue to a story already finished than an epic finale.
Many opinions swarm the internet about that ending. It was good, it was bad, it had its reasons, it was enough, it got it all wrong ... Honestly, the clashing of fierce disappointment and the softer approval just makes my stomach sick. Not even the ending, just the reaction. Extreme opinions seem to come with the loss of logical reasoning.
For a remedy to my sick stomach, I went and found GoT actor and actresses’ Instagram accounts and quickly went through their feeds. There, I found a far more familiar, far easier to digest genuine love and pride for what they accomplished. For all that the ending was far from perfect, what they had done was an amazing feat and the show still has an abundant bloom of lessons for writers, lessons both good and bad, but mostly good.
I think the bad of this final season comes down to one thing: it was rushed. That is it. It rushed relationships, rushed decisions, rushed the timing-- it simply made everything too hurried. I’m sure the team, however much they love it, were burnt out and ready to be done. I know the feeling. Unfortunately, it came through in these last ten episodes (counting the seventh season). If they hadn’t rushed, it would’ve been of quality most expect of a GoT episode. What actually happened in the season was beautiful and just as it should’ve been. The only problem is that they simply didn’t allow time to transition into those events.
Unlike most of the hardcore fans, I started watching GoT about three or four months ago. It’s been a while since I’ve been so thoroughly obsessed with a story. I dropped other shows to watch this one. The ending to such a saga would’ve ultimately let down many people no matter what--it’s nearly impossible to put perfect closure and question on an ending when the story’s of such a size and depth. Because with worlds and character’s like these, you’ve seen them age a lifetime, and a part of you expects to see them until they’re on their deathbed. You can’t simply leave the world because you know it’s not going to end once you leave. You know the world is going to still be there, continuing just out of reach.
And that makes me realize.
For what is dead may never die.