Written by: Kevin Berge
Arya went through everything so that she could pull off one great feat then be completely forgotten for the rest of the season. Glad she learned how to change faces for 3 seasons. (Image Courtesy of: HBO.com)
Quick Take: Game of Thrones Season 8 rushes to the finish with writing that doesn't always feel like it lines up with the character development of the past seven seasons. While it is immaculately crafted with gorgeous sets and mostly impressive special effects, it does not feel like it does justice to the world or a cast fully invested in this final act.
Game of Thrones Reviews: Season 1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 | S7 | Reflection
***This review will contain heavy spoilers, expecting the reader to have seen the entirety of Game of Thrones as a series. If you have not and plan to, do not read past this point.***
How do you end a massive epic at the scale of Game of Thrones? The answer is complicated, and few if any are completely correct. For this reason, I find it easy to forgive the sloppy, rushed final season of a show that captured my attention more than just about any other.
An ending is a powerful moment in a story. It is meant to wrap up all that came before, satisfy all those who stuck around for the journey. It is difficult with a story this massive particularly one rushed to the finish with no clearly defined material behind it.
With George R. R. Martin's source material ending with season 5, much was left to the show-runners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, who were only left with an outline that could have been 10 bullet points or a detailed breakdown of every major story beat left to tell. No one really knows.
Season 8 suffers far worse than its predecessors because it has put everything into one final set of six episodes. The final conflicts are all wrapped into a short final act that needs to somehow satisfy everyone involved in this journey. It does not succeed, and there are many reasons why.
Benioff and Weiss took over this franchise full stop during the transition, and, looking over the screenplay credits, it is clear that they tried to keep the final act of this franchise as tight and focused as possible. They had a vision spurred by an outline that might not have always lined up with their ideas.
I think there are several key moments in this season that show that the two struggled to follow the guidelines of Martin without having his actual material to work with. This is particularly clear in the final few episodes where decisions are made on a whim likely because it's what GRRM wanted.
At the same time, this final season also shows creators struggling to hold onto the nuance that made the series work in the first place. Even if Benioff and Weiss had complete freedom, they would have still struggled at times to match the level of connected consistency that made people fall in love with GOT.
***This review will contain heavy spoilers, expecting the reader to have seen the entirety of Game of Thrones as a series. If you have not and plan to, do not read past this point.***
How do you end a massive epic at the scale of Game of Thrones? The answer is complicated, and few if any are completely correct. For this reason, I find it easy to forgive the sloppy, rushed final season of a show that captured my attention more than just about any other.
An ending is a powerful moment in a story. It is meant to wrap up all that came before, satisfy all those who stuck around for the journey. It is difficult with a story this massive particularly one rushed to the finish with no clearly defined material behind it.
With George R. R. Martin's source material ending with season 5, much was left to the show-runners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, who were only left with an outline that could have been 10 bullet points or a detailed breakdown of every major story beat left to tell. No one really knows.
Season 8 suffers far worse than its predecessors because it has put everything into one final set of six episodes. The final conflicts are all wrapped into a short final act that needs to somehow satisfy everyone involved in this journey. It does not succeed, and there are many reasons why.
Benioff and Weiss took over this franchise full stop during the transition, and, looking over the screenplay credits, it is clear that they tried to keep the final act of this franchise as tight and focused as possible. They had a vision spurred by an outline that might not have always lined up with their ideas.
I think there are several key moments in this season that show that the two struggled to follow the guidelines of Martin without having his actual material to work with. This is particularly clear in the final few episodes where decisions are made on a whim likely because it's what GRRM wanted.
At the same time, this final season also shows creators struggling to hold onto the nuance that made the series work in the first place. Even if Benioff and Weiss had complete freedom, they would have still struggled at times to match the level of connected consistency that made people fall in love with GOT.
GOT would like everyone to know that it doesn't matter what you do or who you try to be. Eventually, you always succumb to your own blood... unless you're raised by a Stark I guess. (Image Courtesy of: HBO.com)
Not everything in this season is bad. It is gorgeously crafted with every episode a feast of cinematic spectacle. "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" is one of the better episodes of the series, capturing the dialogue-heavy drama that the series does so well that creating the looming dread of the approaching battle.
"The Long Night" is a sloppy episode down the stretch that doesn't answer as much as it should, but it is a gorgeous spectacle of war that shows Miguel Sapochnik is still the best action director the series ever had. There are also moment in "The Iron Throne" that shine through even if the final stretch is a mess.
The acting is largely excellent throughout. In particular, despite Daenerys' frustrating usage particularly in the season's (and perhaps the show's) worst episode "The Bells", Emilia Clarke turns in the best performance of her career, often carrying Kit Harington whose limited range in on full display in a one-note final act.
Lena Headey deserved better than the extremely limited final moments she got here while Peter Dinklage and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau are excellent with what they are given. Many other actors also get limited but important moments to shine.
I just wish that this series had given more time and attention to what it was trying to say. In particular, the treatment of Dany is a misfire that never works and ultimately feels like a sloppy attempt to discredit the good name of the most important character to the franchise.
The series' final 30 minutes are also a rushed and botched attempt to wrap up the story that never feels earned. If this was the ending GRRM wanted, the show never seemed to be poised to deliver it. It would have been better if they had taken their own path at the end. In particular, this feels true with Bran whose anointment as king is laughable.
I have many times already said my piece about how good this series is and the effect it had as a franchise. It was never truly perfect, but it was a spectacular accomplishment. I do wish that more time and attention had been given to this last act; however, an ending does not define an entire story.
In spite of everything in this final season (with season seven its own disappointment in many ways), I will return to this series many times in the coming years to enjoy its best moments. Maybe I'll even get a chance to read Winds of Winter around 2030.
"The Long Night" is a sloppy episode down the stretch that doesn't answer as much as it should, but it is a gorgeous spectacle of war that shows Miguel Sapochnik is still the best action director the series ever had. There are also moment in "The Iron Throne" that shine through even if the final stretch is a mess.
The acting is largely excellent throughout. In particular, despite Daenerys' frustrating usage particularly in the season's (and perhaps the show's) worst episode "The Bells", Emilia Clarke turns in the best performance of her career, often carrying Kit Harington whose limited range in on full display in a one-note final act.
Lena Headey deserved better than the extremely limited final moments she got here while Peter Dinklage and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau are excellent with what they are given. Many other actors also get limited but important moments to shine.
I just wish that this series had given more time and attention to what it was trying to say. In particular, the treatment of Dany is a misfire that never works and ultimately feels like a sloppy attempt to discredit the good name of the most important character to the franchise.
The series' final 30 minutes are also a rushed and botched attempt to wrap up the story that never feels earned. If this was the ending GRRM wanted, the show never seemed to be poised to deliver it. It would have been better if they had taken their own path at the end. In particular, this feels true with Bran whose anointment as king is laughable.
I have many times already said my piece about how good this series is and the effect it had as a franchise. It was never truly perfect, but it was a spectacular accomplishment. I do wish that more time and attention had been given to this last act; however, an ending does not define an entire story.
In spite of everything in this final season (with season seven its own disappointment in many ways), I will return to this series many times in the coming years to enjoy its best moments. Maybe I'll even get a chance to read Winds of Winter around 2030.
