Six months on, was the final season of Game of Thrones really that bad?

So just how bad was the ending to Game of Thrones, really?

*Let's get this out of the way. Here is your SPOILER WARNING, if somehow you haven't seen the end of Game of Thrones.* Cast your minds back six months. Basically every single person you know was impatiently awaiting the release of the final season of Game of Thrones. It was going to be the biggest spectacle in the history of television and people's expectations were extremely high, due to the standards the show had set since it first arrived on screens back in 2011. But the show that arrived on screens for its final season did not resemble the one that fans had grown to love. Not at all. Fans were very much divided by the show's final episodes, but the negative voices were louder. And they grew louder with every episode. Then we got to the finale, and those negative cries grew as loud as the bells that Daenerys chose to ignore in the episode previous. How bad did people find the final episode? Well, a petition was set up to rewrite the final season with "competent writers", which amassed almost two million signatures. People laughed off such a ridiculous idea, but - unreliability of internet mobs notwithstanding - it did show just how outraged fans were with the show's ending. But why? What was wrong with the show's finale? What was the big issue? Let's take a look.

Daenerys

We'll start with the dragon in the room - Daenerys Targaryen turning into the Mad Queen. Controversially enough, this writer really doesn't think that this was that bad. At least it made some sense. It wasn't completely out of nowhere. She had a reason to go nuts and kill everyone. It doesn't mean that it was the right/natural place for the story to go, but there was a slight bit of logic behind it. After all... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLChspuSHBE Clip via Karaskent And... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_v6VINwkEk Clip via Ivar Ragnarsson Add that to the fact that she no longer trusted anyone in Westeros, and we can kind of see why she went so mad. So let's give the GoT folk a pass for that one, even though they definitely didn't handle it in the best way possible.

Tyrion

Let's talk about everyone's favourite character. Did he get a satisfying ending? Definitely not. The smartest character in the series, responsible for some of the best plans and one-liners in the show, was reduced to a bit of a pointless fool by the end of it. Constantly messing up, no longer being at the heart of the storyline and ultimately being proven wrong by putting all his faith in Dany, the Tyrion we knew and loved was well and truly gone. A real shame. Remember scenes like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Uq8O5ZhUA Clip via Deventh Those were the days...

Jaime and Cersei

And now we move on to perhaps the most frustraing issue of all - Jaime and Cersei's death. For lots of people, all they wanted from the final season was a strong ending for Jaime. He was their favourite character and whatever happened to him would be their defining memory of the show. Would he kill Cersei, finally recognising how evil she is? Would he settle down with Brienne after spending a night with her? Would he die defending the good guys, doing a complete 180 on the Kingslayer character people had come to know and fear? Nope. He would sleep with Brienne, abandon her, go back to Cersei and profess his love for her, meanwhile telling Tyrion that he doesn't care about anyone but her. Completely going against what he said in his best ever scene in the show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOpQqVCt-Jc Clip via GameofThrones Willing to risk his reputation in an attempt to save the lives of many? Nope. That went right out the window. A good guy, who walked away from Cersei at the end of Season 7? Nope. Like his brother, the character we grew to know and love was gone. Dead. BUTCHERED. And their death scene was just as ridiculous. Cersei, the "true villain" of the show. The woman who kicked all of this off in season one, died in the arms of her lover, knowing that he always loved her back. You could even make the case that she won.

The Night King

Finally, The Night King. My GOD. Could they have messed this up any more? A nine-year build-up. The constant fear and discussion of what would happen when winter finally arrived. And what happened? Dick all. Sweet DICK ALL. Not only did Arya take out the entire white walker army with ease, no characters of real significance died. Sure, Theon and Jorah bit the dust, but who cares? Brienne, Sam, Tyrion, Sansa, Jon, Dany, Tormund, Gendry or Arya all could have croaked it and it would have had a far greater impact on the show. But nope. Just good ol' Theon and Jorah. The Long Night MY ASS. And finally, let's just do a little quickfire round of things that seemed really important but really meant nothing. Here goes:

• Jon being a Targaryen
• The Night King existing in the first place
• Bran disappearing during the final battle scene
• Arya being trained as a faceless assassin
• Jon being a Targaryen
• The rest of Arya's list
• What was up with Arya's horse?
• Why did Bran let all of these horrible things happen?
• Jon being a FUCKING Targaryen

So in conclusion - was the final season of Game of Thrones all that bad? Yes. It was. And maybe a little bit worse again. Now if you'll excuse us, we're going to go and rewatch LOST again.