Game of Thrones (HBO) - Final Season 8

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And when compared to other shows, the last season is still the best worst :)
 
Don't forget folks, GRRM has not finished the final books yet. So when and if those ever see the light of day, he'll have created the proper ending that we all deserve.

I've read the first novel, but I've actively chosen not to continue with the book series unless/until Martin finishes it. If he does, I plan to read it from start to finish, in one gigantic marathon. Would take me months, no doubt, but what a tremendous few months of reading it would be.
 
I don’t see him finishing it, just signed a big deal with hbo to develop new content.

The spin-off potential is huge.
But come on man, you can not leave your fans hanging like this.
 
I've read the first novel, but I've actively chosen not to continue with the book series unless/until Martin finishes it. If he does, I plan to read it from start to finish, in one gigantic marathon. Would take me months, no doubt, but what a tremendous few months of reading it would be.

Take your time. It's a sad day when you finish them.
 
Exactly this.

For me, it stopped being a great show after season 4. But for it's final four seasons, it became, and remained, a very good show throughout. Including the final season.
Exactly the same as The West Wing, 4 seasons of the greatest TV you're ever likely to see, then Sorkin left and the rest was great, but not quite up to the same standard, but still better than most of the other stuff out there.

I know a lot of people say they'll never rewatch GoT because of the last season, but it certainly won't stop me. The last season wasn't up to the same standard, but it was still pretty damn good.

It's not like Lost, which I will never watch again, after the way it ended.
 
Yes indeed, money talks, he has no chance of finishing he books
Agree, bear in mind his age and the fact he has 2 books to finish I don’t see it happening. I loved David Gemmell and when his life was cut tragically short his wife wrote the third of his Troy trilogy with the help of his unfinished work and some other writers assistance. To be fair I didn’t notice a drop in standards, don’t want to sound pessimistic but it could still be finished by another author, I assume he has the path all mapped out. I just pray that’s it different to what was served up by the two David’s.
 
I know a lot of people say they'll never rewatch GoT because of the last season, but it certainly won't stop me. The last season wasn't up to the same standard, but it was still pretty damn good.

It's not like Lost, which I will never watch again, after the way it ended.
I’ve watched a couple of episodes but it’s hard to invest in the characters when you see what became of them through poor and rushed choices.
One of the big problems is the way Jon Snows story arc was just thrown in the bin. There was so much potential for his lineage to be fully explored and yet his end was ignominious to say the least. Same for the night king, the vaunted golden company, Jamie’s choices. I could go on and on but for me the difficulty in rewatching is knowing what a complete hash the two David’s made of it all just to cut and run to their next tv deal. Said it before but HBO should have replaced them with new show runners who would have given the story more room to breathe. The sad thing for me and for them ( because I’m sure they’re aware about all the negativity ) is that the last season completely undermined all of the rest.
 
Yes indeed, money talks, he has no chance of finishing he books

I guess it's a question of priorities. You have to say that the last two books will be huge earners, considering the legion of fans desperate for them.
But if TV shows are the bigger cash cow, then I guess he'll focus on them. There are only so many hours in the day.
I wouldn't be surprised though if he's just fed up with the whole thing, and it's a chore to finish. Why not sit back, and watch the licensing money come rolling in, while other people do the work?
 
I haven't read the whole thread so I'm sure anything I might say about the last season will already have been said, but my god the last season was bad. In truth, the few seasons before that were wobbly, but it season 8 was legitimately atrocious writing with excellent production values and acting.
 
I haven't read the whole thread so I'm sure anything I might say about the last season will already have been said, but my god the last season was bad. In truth, the few seasons before that were wobbly, but it season 8 was legitimately atrocious writing with excellent production values and acting.
You’re not alone, I’m sure if the actors hadn’t been nailed down with some kind of gagging clause and self preservation you’d be hearing a lot more. I’m aware of the whispers that a great many of them were unhappy with the way it all played out.
 
I've read the first novel, but I've actively chosen not to continue with the book series unless/until Martin finishes it. If he does, I plan to read it from start to finish, in one gigantic marathon. Would take me months, no doubt, but what a tremendous few months of reading it would be.

Same here and then realised I was on a fools errand as there's no way Martin's finishing the books.

With regards the final season I've said this before I know, but I can't recommend enough that accompanying documentary - The Last Watch I think it was called.

Explains everything without actually saying it. The production was spent, no-one had anything left to give. You can tell in the interviews that the hearts had gone, they just wanted it to end.

The show was ultimately a victim of it's own success. A victim of setting the bar so high and so early, it just couldn't possibly me maintained.
 
I’ve watched a couple of episodes but it’s hard to invest in the characters when you see what became of them through poor and rushed choices.
One of the big problems is the way Jon Snows story arc was just thrown in the bin. There was so much potential for his lineage to be fully explored and yet his end was ignominious to say the least. Same for the night king, the vaunted golden company, Jamie’s choices. I could go on and on but for me the difficulty in rewatching is knowing what a complete hash the two David’s made of it all just to cut and run to their next tv deal. Said it before but HBO should have replaced them with new show runners who would have given the story more room to breathe. The sad thing for me and for them ( because I’m sure they’re aware about all the negativity ) is that the last season completely undermined all of the rest.
There were quite a lot of gaffes in the last few seasons of GOT which many questioned and laughed about but the standard of the show and characterisation made them all very easily forgivable..... until season 8. I would really like to watch the series again but they binned too many story arcs in the end which made the earlier questions and mysteries that kept us on the hook pretty pointless. Always the prequels I guess ???
 
I was a fan of the books before the TV show, and that will obviously colour my view, but for me the show steadily declined in quality when they ran out of source material. Not to say there weren't highlights in later seasons (until 8), but I felt something quite important was lost.

I know it was a bit of a joke, but Ed Sheeran's incredibly on-the-nose cameo was a pretty pertinent symbol of the transition. The show transitioned from a very carefully built fantasy world with 'realistic' characters and motivations to a painfully self-aware pop culture event.

Martin's books are really not that cinematic a lot of the time- they are about characters contending with Machiavellian realism and realistic emotional reactions in a fantasy setting. His writing feels very organic. There is rarely a sense of him 'forcing' things to happen. The screenwriters just completely abandoned this to speed the show to a conclusion. It was a different show entirely by the end.
 
I was a fan of the books before the TV show, and that will obviously colour my view, but for me the show steadily declined in quality when they ran out of source material. Not to say there weren't highlights in later seasons (until 8), but I felt something quite important was lost.

I know it was a bit of a joke, but Ed Sheeran's incredibly on-the-nose cameo was a pretty pertinent symbol of the transition. The show transitioned from a very carefully built fantasy world with 'realistic' characters and motivations to a painfully self-aware pop culture event.

Martin's books are really not that cinematic a lot of the time- they are about characters contending with Machiavellian realism and realistic emotional reactions in a fantasy setting. His writing feels very organic. There is rarely a sense of him 'forcing' things to happen. The screenwriters just completely abandoned this to speed the show to a conclusion. It was a different show entirely by the end.

That's a succinct explanation of why I enjoyed A Game of Thrones so much. I think the fact that it was set in a fantasy realm was pretty much by-the-by - it was a story firmly about the characters who lived there, not the place itself. It read more like a historical novel than a fantasy novel (aside from the dragon cameo at the very end! :p)

100% I'd have read on if the series was complete.
 
I'll admit it - I'm still sore about how the show ended. I did a rewatch during lockdown and I had to quit after The Long Night. I knew that I would be too annoyed at some of the content of the final episodes to make it worth continuing. It is a shame, because it used to be excellent television.

I wish Martin would complete the novel series, but it's not looking good. And in all fairness, much as I loved most of the books in the series, there is some content towards the end that bugs me, too, and I didn't think A Dance with Dragons was as captivating as what came before, especially not as A Storm of Swords. I'd still read The Winds of Winter if it were ever released, though.

In the meanwhile, I'll go look for that documentary richp007 recommended. Thank you!
 
I can’t bear to rewatch any of it. The last season was beyond terrible! I’d be writing for pages if I had to list everything that was wrong with it. 🤦‍♀️ I’ve read all the books and I guess I’m only hoping for GRRM to finish the book series because I want an ending worthy of such a phenomenal story. Or at least one which makes sense, because the show made none at all.
 
I can’t bear to rewatch any of it. The last season was beyond terrible! I’d be writing for pages if I had to list everything that was wrong with it. 🤦‍♀️ I’ve read all the books and I guess I’m only hoping for GRRM to finish the book series because I want an ending worthy of such a phenomenal story. Or at least one which makes sense, because the show made none at all.
I know the feeling. Honestly, it was some of the worst writing I’ve ever witnessed.
 
I can’t bear to rewatch any of it. The last season was beyond terrible! I’d be writing for pages if I had to list everything that was wrong with it. 🤦‍♀️ I’ve read all the books and I guess I’m only hoping for GRRM to finish the book series because I want an ending worthy of such a phenomenal story. Or at least one which makes sense, because the show made none at all.
Could not agree more. The early seasons have been ruined by the fact that the majority of plots that were being setup ended up being ignored. There is no point watching a show that does not have a proper resolution no matter how good the writing was in early seasons. Like yourself my list of grievances with the show are long, but I genuinely don’t care enough anymore to list. A show that thankfully has ended and does not have to be endured any longer.
 
I know the feeling. Honestly, it was some of the worst writing I’ve ever witnessed.

They rushed it, when it needed three more seasons not just one, and they had no clue how to get the characters to the end GRRM had envisaged. That’s how it seemed to me. Sadly, the huge brand that GOT had created just crashed and burned after the finale, it must have been so disappointing for some the actors whose characters were done such a disservice. They may not have voiced what they felt but it was pretty obvious reading between the lines.

Could not agree more. The early seasons have been ruined by the fact that the majority of plots that were being setup ended up being ignored. There is no point watching a show that does not have a proper resolution no matter how good the writing was in early seasons. Like yourself my list of grievances with the show are long, but I genuinely don’t care enough anymore to list. A show that thankfully has ended and does not have to be endured any longer.

Well put. I completely agree. The two major story arcs for me were Jon’s and Bran’s, both of which, ended up going precisely nowhere.
 
Whenever I see this thread I can't help thinking about those final 2 seasons and how bad they were. Bad because what preceded them was of such a high quality, that any drop in standard would have been significant and noticeable. And that's exactly what happened.

The conclusion of multiple story arcs were unsatisfactory as well.

I'm not angry though, I'll just always be disappointed.
 
I used to watch every season as and when it came out and then bought, and watched, the blu ray on release... I've not watched the final season, nor bought the blu ray, since it went out on TV... This is despite saying I wanted to.. I've just not been bothered about getting back to it...

..all that said, I still watch a few choice episodes when I'm in the mood - battle of the bastards and hardhome to name a couple..
 
I used to watch every season as and when it came out and then bought, and watched, the blu ray on release... I've not watched the final season, nor bought the blu ray, since it went out on TV... This is despite saying I wanted to.. I've just not been bothered about getting back to it...

..all that said, I still watch a few choice episodes when I'm in the mood - battle of the bastards and hardhome to name a couple..

That episode of Hardhome promised so much when The Nights King first took notice of Jon Snow. And then in the end they never delivered on it.

I'm quite sure Martin has a very different outcome for that in the books.
 
I can still watch the first 6 seasons and appreciate that they are some of the best TV ever made. Yes they threw a lot of it in the bin towards the end but I can still enjoy them as they were then. I just wipe my mind of how it all turns out and try and remember how it was watching them the first time around.

The magic of the show for me was the politics and the plots - characters like Littlefinger and the clever twists and turns. The fantasy stuff with the dragons was icing on a wonderful cake. In season 7 it turned into an action movie with plot armour and things that made no sense - but it just about got away with it due to the serious character work and how good the previous seasons were. Plus the hope that season 8 would be great....

I just started season 8 after watching the other 7 for about the fourth time last year. Episode one still has some little bits of magic. I thought the big (disappointing) scrap was in episode 1 but i now think it might be episode 3 as all the sitting around talking the night before has not even happened yet!
 
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