“Look how they have massacred my boy.” These famous words by Don Corleone in the “Godfather” perfectly exemplifies the newest and last season of “Game of Thrones.” David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have destroyed one of the greatest shows on television. Here are the major reasons from this and last season (caution: there are spoilers).
- Reason & logic have left the show:
In a show about dragons and White Walkers, we can give it some slack on realism, but this season and last season have just gotten a bit ridiculous. In season seven episode six, Daenerys saves Jon Snow and company from the White Walkers with her dragons. She, however, was in Dragonstone which is 1,500 miles away from The Wall. This means that a raven had to fly from Castle Black to Dragonstone then Daenerys to The Wall in at most a few hours based off the light changes in the episode. Now the only way this is possible is if both the raven and Daenerys’ dragons were all F-22 Raptor fighter jets, which is very unlikely based off travel times in the rest of the show. Also Daenerys herself would not have survived the journey if she were traveling at those speeds.
In episode four of season eight, Rhaegal was killed in an ambush by Euron Greyjoy. Rhaegal was shot multiple times by ballistae with such pinpoint accuracy that the show is just being ridiculous. How are all those soldiers supposed to hit a moving target while on a moving boat while operating a newly invented weapon that they surely do not have a surplus of practice with?
- Continuity is gone:
The White Walkers are built up for eight seasons. They are seen as the primary threat in “Game of Thrones.” Then a 110-pound girl just ends it. I can not even begin to describe how anti-climactic this is. It goes against all of the prophecies and build-up this show has done. It’s like if Tony Stark killed Thanos in the first Avengers movie, and all the rest of the Avengers movies were about fighting Ebony Maw (and if you don’t remember who that is you see my point).
In episode four of season eight, Cersei has the chance to kill Daenerys, Drogon and all of Daenerys’ advisors if she let her ballistae and archers fire during the negotiation scene outside King’s Landing. It was very against her character not to do this because she is known for making large plays without caring for the consequences (example: blowing up the Sept of Baelor).
What is going on with Jamie? He had this brilliant redemption arc that spanned almost the entire show. He finally decides to be a good man and follow his oath as a knight, but then he just throws it all away for Cersei.
- Characters being dumb
Varys and Tyrion were the smartest people in “Game of Thrones” for a long time, but in this season they both have failed to give Daenerys any good advice. They have helped her lose both Dorne and the Reach, and they advised her not to attack Cersei when she had the upper hand. If Daenerys ends up losing to Cersei, then Varys and Tyrion have single-handedly lost one of the biggest leads in TV history.
Why couldn’t Jon just keep his mouth shut about his parentage? He claims that he had to tell his family, but his role model, Ned Stark, kept the secret for years without telling anyone. Then when he tells them, Arya leaves even though she said moments before that “We are the last Starks,” seemingly meaning they need to stick together. Then Sansa, who swore not to tell, instantly told Tyrion. I mean come on, your dad took that secret to the grave, and you couldn’t keep it for five minutes.
Sansa irrationally hates Daenerys. She has no reason to hate Daenerys, yet she is constantly undermining and insulting her. She also has this weird idea that Jon would be a better ruler, but whenever Jon makes a decision she undermines him as well.
But regardless of how stupid the characters are, or how illogical the show is, what really matters is the entertainment value, and this season has lacked that. The Battle for Winterfell was supposed to be the biggest and best battle of the show, but it was very lacking. It was quite dark, and it was mostly just people being overwhelmed by wights. It lacked the cool sword fights and grittiness that made us love previous battles. The plot seems rushed and unfinished as if the producers just wanted to get it over with. It breaks my heart to see a show that I love fall to pieces. Hopefully, George R.R. Martin releases the next book soon.
