Honestly, what do you think about Season 8? Mod warning post #1/#410

loyatemu · 21-05-2019 09:18AM

Meh. That's really all I can say about the final episode. It was reminiscent of the interminable ending to LOTR.

All the subtlety and surprise of the earlier seasons was lost in seasons 7 & 8. The battle scenes were spectacular and there some other good scenes but too much of it was clunky exposition and driven by the requirement wrap things up quickly.

Diceicle · 21-05-2019 10:02AM

Season 8 seemed to get a bit of hate online and some of that is natural though even for a total writing-no-mark like me it seemed rushed and poorly executed in parts.
All in all the final episode of the final season was anti-climactic.
No big showdown with Danerys (sp?). Didn't even have to slay a Dragon. They could have done another 2 episodes with a massive battle of Starks Vs Danerys and dragon.
And what was the story with the romance with Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister?
It was a far remove from the show that gave us the red-wedding.

Shapiro gives a pretty reasonable overview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWI96_RpOE4

golfball37 · 21-05-2019 10:17AM

Mickeroo wrote: »

I didn't really have an issue with where the characters ended up and what happened but everything was just so rushed it made all the big moments feel extremely hollow and a bit flat.

My thoughts exactly. Had we arrived at that ending after a few episodes build up and at least a few episodes of Dany being mad then the ending would have been fine. The long night ended too abruptly too in retrospect.

21-05-2019 10:19AM

It's a shame that it was cancelled after season 6

Xcellor · 21-05-2019 10:21AM

Bran being king. The most boring character who always looks half baked... Anyone but Bran...

sbsquarepants · 21-05-2019 10:28AM

I'm with you on Bran - far and away my least favourite character. Final episode was a big disappointment for me in general. The carry on with the dragon was beyond ridiculous!

sbsquarepants · 21-05-2019 10:31AM

Beric Dondarrion wrote: »

At least then Game of Thrones would have joined the ranks of their other shows that were closed out in a satisfactory way (The Wire, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under) and other networks' shows (Breaking Bad).

The Sopranos ending was possibly the worst ending to any show I've ever watched!

Mickeroo · 21-05-2019 10:40AM

golfball37 wrote: »

My thoughts exactly. Had we arrived at that ending after a few episodes build up and at least a few episodes of Dany being mad then the ending would have been fine. The long night ended too abruptly too in retrospect.

I genuinely think it would have benefited from making two full ten episode seasons out of the last 6 episodes we got. Have the penultimate season end with the battle of winterfell and then have a whole season to deal with Dany/Cersei.

TerrorFirmer · 21-05-2019 10:46AM

Mickeroo wrote: »

I genuinely think it would have benefited from making two full ten episode seasons out of the last 6 episodes we got. Have the penultimate season end with the battle of winterfell and then have a whole season to deal with Dany/Cersei.

The worst part is that what was crucially missing was dialogue driven interactions and character development to support directions the show went in.

It's not like people are calling out for more explosions, battles, dragons or whatever.

It just feels like the writers thought it was too much effort.

In fact, the only decent dialogue driven episode of S8 is E02, and that wasn't even written by Benioff and Weiss. Pretty telling.

IAmTheReign · 21-05-2019 10:50AM

I actually thought the first half of the last episode was good, right up until the scene with Tyrion declaring the new king. The sudden jump from Jon killing Dany to that was extremely jarring. I honesty thought with the way that scene started they were getting ready to execute Tyrion. From there on out not a whole lot made sense;

Why didn't the Unsullied kill Jon?
How did they even know Dany was dead?
Who picks a king in 5 minutes?
Bran? The same person who said he could never be a lord is happy to become king?
Why did no one mention Jon being the rightful heir to the throne, not even in passing? I mean Varys was sending all those letters
Where were the Tullys and the Dornish this whole time?
Why would Sansa say the Northmen wouldn't bend the knee when the new king is the rightful heir to Winterfell?
Why didn't anyone else try for independence?
Why did Bronn need to be in this season at all?

It's honestly the only time I've followed a show for this long and genuinely felt happy that it's all over. I think that's a real shame.

Diceicle · 21-05-2019 11:00AM

Mickeroo wrote: »

I genuinely think it would have benefited from making two full ten episode seasons out of the last 6 episodes we got. Have the penultimate season end with the battle of winterfell and then have a whole season to deal with Dany/Cersei.

There's another epic death they missed out on / screwed up.
I figured Cersei would have met her faith (if at all) by way of having Dany blow her out of the tower with Dragon fire or melt her as she sat on the Iron Throne - something epic. But instead a load of bricks fell on her.

21-05-2019 11:36AM

sbsquarepants wrote: »

The Sopranos ending was possibly the worst ending to any show I've ever watched!

It was pretty well done.

You'd be in the minority on that one.

Bit of reaction at the time about the very last scene but as time goes on that restaurant scene at the end is seen as clever.

got is a shambles in comparison

MisterAnarchy · 21-05-2019 11:45AM

Xcellor wrote: »

Bran being king. The most boring character who always looks half baked... Anyone but Bran...

Didn't Bran mumble a few weeks ago after the Battle of Winterfell that he was no longer the Lord of Winterfell ,he was no longer Bran Stark ,he was now the Three Eyed Raven .

In the finale he seems to be back to Bran and gagging to be King .

There has been no logic in Series 8 ,none at all.

loyatemu · 21-05-2019 11:47AM

Diceicle wrote: »

There's another epic death they missed out on / screwed up.
I figured Cersei would have met her faith (if at all) by way of having Dany blow her out of the tower with Dragon fire or melt her as she sat on the Iron Throne - something epic.

that would have been great.

similarly they could have had Jon sit on the throne after offing Dany and wait for Drogon to come and finish him off.

Drogon could also have brought Dany north of the wall to have her ressurected as the Night Queen.

valoren · 21-05-2019 11:48AM

It was perhaps a victim of it's own success. The earlier seasons before it became a pop culture phenomenon were wrought with dialogue, plotting and characterization. It didn't have the enormous budget the latter seasons enjoyed. I guess if you give someone a hammer (big productions costs) then all they will see is nails (big set pieces, spectacles, style over substance) while losing focus on the writing which ironically was what gave them the 'hammer'. Each seasons spectacle (when the budget increased) became inversely proportional to the quality of the dialogue, plotting and characterization.

fits · 21-05-2019 11:49AM

I must be in the minority. GRRM had tied himself up in a complete knot with the books and I think the writers did an excellent job of unwinding it. I’m happy with how it panned out for the most part. I’m much more disappointed with the two most recent books than the tv series.

coolisin · 21-05-2019 12:04PM

I enjoyed it.
4k BluRay preordered and will be happy to have them sit in my collection.

It had its flaws, a little rushed in places IMO but over all season 8 had an epic sequel movie vibe off it.

As stories where wound down to a proper conclusion with no potential of a sequel this was always how it was going to go.

I always wondered had GRRM not really known how to finish it all, gave the writers a roadmap and pushed them off the cliff to annoy the fans so he can fix his story and say look this is where it was going to go all along.

To conclude this was always going to p*ss off a massive part of the fan base, so many people had their theories to discuss and impart, so when people are attempting to figure it all out and write their own story. You are going to upset people.

kunst nugget · 21-05-2019 12:12PM

loyatemu wrote: »

Drogon could also have brought Dany north of the wall to have her ressurected as the Night Queen.

That would have been an absolutely dense storyline...

threein99 · 21-05-2019 12:48PM

kunst nugget wrote: »

That would have been an absolutely dense storyline...

A friend of mine suggested the final scene should have zoomed in on Bran and his eyes going blue like the dead

Mousewar · 21-05-2019 12:56PM

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Didn't Bran mumble a few weeks ago after the Battle of Winterfell that he was no longer the Lord of Winterfell ,he was no longer Bran Stark ,he was now the Three Eyed Raven .

In the finale he seems to be back to Bran and gagging to be King .

There has been no logic in Series 8 ,none at all.

Essentially some kind of parasitic consciousness has taken the iron throne and one that allows its host to live basically forever. With that and Bran's final words being about going off to search for that unstoppable dragon, it's quite ominous really. If they'd actually meant that, it might be a decent ending. But of course, they didn't.

no.8 · 21-05-2019 12:58PM

loyatemu wrote:

similarly they could have had Jon sit on the throne after offing Dany and wait for Drogon to come and finish him off.

loyatemu wrote:

that would have been great.

loyatemu wrote:

Drogon could also have brought Dany north of the wall to have her ressurected as the Night Queen.

That's not cheesy at all lol.

sbsquarepants · 21-05-2019 01:04PM

glasso wrote: »

You'd be in the minority on that one.

Really?

I have never spoke to a single person who liked it.

glasso wrote: »

Bit of reaction at the time about the very last scene but as time goes on that restaurant scene at the end is seen as clever.

Not by me it's not, it's seen as a "we have no idea how to end this and want to keep our options open"

TerrorFirmer · 21-05-2019 01:11PM

Sopranos had run it's course by the finale and the ending was quite good I thought. Some people were put out of the abrupt nature of the end scene, but as a final season, and a final episode in itself, it remained perfectly decent, and was widely received as same to be fair.

ionapaul · 21-05-2019 01:14PM

Also thought the Sopranos ending was very good - agree that most people feel this way now.

Not a chance there will be the same consideration given to the GoT finale in years to come! The first six seasons were so enjoyable and smart, even with the gratuitous nudity, violence and fantasy (all of which I also enjoyed! You just rarely get the latter at the same time as clever, engaging and thought-provoking), the last two seasons were such a let down

Still full of spectacle and some excitement, just totally lacking in any sophistication and such a jarring change from the earlier episodes.

Bit of a pity, when you think about it.

TCM · 21-05-2019 01:14PM

GOT ended like the ending of a romantic movie might, with characters riding/sailing into the sunset etc. Very timid after all that went before. As for Bran, I don't know what he was about - throughout the film - great potential but never delivered.

21-05-2019 01:29PM

how they managed to create such emptiness at supposedly key moments in the final season was bewildering.

21-05-2019 01:31PM

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Really?

I have never spoke to a single person who liked it.

Not by me it's not, it's seen as a "we have no idea how to end this and want to keep our options open"

well that's your day made now isn't it ! - at least 3 people who like the ending of the Sopranos and you've never heard from the 1 before.

expectationlost · 21-05-2019 01:59PM

worst last seasons GOT or BSG?

it has to be BSG

PressRun · 21-05-2019 02:10PM

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Sopranos had run it's course by the finale and the ending was quite good I thought. Some people were put out of the abrupt nature of the end scene, but as a final season, and a final episode in itself, it remained perfectly decent, and was widely received as same to be fair.

As I said in another thread, The Sopranos ending has aged well and the series in general is aging well. A lot of people were disappointed with the ending at the time as I think some people were expecting to see Tony go out in some blaze of glory, but it would never have worked and the rewatch value of the series is better for having not tried it. An ending involving Tony face down in a bowl of spaghetti or some such just wouldn't have been the right tone for the finale. Just my opinion. I watched it again recently and it still looks and sounds very slick, and the fact that the finale didn't try to do too much actually works well in its favour. David Chase should never have had to defend his choice there. It was completely the right thing to do and stayed true to what the show was about.

Comparatively, I don't see GoT holding up as well, and I think the two boys will regret not giving it more time and attention, as it's something they'll be remembered for.

sbsquarepants · 21-05-2019 02:21PM

glasso wrote: »

well that's your day made now isn't it ! - at least 3 people who like the ending of the Sopranos and you've never heard from the 1 before.

Just confirms my worst suspicions - the internet is a weirdo magnet:D

Honestly, what do you think about Season 8? Mod warning post #1/#410

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