Why the Game of Thrones finale might not be good

OPINION: The final season of Game of Thrones starts in less than a month. And I’ve got to admit, the main emotion I have is worry.

Worried that the finale of arguably TV’s biggest ever show ever might be a bit crap.

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I’ve had a lot of time to wring my hands over this. Season seven, ending with the undead dragon Viserion destroying the insert-America-joke-here wall and his army marching upon the Seven Kingdoms, aired over 18 months ago.

In that time, the show’s thousands of creators have been busy making a mini-series of just six episodes, or, if the spin is to be believed, six full-on movies.

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I hold this show to incredibly high standards. The best TV show I’ve ever seen is Breaking Bad. I’ve not seen The Sopranos, or The Wire, so I couldn’t disagree with anyone claiming them for top spot.

Anyone who’s watched one or all of those and likes HBO’s magic dragon show too, wants it to be as good. And the sad truth is season seven just wasn’t. 

It was great, but if season eight suffers similar issues, Game of Thrones just can’t be considered ‘the greatest’.

Most of the issues I had with the show last season are more about the ‘how’ than the what or the why.

It’s not the way it’s shot, or the absurdly beautiful soundtrack, or the jaw-dropping special effects. For that, it might be the GOAT. or at least the $OAT.

The way plots and characters develop will always be critiqued, and the show has gotten a lot of flak from book readers who are just annoyed GOT has gone down a road different to what they think will happen if A Song of Ice and Fire is ever finished.

Not being one of those readers, I’m fine with how events have transpired, and extremely hyped for what has been teased to happen.

What gets me is the dialogue that is just too stilted too often, something I attribute to George R R Martin being less involved with the scripts, but something that becomes common with most shows entering their twilight years. Just to be clear, GOT still has great lines, it’s just not as good as it once was.

It’s also the ridiculously short amount of time it took anyone to go anywhere or do anything, just to speed the plot along. Although it technically was all feasible (credit to this Reddit user’s explanation), it just felt like no time was taken to show days or often weeks had passed between scenes.

The creators hoped we’d all just be too involved in the story to stop and question it.

This might have been forced by there only being seven episodes, but I don’t think HBO would have objected to another full ten episode season.

Then again they might have pushed back on delaying that season further, knowing the finale would take such a long time to produce.

That could be the saving grace, if every episode this season is treated like a movie, with time to be fleshed out. Drawing them all together cohesively will be the tough part.

There was just a tiny hint of ‘deus ex machina’ in season seven too, the most notable example being when Sam just pulls off Jorah’s grayscale. Because duh.

Then, there was Ed Sheeran. But we’ll move right along.

The Night King is also kind of a shot in the foot. The idea of there being this infinitely greater threat while everyone has, as Jon puts it in one season 7’s better pieces of dialogue, “squabbling amongst ourselves” is so pleasing it has sustained the show’s intrigue for years.

But now, this cold figure just seems intent on destroying a world lovingly created, unless everyone can overcome their differences and work together. 

This can’t be the plot, and I’m sure it won’t be. In all likelihood, the first episode will see one theory dive from the bowels of the interweb and onto the screen, giving us a pointer as to what the Night King’s deal is, and all will be well.

People might even be rooting for him by the time the battles lines are drawn.

As a result of all of this, Game of Thrones has become a show built on moments. Single scenes that are just so awesome it means all before and after is forgiven.

The best example I can think of is the Battle at Blackwater Rush, or the Battle of the Gold Train, in episode four of season seven. The one where Drogon and the Dothraki wreck Jaime’s army.

It’s a masterpiece of film, comparable to some of cinema’s greatest battle sequences.

But, there are still flaws, though entirely forgivable, because it’s just so epic.

It was a little contrived that Bronn was able to save Jaime from drowning, off-camera, resulting in a disappointing end to a great cliffhanger.

The battles have become the best bit, where dialogue is best used sparingly, and the audio-visual mastery can steal the show.

That’s not to say the final season should become a Westerosi Dunkirk, though admittedly that would be pretty cool.

The creators have embraced this, considering the trailer was pretty much just hyping up this battle for Winterfell.

Hopefully this was an effort to not give anything else away, rather than because it’s all they’ve got.

Of course, none of this will stop me watching, and enjoying, the finale play out. Would the scene Jaime where is forced to kill Cersei at the end of episode four make up for 80 minutes spattered with flat dialogue, illogical time jumps and a celebrity cameo? Most definitely. 

It seems that the best days of Game of Thrones, as tense political drama built upon the backdrop of fantasy, sex and violence, are far behind us. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter.

The final season will survive and thrive on its moments. 

And for most fans of the show, that will be enough.

The final season of Game of Thrones premieres on April 15, 1pm NZT on Soho and Neon.