Whether you think the final season of Game of Thrones is an outright disaster or a solid ending with some pacing issues, it is hard for fans to escape the feeling of disappointment. This is a show that once and for all proved that TV can rival movies in terms of entertainment and sweeping narratives. This makes it even more of a crushing disappointment that the season above all else feels rushed. It is blatantly obvious that show-runners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff wanted to finish the show as quickly as possible in a measly six episode run. In doing so, the only people who have suffered are the fans.

It would be easy to dismiss the annoyed grumblings across the internet as the noise of fans who would never have been pleased. I don’t think this is the case as viewers were mostly hooked for the previous seven seasons. Due to the sheer amount of high quality TV shows in recent years, the casual viewer is more intelligent and discerning than ever before. As a result, when Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) suddenly decides to burn all of King’s Landing to the ground, viewers were quick to realise that important character development was missing.

The first four episodes initially seem as strong as ever but it was only during this fiery assault in episode 5 (‘The Bells’) that I realised something was wrong. It is the equivalent of only noticing that your friend has had too much to drink after he has fallen on his face. When I originally watched the start of that scene with Daenerys’ flying high above the city, the thought first occurred to me that she may snap. I immediately batted this away and said to myself, ‘That would never happen. This show is too intelligent for that’. I was proven wrong in a matter of minutes.

The reason that this and other sudden character decisions in later episodes seem so jarring is very simple. There is not enough time spent developing the characters leading up to those decisions. In an age where audiences have seen characters such as Walter White or Tony Soprano convincingly change for the worse slowly over time, a sudden dragon-related tantrum is not going to cut it. It has been pointed out already across the internet that what would previously take a season to cover is now happening over the course of an episode.

The focus of the season in general also feels wrong. The big fight between the Cleganes at the end of the ‘The Bells’ feels like a deleted scene from Highlander and unnecessary. Again, not enough work has been done to actually make us care about two meatheads cutting each other to ribbons. It is as if the show-runners are trying too hard to give fans what they want above all else. Another example of this is how much the season focuses on Tormund (Kristover Hivju). I absolutely love him but the endless amount of Tormund comedy moments come across as forced.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some great moments. The early tension-building episodes are particularly strong and ‘The Long Night’ has yet another great Game of Thrones battle scene. But that is also marred by characters making ridiculous decisions and the choice to wrap up what took seven seasons to develop in a matter of seconds. ‘The Slightly Long Night’ feels like a more appropriate title. And as great as Kit Harrington is, why does Jon Snow have to become a whiny brat? As I said, most of the episodes this season have been solidly entertaining but we have come to expect more from Game of Thrones.

Disclaimer Notice: Any thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely my own. Any images (copyrighted or otherwise) have been used according to Creative Commons and if needed, have been referenced to the best of my knowledge.

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