I rewatched season 8 of 'Game of Thrones' a year later, and while it was just as bad the second time around, it reignited my love for Westeros
- Tuesday marked a year since the final episode of "Game of Thrones," with the show's season eight finale airing on May 19, 2019.
- The finale, and season eight as a whole, received a huge backlash from fans for the endings of many characters and storylines.
- Last year, I was one of many who was left feeling cheated. But I decided to use my time social distancing to rewatch it a year later to see if my opinions have changed.
- Upon a second viewing a year later, it is clear that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss went for spectacle over sense, and tried to have their cake and eat it.
- However, watching season eight again has reignited my passion for the world of Westeros, and made me appreciate some of the better moments of season two — such as Jaime knighting Brienne.
A year ago this week, the world was finally given season eight of "Game of Thrones" after a wait that seemed like an eternity. Unfortunately, our excitement for the final season of GoT was ... misplaced. Critics reviews were mixed, at best, while the fans receptions, myself included, was scolding.
Things got so dramatic that a Change.org petition was created for HBO to remake the eighth and final season with "competent writers," which has now been signed by over 1.8 million people at the time of writing — and is still getting signatures at a fairly quick rate.
However, since the coronavirus crisis has left most of us with extra time on our hands while in lockdown, I decided to rewatch season eight to see if, one year on, my opinion on the controversial final season of my favorite television show ever has changed.
Unfortunately, after a second viewing a year later, I still believe that season eight was anti-"Game of Thrones," despite an excellent cast and incredible artistic work including costumes, sets, effects, and music.
However, although it was, sadly, equally painful a second time around, season eight has reignited my passion for the world George R. R. Martin created, and thanks to the final season I am now diving back into Westeros anew as a devoted fan.
I now appreciate the individual quality of the first two episodes, even if they are just wasted build-up
Last year, I dismissed the first two episodes as time-wasting — two out six episodes spent on build-up. Now, however, these two episodes are bittersweet rather than just bitter. I can appreciate the individual quality of these well-written, stoking-the-fire episodes, and really enjoyed them this time around.
The best scene of the entire season comes in episode two, when Jaime knights Brienne, which is followed by Podrick giving a haunting rendition of "Jenny of Oldstones" while the living prepare for their fight against the dead. It's beautiful and terrifying and effective.
But, still, it is impossible to escape the fact that these two episodes preparing us for what is to come, telling us that the Night King brings death, people will die, bad things will happen. But then … pretty much everyone survives. It's incredibly frustrating, even a year later.
Sam should have died. He is not a good enough fighter, plus he has served his purpose by telling Jon his true heritage. Brienne should have died, despite the excellent fighter she is, because she has served her purpose, too, after getting knighted. Davos, who it is made clear can't fight, survives. Jaime, a one-handed man fighting with his weaker hand, survives. Tormund, Grey Worm, Podrick, Gilly, Bronze Yohn Royce, Missandei. These are all disposable characters whose deaths the episode would have benefitted from as it would have shown us the brutality of the Night King and the danger his army possesses.
In a world where those things happen, how on earth did only two main characters (Theon and Jorah) die in this supposed-end-of-the-world battle?
Instead, we see various unnamed soldiers get mobbed and killed by a group of wights, but then see various main characters get mobbed in the exact same way but escaping unharmed. Seeing this makes the danger feel artificial, manufactured, and, well, not very dangerous at all. It makes the situation feel false and very unbelievable.
It smacks of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (D&D) trying to have their cake and eat. They want us to believe the Night King is terrifying and dangerous, but want to keep the main characters alive for a neat ending.
"Game of Thrones" doesn't work that way. It is a cutthroat world that brings us shocking, brutal events like Renly's death, the Red Wedding, Ned Stark's beheading, Oberyn's death, Cersei's King's Landing bombing, Petyr Baelish's death, and more.
Of course, these criticisms have been pointed out before, but it's important to note again because, despite the fact that I managed to enjoy episodes one and two this time around, they are still rendered a waste because of the disappointment of episode three. Sadly, no amount of time will be able to change that fact.
Although they went for spectacle over sense, I loved Emilia Clarke's performance this time around
One storyline in particular that I have, somewhat, changed my mind on, is that of Daenerys Targaryen.
Last year, the sudden, jarring descent into mad queen territory by Dany rang so false to me that I dismissed the entire storyline completely. This year, however, I found myself believing the mad queen storyline much more than I did last time.
Last year I was so dismayed by the Night King resolution that I was unable to enjoy much else in season eight. Now I have a clearer, less emotional head.
The storyline made more sense to me this year — I could see how lonely Dany was, something she has never experienced before, and I could see the effects of, for once, not being the hero or the most popular and beloved person in the room was. I could see that the death of Missandei and the betrayal of her advisors, however right they were, had a tremendous effect on her. I bought her descent into the mad queen.
This is entirely down to the performance of Emilia Clarke, who completely sold every emotion Daenerys was feeling in each scene. Her best moments came from her facial expressions: her maddened look when she begged Jon not to tell anyone; the gaunt, drained, broken look after Missandei was executed; and, best of all, the look of sheer rage on her face astride her dragon moments before she torched King's Landing. You can physically see that Daenerys is split in two, struggling so much with her rage and trying to contain it, but unable to as her madness takes over.
Yes, the storyline does still feel rushed, yes it does feel too sudden, and yes Daenerys would never have attacked innocent people with so little provocation. These are mistakes that remain, and the storyline would have benefitted from a regular 10-episode season in order to flesh things out and ease Daenery's transition into madness. But, still, I got a lot more from it this time around than I did last year.
I never realized how boring season eight was
This is probably the biggest crime a "Game of Thrones" season could commit. Call the show whatever you want, label it what you like, but the one thing "Game of Thrones" has never been is boring. Watching it back, without the anticipation I felt last year, I realised just how dull this season was.
Jon is the main character, yet he is so passive that he does barely anything. Tyrion, once the smartest man in Westeros, is reduced to making silly eunuch jokes. Cersei, one of the best TV villains ever, was the most reactive villain ever, which is hard to believe considering she has always taken the fight to her enemies. Instead, she went out with a whimper rather than the sort of bang that saw her blow up the Sept of Baelor in the season six finale. Props to Lena Headey for still delivering an incredible performance despite having so little to do.
I've rewatched each season of the show a dozen times (season four is my favourite) and often watch my favourite clips on YouTube, and they have such rewatchability because the story is thrilling. Not just the battles, murder, and twists, but the conversations, too. Littlefinger and Varys, Cersei and Tyrion, Tywin and Olenna. The thing that makes "Game of Thrones" so gripping are the characters and their battle of wits, like this one:
But season eight, because of all of the above, was devoid of that. There was not one crackling conversation, and there were zero plot twists or shocking reveals — something "Game of Thrones" is renowned for. I was desperate (both last year and this year) for something intriguing to happen — so much so that I audibly whooped when Rhaegal died out of the blue. My boyfriend was cross that I cheered for Rhaegel's death, but I was just glad that something had gripped me, even if it did end up making no sense.
Last year, I was angry that D&D had wasted years of build-up and ruined some of my favourite characters (I will never forgive them for how they ruined Jaime Lannister). This year, I was just sad that they had turned "Game of Thrones" into an intelligent, enthralling, unpredictable political thriller into a bland, boring show.
But rewatching season eight has reignited my passion for Westeros
Over the last year, I have shut down most conversations about "Game of Thrones" with a flippant "don't even" or "I can't," I was that upset by the conclusion of the series. I avoided all things "Game of Thrones"-related and even stopped reading the books for a long time — what was the point when it ends like this?
However, when I was watching these characters this time, my primary thoughts were not of sadness or anger that the show was ruining the characters or were getting things wrong. Instead, I was thinking what a shame it was that I previously loved this show and these characters so much and now am watching the finale of the show as an endurance challenge.
I am disappointed still of the way the show went, but I was also reminded how much I once loved these characters. The three clips below are evidence of the intelligent script-writing and crackling dialogue that was so common in the show, the sort of excellent writing and duels with words that were missing from season eight:
And then this:
And this:
And while I still firmly believe that season eight is anti-"Game of Thrones" and largely disastrous, I am thankful that at least we had seven seasons of it, and I will not let season eight tarnish my overriding love of the show.
I have now gone back to season one and have started rewatching the show from its first episode to remind myself of just how good "Game of Thrones" really was. I'll just stop when I finish episode two of season eight.
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