There were a fair few problems with Game of Thrones season 8, but it all came down to one big sticking point. The whole season was rushed, and that led to an anticlimactic end that didn’t quite make sense to everyone. Just one more episode could have changed everything.
Rushing an ending is always going to create numerous problems. The biggest issue is that characters don’t necessarily complete the development needed to stick the landing. That certainly happened for numerous characters on Game of Thrones, including some of the biggest ones like Daenerys Targaryen, Cersei Lannister, and even The Night King.
There’s a reason Sansa Stark had the best ending of the lot. Everything neatly worked its way to her taking over Winterfell and becoming the Queen in the North. Even Arya Stark ended where her arc seemed to be heading from the beginning — as a skilled assassin and an explorer.
One more episode would have allowed more time with the Night King
The additional episode wouldn’t have needed to be at the very end of Game of Thrones. It could have been in the middle, offering more time before The Long Night. After all, the Night King and the entire White Walker storyline should have been the way Game of Thrones ended, because it was the way the series began. There was this build-up to the Night King being the most formidable enemy, far more dangerous because he was dead already.
Things just ended up anticlimactic, with only two episodes building up to the Night King getting to Winterfell. With a little more time, we could have seen the army of the dead grow, taking over various villages on the way to Winterfell. It would have allowed for more tension as Jon Snow and the others tried to formulate a plan, and that threat of death would have been heavier.
The Long Night could have even taken a little more time. There could have been a cliffhanger as someone important was killed off, with the side of the living on the back foot. Then, the battle could have continued in the next episode, really highlighting the danger that the Night King brought with him.
Game of Thrones needed more time for arcs to make sense
Now, if you were paying close attention to Game of Thrones from the beginning, there were always signs that Daenerys would become the Mad Queen. We can go all the way back to the “crown of gold” moment. While Drogo was the one to melt and pour the gold over her brother Viserys' head, Daenerys didn’t argue back. Then there was the time in Mereen where she crucified the Masters, and we saw other moments of Daenerys showing signs that she could end up turning to genocide.
However, one more episode could have helped to show this transformation a little more. With only three episodes to give us the story in King’s Landing, there wasn’t the chance to see what the losses were doing to Daenerys. She barely mourned the loss of Viserion, and that didn’t make a lot of sense considering the anger she had when all three of her dragons were taken during Game of Thrones season 2.
To then suddenly have the bells make her choose genocide seemed to be a little out of nowhere. An extra episode could have given us a look at how she was deeply affected and how she had moments of madness.
Then there was Jaime Lannister, who suddenly rushed back to Cersei when the fight was going to her. After such an amazing redemption arc, it didn’t make sense. In fact, it made many Game of Thrones fans angry, and one more episode could have changed that. There could have been scenes showing moments of regression or regret — and conversations between Jaime and Tyrion would have been perfect for that.
Speaking of Cersei, seeing her realize that she was going to lose and die needed an extra episode. She never showed signs of fear until the very end, and I didn’t quite believe that she feared for her life at first. With just one more episode, we could have had hints that she doubted she had the men to go up against the dragons.
In fact, there could have been a little more time in the development of the weapons Cersei's forces used against the dragons as well. At first, there were no weapons capable of felling a dragon, and then suddenly they had giant scorpions that were used in the past. This seemed to come out of left field — and I still have to wonder how anyone knew what had happened North of the Wall to Viserion, considering only Jon’s men and Daenerys were up there to know it all.
More time to deal with the aftermath
Let’s say the extra episode of Game of Thrones went at the end of the series. This would have allowed more time to deal with the aftermath. Rather than Jon immediately killing Daenerys, there could have been a time of her attempting to take the Iron Throne. This would have allowed a few more characters to see that she was the Mad Queen, allowing others to believe that killing her was the only option.
Up to that point, only Jon, Arya, and Tyrion really knew this outcome was unavoidable. Sansa wasn’t in King’s Landing, many others had died, and there was no way that the Unsullied would believe their savior had done something bad. Others needed to see that it was the only option.
That’s if it even was. Was there an option for Jon and Daenerys to rule together? An extra episode would have given them time to really have that conversation and discuss what it would mean for Westeros. Having people like Bran, Sam, and Tyrion debating this with them could have given us a real look at ruling a country and not just following a somewhat incorrect belief.
If it really had to end with Jon killing Daenerys, the aftermath of what happened to him could have made more sense. Hey, maybe it didn’t need to end that way, and he could have decided that they would have been best with Daenerys ruling in King’s Landing and Jon ruling with the Wildlings! Sansa could have still had Winterfell, although that would have been a little harder to manage.
Then there’s the subject of who did end up ruling at the end of Game of Thrones. The whole plot point of Bran Stark becoming King of the Seven (well, Six) Kingdoms made no sense at all. That’s not the way Game of Thrones was going until that very rushed crash landing. With an extra episode, there could have been more debate on the subject, and it could have allowed everything to make more sense.
In the end, it would have taken just one more episode to smooth out Game of Thrones season 8. Where that would have aired is debatable, but it regardless of its position in the season, this extra episode have prevented the end of Game of Thrones from feeling quite as rushed.
Game of Thrones is available to stream on HBO Max.