When it comes to adapting a book series into a TV series, you should always listen to the original creator. That is especially true for an epic book series like Game of Thrones.
George R.R. Martin wanted HBO’s Game of Thrones series to slow down. He believed that showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff needed to do 10 seasons to tell the full story, and he was right. The final season still proves that to this day.
Now, let me say that I’m not a complete hater of the final season. There are moments that I adored watching, and I will always stand by the lighting decisions of the Battle of Winterfell, purely because I felt like we were experiencing what the characters were experiencing. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t issues with the final season as a whole.
Game of Thrones needed more time to develop characters
In the end, the final season of Game of Thrones was rushed. Characters were introduced in the sixth and seventh seasons and then forgotten about. Look at all the hype around the Golden Company, only for everyone to be wiped out in seconds. Now, sure, sometimes that happens in war, but not in a TV series.
Then you have Daenerys’ descent into madness. While there were signs that this was always going to happen or that she would act rashly, the process was too fast in the final seasons. We needed to see her make more bad decisions and lash out at people she once trusted before she went to burn the whole of King’s Landing. Without this development, it did seem like there was a sudden change in character as the bells of King’s Landing rang.
It wasn’t just the development of the characters that suffered, either. The show also saw the suffering in the storyline. The pacing was just completely off, meaning that events happened out of time and in seemingly the wrong order. Considering the way there was a buildup to the Battle of Winterfell, the Night King shouldn’t have been destroyed so quickly and easily. That should have been the last battle of the series rather than the Battle of King’s Landing.
Foreshadowing was completely forgotten about and overlooked
From the beginning of Game of Thrones, the storyline ahead was foreshadowed. We got hints of who would be up against the Night King, and we saw hints of how characters would die, such as Cersei. However, things took a turn in the final seasons, leading to all of that foreshadowing being forgotten.
Martin knew the series needed more time to plan. Weiss and Benioff needed more time to look back at the foreshadowing and find a way to make it all make sense. Maybe some of the foreshadowing was a red herring, but it needed to be made clear when and how that happened.
Some of the foreshadowing was just completely forgotten about. My biggest complaint is how Cersei's death was prophesied to be at the hands of one of her brothers, and everyone assumed Tyrion. It could have still been Jaime, and the writers completely overlooked a way to make that possible at the very end. Just a little bit of planning could have made that possible.
At the same time, Martin had an intricately built-up world, and there were many flawed characters. The TV series needed the time to develop them well so that we could both love and hate them at the same time. The beauty of flawed characters is that we don’t always have to like them and can’t always defend them, but overall, they make the best decisions for what they believe is right.
Having a rough guideline didn’t help Game of Thrones
The problems for Game of Thrones really started after season 5. That was the point the series got ahead of the books, and while Martin gave the series a rough guideline of how the story would go, he didn’t want to give everything away. After all, some of the story needs to remain a surprise for the loyal readers.
This didn’t help, but it could have been worked with. If the Game of Thrones showrunners slowed down a little, they could have learned more about the world that Martin was still building. They could have looked back at the stories that had already been told and found a way to build on that. Martin could have even stuck around to share his insights, but he was pushed out as it was clear the showrunners wanted to go their own way.
With a show that was continuously growing in viewership with each season, which is virtually unheard of, the fans would have waited a little bit longer. We would have stuck around for 10 seasons to see the story play out in full. The negativity surrounding the final season of Game of Thrones is largely due to how rushed the show was, and it’s clear that Martin knew what we deserved.
Game of Thrones is available to stream on HBO Max.