5 things nobody wants to admit about Game of Thrones

Hello and welcome; it is time for some takes so hot you'll wish you had dragon fire around to cool you off. I come to wage war on your closely held nerd beliefs and inform you about some things that, maybe in your heart of hearts, you know but don't want to admit about Game of Thrones. HBO's massive fantasy series based on the work of George R.R. Martin needs no introduction; during its day it was such a phenomenal hit that it has reshaped the television landscape in its image. Before Thrones, big budget fantasy shows were few and far between. Since it aired, you can hardly turn on the TV without an ad for some new one coming down the pike.

Despite its success, Game of Thrones has plenty of controversial points, too. Some of those are well-earned; others, we can all argue about until our houses swear to become mortal enemies for generations to come.

But since this is a one-sided debate where I am writing the words and you're reading them, allow me to put on my maester's chain and regale you with five particular things that many Game of Thrones fans just don't want to admit. Come for me in the comments, if you dare. Let's start with the big one:

Game of Thrones season 8 isn't that bad

Yes, you read that right.

The final season of Game of Thrones has become a thing of infamy at this point. Across six episodes, the show swiftly wrapped up long-simmering plotlines and killed off many of our favorite characters — though perhaps not so many as we may have expected, given how many leads survived the White Walker invasion.

Once viewers had a chance to see how it all ended, the backlash was severe. People raged on the internet, with some even going so far as to start a petition to "remake Game of Thrones season 8 with competent writers" instead of showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss. That petition reached nearly two million signatures, all from people who, for one reason or another, blamed Weiss and Benioff for Thrones' shaky landing. Never mind that they were the ones who got the show made in the first place and served it well for more than a decade.

To this day it's hard to bring up Game of Thrones without people bemoaning its awful ending. But here's the thing: Game of Thrones season 8 is certainly not the strongest of the series...but it's also not as horrible as the discourse makes it sound. Not even close.

Yes, Thrones rushed things at the end. Yes, there were elements which needed more time to breathe and characters who needed more screen time for us to understand their big decisions. Yes, I too wish Game of Thrones had stopped to smell the corpse-strewn roses a little longer during the White Walker invasion before hastily wrapping up the longest-running plotline of the show in a tight two episode sequence.

But Game of Thrones season 8 is far from the trash heap that many fans would lead you to believe. I've rewatched it recently, and while the overall immersion of the show is less than what it was in prior seasons, season 8 is still perfectly watchable. In fact, there are lots of great moments, such as Arya's shanking of the Night King (and "The Long Night" in general), Brienne of Tarth being knighted by Jaime Lannister, Clegane Bowl, Drogon melting the Iron Throne and more. Those moments would have meshed better with more connective tissue, but to discount the work that hundreds of cast and crew members put into making arguably the most ambitious season of television of its day shouldn't be cast aside because of that.

Sometimes when a show is really going off the rails, it's obvious people are checking out and the end result reflects that. The final season of Dexter comes to mind as a good example. But with Thrones, it's very clear that everyone involved did their absolute best to make a good season of TV, and against most of the shows that have of what's come after, it still stands as relatively solid. Speedy plot contrivances aside, there's far more good than bad in Game of Thrones season 8 once you lay down your grievances and watch it on its own terms.

Game of Thrones season 8 isn't the best season of the show. And it isn't the worst (looking at you, season 7). It's just a work of art like any other with its flaws and its virtues, with that balance skewed a little more toward flaws in part because so much of what came before it was so excellent.