1. "The Iron Throne" (Season 8 Episode 6)
Rated a flat 4.0 on IMDb, the grand finale of Game of Thrones is its lowest-ranked episode. The rating of "The Iron Throne" is not just a reflection of how fans felt let down by the ending of the popular show. When compared to its highest-rated episodes, it is a very sad example of how low the show sunk in public opinion by the end.
The ending of Game of Thrones represented such a wild turn that it stunned the living daylights out of Kit Harington during the final table read, a moment memorialized on camera:
Perhaps the best thing about the episode is its title, "The Iron Throne," the object of so much scheming and bloodletting over the course of the show. If I had to pick one moment from the finale to remember, it would be Drogon destroying the throne after Jon fatally stabs Daenerys. I am not sure if the showrunners intended it that way, but it seemed to me that Daenerys’ sole living “child” accomplished what she lost sight of at the end: breaking the wheel.
However, it soon becomes irrelevant as Bran “the Broken” is made the king of Westeros and his new Small Council is decided. It is also determined that future monarchs will be chosen by a council. Isaac Hempstead Wright, who played Bran Stark, told HBO in 2019 that Bran becoming the king was an idea from George R.R. Martin, the author of the Song of Ice and Fire books. Martin has yet to write The Winds of Winter, the sixth book in his series.
While the ending of Game of Thrones feels abrupt and almost untethered to the rest of the show, I personally feel the problem may not be the story itself but the sudden change in pacing, effort, and complexity. Not having source material to refer back to surely hurt things, as did cutting down the number of episodes in the last two seasons.
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the showrunners on Game of Thrones, told Entertainment Weekly that, “HBO would’ve been happy for the show to keep going, to have more episodes in the final season.” But it was Benioff and Weiss’ decision to limit it to 73 hours." Could a full 10-episode season have saved the finale of Game of Thrones? Would it have been a more fitting ending with all the loose ends tied off if more time was allowed? Unless Geroge R.R. Martin finishes writing the series or HBO decides to reboot the show, we will never know. Our only hope to learn more about the future of Westeros is the new sequel series about Jon Snow that HBO announced last year.
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