Game of Thrones? More Like Shame of Thrones

By: Austin Butler
Staff Writer

Game of Thrones was one of the most popular shows in TV history up until its series finale, which finished a few weeks ago.

It’s often regarded as one of the best recent TV shows and has been loved by fans for over eight years. However, as the series neared its end, the fan base started to turn against the show.

Complaints about the show started getting louder and louder, culminating in season eight, which sparked outrage and debate.
Fan opinions ranged from adoration to disappointment to unbridled rage at the fact that their favorite show had been “ruined.”

But how do Green River students feel about the final season of Game of Thrones? Over 60 students were asked their opinions, and the results are in.

On a scale of one to ten, Green River student opinions of the show averaged 6.8/10.

More men gave their opinions of the show than women did, however women were on average much more positive about the show than men were in their reviews.

The other question asked alongside their opinions was whether or not students had read the books. Less than a third of people interviewed had read the books, and almost everyone who read the books gave the show a low score.

The most common comments made were that the final season felt rather rushed, only containing six episodes rather than the regular 10 of seasons prior. Students who were both satisfied and disappointed wished that the final season would have taken more time to develop.

“I just feel 10 episodes would have made for a better story,” said Jacob Cowan, a 20-year-old student at Green River.

Some students thought that the storylines were not given time to develop and therefore feel that some of the twists feel unearned and forced, with characters making decisions that go completely against their established morals with nothing but vague foreshadowing as the development and reasoning.

“Foreshadowing is not character development, [spoilers] didn’t work for me because it was completely out of nowhere,” said Charlie Dalrymple,. Other students would have liked more development, but think the show made it work.

Some students like Gretchen Immel loved the way the show ended, stating that the end of the show was “everything I wanted.”

Some of the most common positive comments made were that the visuals were incredible, with the cinematography and Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) being very well done. Students accepted a few lighting and editing problems here and there in the show.

Other people loved the unusual narrative of the show. Game of Thrones has always been different from typical fantasy and subverted the typical fantasy tropes, and this season does not disappoint.

However some students felt that the twists and subversions this season were not earned and feel like subversion for subversion sake, rather than for the purpose of telling a good story.

“It just felt like they were trying to keep the audience guessing rather than making a good conclusion,” said Jacob Cowan. This is most hotly debated issue about Game of Thrones season eight, whether or not the twists and endings of storylines and characters worked.

Even while being interviewed students started arguing with each other whether the ending to episode three was earned or not.

When asked why they felt the final few seasons were disappointing, the most common answer was the fact that the content from “A Song of Ice and Fire,” the book series game of thrones was based off of, ran out around season five. This left showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to work off of story points from author George R.R. Martin rather than full novels.

Some students felt there was a significant drop in quality as soon as the show caught up to the books, saying that the show became more repetitive and predictable, blaming the showrunners for not being as good at writing as they were at adapting the story from the books.

“I like the show, but the books are way better,” said Dalrymple. “The show just became so different from the books that there was no way the planned ending for the books would work for the show.”

Either way, love it or hate it, the ending to Game of Thrones happened, and almost every single student that was interviewed was still sad to see it go.

With a spin-off series in the works and a new book in the series on its way, new content from the world of Westeros is not too far out.