Most people blame producers. But I think that was George R. R. Martin’s (the novelist) fault.
*** Spoiler Alert! ***
A few years ago, the famous Game of Thrones series ended. In general, most of the feedback I heard was negative about the ending. For instance, this meme which I love it:
I held the fucking door for this?
What was the problem? Are the screenwriters weren’t good enough to write a proper ending? If yes, so why the previous seasons were so good?
As a person who both watched the TV series and read the books (First four books), I have to say that the last two seasons were so disappointing. I love fantasy books and shows. I am still enjoying the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. In my opinion, the reason for the Game of Thrones’ terrible ending is buried inside the book. So, I think it’s Martin`s fault, not the screenwriters’.
Fantasy or Reality?
The story is puzzled between two worlds: Reality and Fantasy. It tries to have elements from both worlds. It tries to be both. Real and fancy at the same time. Martin himself said a couple of times in his interviews that his story is not like famous fantasy books, The ones with a happy ending and invincible heroes. Instead, his story is like real life, a complex of happy and sad moments where heroes can be killed like an average person. I think this is the exact reason which makes the ending a disappointing comedy!
Now let’s take a closer look.
I classify the story characters into two groups. The first group is the ones who demonstrate reality to us — roles such as Tywin, Tyrion and Cersei Lannister, Ramsay Bolton, and Little Finger. The second group is the ones who represent fantasy elements such as Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, The nigh King, three-eyed raven (Bran stark), Arya Stark, and Melisandre.
The conflict in the story happens precisely when these two groups confront each other. Until season 4, everything is perfect. Why? Because these two groups have almost separate storylines. The conflict starts in season 5 and in the last two seasons, leads to a terrible ending!
Now let’s look at the two essential conflicts inside the story.
Little Finger
One of the smartest story characters. I think the smartest. A person who initiated a war between great houses in Westeros to weaken them. He did that successfully. All great houses were weakened or destroyed. However, in the last seasons, he lost his importance in the story. Why? Because he made mistakes? No! Because fantasy came in!
Fantasy does not have any place for a smart person like Little Finger. The brain cannot defeat the magic. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a fantasy anymore. Bran Stark sees the past, and Arya Stark executes the poor guy. He did not stand a chance!
This is not mixing Reality and Fantasy. This is sacrificing Reality cause of desperation. The screenwriters have a super-smart character whom they don’t know how to mix with fantasy. So let’s get rid of him for no obvious reason!
Fate or Free will?
In reality, events happen based on characters’ interactions, decisions, and mistakes. Game of Thrones also tries to have this realistic characteristic. Characters like Tywin Lannister and Little Finger defeat their rivals by making smart decisions. On the other hand, characters like Eddard Start and Oberyn Martell get themselves killed by their stupid mistakes. As I said, Martin counts this as the essential positive point that other fantasy stories don’t have. However, when fantasy comes to the story, again, conflict happens. Why?
On the one hand, we have lots of prophecies in the story. Many of them turn out to be true. On the other hand, we have the powerful Lord of Light who returns people from death as many as possible because “they have a role to play.“
Once again, we face a severe conflict. If some magical power already sets everything, and if each character has a fate, what is the role of smart characters such as Little Finger? If everything is already set, it means Eddard Stark died not because of his mistakes – as Martin claims – but because the Lord of Light had no plan for him! So again, the writer sacrifices reality for the sake of fantasy.
What are we dealing with?
Dichotomy. I am so puzzled about what I watched. What did I watch? A story based on real elements such as House of Cards or a fantasy like Lord of The Rings?
Game of Thrones tried to be both. But in the end, it became a weak comedy version of the mentioned shows.
The climax of this dichotomy is the scene where they try to choose a king for Westeros. Tyrion Lannister (reality element) helps to pick the three-eyed raven (Bran Start, Fantasy element) with democracy (reality element) to be the next king of a fictional continent!
The End.
