Game of Thrones Review

To those who haven’t watched it:

This is my second favorite show of all time. It was the first show Colton and I discovered and binge-watched together, which is saying something. Normally we make each other watch shows that we like, but for this one, we were both equally obsessed with it after the first episode. Peter Dinklage, one of my favorite actors who plays my favorite character on the show, described it saying that most fantasy stories focus on the dragons and forget about the characters. This is one of the few fantasy shows that focuses mainly on the characters, but then it also has dragons and wight walkers and giants and all sorts of other fantastical aspects. It is political, relational, suspenseful, and intriguing. It turns expected story tropes up on their heads in a wonderful and exciting way. It is a huge world with many characters and a lengthy book series backing it up, but it is not too much to follow. It is intricate, yes, but highly entertaining. I highly encourage it to anyone and I promise it will hook you by the end of the first episode. However, this comes with a warning. This is an HBO show. And this is 21st century Hollywood… So there is a little language, there is a lot of gory violence, and there is definitely way too much unneeded nudity. That’s the frustrating part. I really think they could reach a wider audience if they cut down on that unnecessary crap. I think that’s true for most TV shows and movies these days, actually. Cut down on the excessive F bombs and nude scenes. Or release a PG-13 version. Ugh. So yea. I will say the nude scenes tone down a bit after season 3, but you’re never truly free…haha!

The rest of this talk will contain SPOILERS so don’t keep reading if you haven’t finished the entire Game of Thrones series!

I think we can all agree that this was one of the best shows of all time, at least through season 6. Once they cut down our 10 episodes and started rushing in seasons 7 and 8, that’s when things sort of took a turn for the worse. As for me personally, I still really enjoyed season 7 and didn’t see anything wrong with it, but that’s when the criticism really came about. That and the fact they made us wait 2 years for season 8 ugh! But when season 8 did finally air people were madder than ever and this ticked me off. As you will see in future editions of Cauldron Talk, I have no qualms criticizing things if I am truly upset, but also at some point, you do have to be forgiving and understanding and just enjoy the show for what it is. So first I will give my official review and then I’ll discuss some of the popular critiques.

I thought the show as a whole was absolutely perfect. One of my favorites of all time, from beginning to end. My one complaint in the last season is that it did feel a bit rushed. We only got 6 episodes for goodness sakes. If they had given us a full 10-episode season, or if they had actually taken HBO’s offer for more seasons, it might have been better. I’m not going to pretend I know the whole story behind D&D’s decision-making, but it is what it is. We got 6 episodes. Therefore, Dany’s descent felt a bit rushed, certain characters and plot lines were never fully developed or wrapped up, and some things felt a little out of place because we weren’t given time to fully process them.

However, as for the major plot points, I am 100% okay with them. Anyone who thinks Dany’s descent into the mad queen was out of left field has not been paying attention. I personally was never sold on her character from the beginning. Yes, I felt sorry for her and she did have some powerful moments where I really rooted for her, but I always saw darkness in her. I always believed she would follow her father’s footsteps. From season 1, she always showed no emotion or even positive emotions when her enemies were killed. Even though her brother was a horrible person, he was still her brother. And yet she showed no emotion when he was violently murdered in front of her. She set up a group of people to keep her in check and then constantly ignored them and punished them for disagreeing with her. She slaughtered people she didn’t have to. She killed off entire houses. She got a little trigger happy with that Dracarys trick of hers. She lost the people closest to her and her vision of her future got more and more narrow minded as the show went on. She was always going to become the mad queen and finish what her father started (literally with the wildfire thing) and she was always going to be killed by Jon. So yes. Awesome writing there, just maybe a bit rushed near the end.

Jaime’s character arc is another major thing people were pissed about. Jaime is one of my favorite characters and he has such a wonderful redemption story and I don’t think it was ruined in the slightest. We must remember that through all of his character building, he was with Cersei the entire time, up until the last episode of season 7. Say what you will about the incest and the fact that Cersei is the actual worst, but Jaime truly loved her. He finally chose duty over love and fought for the North in season 8. We even got that wonderful Brienne plotline. My only qualm with that is I wish it lasted longer than one episode. Again, with the rushing. Brienne was Jaime’s ultimate redemption culmination and it was beautiful for what it was. However, he knew if he didn’t go South, Cersei would die. And despite everything, he still loves her, which says something about what kind of man he is. Truly unconditional love. The way they met up and died together was poetic. It made you feel sympathy for a character you hated for 8 seasons. They came into the world together and left it together, crushed under the very stone they thought would protect them and their claim to the throne. And the fact that it was Tyrion who sent them there to try to escape just makes the knife sting a little more, because he got revenge on Cersei but also sent his best friend to his grave, and now he’s truly the last Lannister. And we can figure that the family name will die with him, since he hasn’t had a lover since Shae and probably never will.

Bran ending up on the iron throne was such a curve ball which I think is amazing. I figured Jon would end up on the throne which would be a nice happy predictable ending and I didn’t really want that for the kind of show this has been. They played Jon’s story out perfectly, just like the classic adventure plot we see in the story of King Arthur, Harry Potter, Frodo, and even Jesus. He saved the world but he had to leave the world. So powerful and poetic. Him being a Targaryen saved him from Drogon and him being a Stark encouraged him to do the right thing, just like Ned. And the fact that he ends back up at the wall is also another full-circle satisfying moment. Sansa got to be lady of the North. Arya got to explore the world unknown, with the help of Needle and NO MAN. And Bran, the three-eyed Raven, the boy who was pushed from the tower which arguably started this entire freaking story, is the King. He didn’t want it. He didn’t even think the three-eyed Raven could be ruler over anything. But he truly holds the memories of the entire world. He doesn’t crave power. He doesn’t long to kill. He has no biases. He takes no crap. He is the only character who truly has no enemies and can make the best decisions for the realm, based on all his knowledge and experience.

So yea. Like I said, my main issue was the rushing of the last episodes. I mean there was a Starbucks cup and a water bottle that were somehow missed in editing and if that doesn’t prove they were rushing then I don’t know what does. There was a lot of emotional stuff happening at the end, but I didn’t even cry. I know it’s a good show when I am bawling. I have bawled at Game of Thrones several times, but I didn’t here at the end. I wish they took more time to develop and expand a few things so the ending had more of an emotional impact. Other than that, I think the show was wonderful from start to finish. To all those people signing stupid online petitions to remake the final season, y’all are idiots. No way are they going to spend all that time, money, and effort just to appease some whiney babies whose Game of Thrones bracket didn’t work out. And if they did, I would be just as pissed as we all were at George Lucas for adding unnecessary CGI and switching it to making Greedo shoot first or at J.K. Rowling for adding stupid nonsensical canon to her story years later via Twitter. It would make it worse, so just be happy with what you have. And guess what- we still have books to look forward to which will no doubt take more time and development and explanation and will therefore give us a more satisfying, kickass, still canonical ending. So don’t lose hope!

P.S. Tyrion lived till the end heck yea!!!!!