In its later seasons, the once-popular Game of Thrones began to lose its unique charm — in part due to diverging from the as yet unwritten fantasy novels by G.R.R. Martin. Several events took place that made little narrative sense, a number of exclusions were performed, many people received fates that were anticlimactic, and, most offensively, the show's logic became weaker.
It's understandable if the creators wanted to deliver a magnificent display composed of CGI and thousands of extras, but such additions should never have been made at the cost of progressing the story. In fact, several fans have complained that the loss of quality is directly proportional to the amount of empty spectacle delivered by Game of Thrones.
Ramsay Bolton's Patricide
Roose Bolton is an integral part of Ramsay's life — but he constantly holds the threat of illegitimacy over his head as if to taunt him into action. This happens so many times, but when he announces that he would disinherit Ramsay in favor of his newborn son (although only if Sansa manages to flee their clutches), it finally breaks his son.
Even after Roose assures him that he would never remove him from his intended title, Ramsay chooses to kill his father, instead. There are multiple ways in which to sow conflict, and this is not one of the good ones.
The Missing Lady Stoneheart
This is a reverse example, but the fact that Catelyn Stark is just cut out of the story after the Red Wedding is a huge disservice to her character, especially since the direction chosen is far less interesting (if more explosive). In the books, she is brought back to life by Beric Dondarrion, but since she had already been decaying for a few days, the outcome is not exactly "alive."
Lady Stoneheart is a zombiesque creature, whose only desire in her unlife is to destroy the families of those who have hurt her family, even if they didn't actively take part in the events. What an exciting addition she would have been!
Arya's Stab Wounds
Jaqen permits The Waif to finish Arya off but insists that it be completed quickly and without pain. As such, the Faceless Assassin in-training receives a number of horrible stab wounds in the belly but fortunately manages to flee by means of a passing stream.
Arya only meets Lady Crane after a considerable time has passed, at which point her wounds (if not deep enough to kill her, which they are) should have become infected, leading to septic shock and, inevitably, death. Of course, the show just had to keep Arya around after this.
Jaime And Daenerys
Bronn had successfully grounded poor Drogon by hitting the dragon with a scorpion-bolt, so Jaime automatically assumes that this is the best time to strike Daenerys down. Tyrion, observing his brother stupidly charging at a 100+ ton monster, is unsurprisingly furious.
Here is where Jaime should have met his end, barbecued into nothingness by Drogon's breath of fire, but Bronn saves him at the last minute (and once again a few seconds later, when he began sinking in the water due to the weight of his armor.) How many extra lives does Jaime get?
Gendry's Raven Message
The small crew on their way to the Night King meet the villain they seek, but the power of his army is far too terrifying for anyone to actually do anything about it. Jon, therefore, instructs Gendry to make haste back to the Wall, from where a raven carrying this vital information could be sent off to Daenerys.
This obviously takes place as hoped, but it makes zero logical sense. The amount of time it should have taken Gendry to make his delivery plus the time spent by the Raven flying to Dragonstone doesn't add up. Unless someone involved secretly possesses the power to travel at lightspeed.
Euron Vs. Rhaegal
The Night King piercing Viserion through the throat with one of his terrifying magical ice-lances is believable enough, but for Euron Greyjoy and his Iron Fleet to kill Rhaegal with a bunch of mere Scorpions? Hogwash.
This is a dragon, not some random seagull, hurtling at him with an incomparable force and majesty, only to be broken by the weakest man in Game of Thrones? Granted that the show tried to hurry up its final episodes, but this scenario is beyond nonsensical. Should have got Wight Viserion and Rhaegal to fight to the death or something, instead.
Cleganebowl
Fans expected the fraternal conflict between the Clegane brothers to be resolved by a righteous duel to the death, in which Sandor (the Hound) would exact revenge on Gregor (the Mountain) for all the extreme childhood bullying.
In lieu of Cleganebowl, however, audiences are forced to watch a watered-down match between the two siblings — the younger one trying and failing to stab the older to death, finishing the task by getting both of them thrown off the citadel. The only victor, anticlimactically, is the ground.
The Night King's Untimely Death
The Night King, who had defeated and turned a literal dragon, who was barely singed by Drogon's flame, who had a limitless number of soldiers under complete telepathic control, dies because Arya Stark finds his only weak spot at the right time with the right amount of luck.
The problem is not who ends the Night King, because there really isn't a better fighter than her, but how the whole thing turned out. Rather than a long-drawn-out battle with lots of special effects and spectacular choreography, it goes on for three seconds before the main antagonist of the series explodes in a shower of ice crystals.
Queen Cersei Lannister
Cersei, another major villain, also fails to get a conclusion befitting her role in most of the terrible things to have happened in eight seasons, is murdered by the ceiling of the Red Keep. There is no smug sarcasm, not an iota of sneak attacks lying in wait for Dany and Drogon, just a lonely queen crying over the loss of everything she had struggled so hard to keep.
This fate of Cersei's is disrespectful to the character development that she has been put through, not to mention completely heedless of the lack of resolution between her and Jaime.
Did Arya Really Need To Lose Her Virginity?
Although Arya is supposed to be 18 when she hooks up with Gendry, offering some feeble excuse about wanting to experience the feeling before their impending doom, it just feels bizarre. In fact, a lot of fans expressed their discomfort with it, a totally understandable response given how Arya had been represented as a person until then.
Sure, as two consenting adults, there's nothing stopping them, ethically or otherwise, from doing whatever they want with and to each other, but shoving in this uncomfortable little nugget of information so close to the narrative climax is shoddy writing, to say the least.