Game of Thrones left its viewers feeling a little confused and even angry by the time season eight came to an end. Although the first three seasons stuck faithfully to the books, George R.R. Martin has simply not finished the masterpiece that is A Song of Ice and Fire, and the writers were forced to make their own decisions with only the vaguest guide about where the series was going to go.
Many plot twists took place throughout the later episodes especially, and not all of them were well-received. The fanbase raged against some of these, and it's understandable — these twists did not add to the show and its beloved characters, they actively hurt it.
Sansa Marries Ramsay
In the books, Ramsay married a girl named Jeyne from a far more minor house and treats her awfully. The writers turned this plotline on Sansa Stark to put her in the spotlight of a marriage filled with horrific abuse at the hands of a sadist, and viewers rioted. Sansa's plot was not pushed through her own free will but through horrible things happening to her, with graphic scenes making for some seriously uncomfortable viewing. Sansa fans did not appreciate this, and many did not appreciate the implications about the development of female characters. Bad move.
Jaime Goes Back To Cersei
Jaime Lannister's role in the show and the books is to have an identity arc. He grows up dependent on his sister and the more time he starts to spend away from Cersei, the more he realizes how cruel she is and how, despite being her twin, he does not agree. He stops loving her.
But as the war draws to a close, he abandons his entire arc to go back to her.
Readers have no idea how this will go in the books, although it seems doubtful that he will return to her now; he has already ignored letters from her asking him to save her life. Seems like book Jaime has a little more of a backbone, and fans took personal offense to this mischaracterization of him running back to his terrible sister.
Daenerys Is The Mad Queen
Daenerys descends from 'great' to 'mad' very quickly in the show. Since the Targaryens have tendencies towards insanity, it wasn't the idea of Daenerys going mad that offended her fans; rather, it was the idea that it happened so quickly. In just a few episodes she goes from fair ruler to genocidal queen, showing little regret for her actions. The hints leading up to this were barely hints at all, and the whole thing just seemed rushed in the final season.
Jon Is Aegon Targaryen
Jon Snow, once thought to be the bastard of Ned Stark, is revealed to be heir to the Iron Throne, son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. It's likely to be the same in the books too.
The issue is... nothing comes of it.
There is no point to this reveal in the show. It's crammed in, but Jon never attempts to take the throne and aside from a brief warning and period of upset from Dany (his aunt, who he is sleeping with, which does not seem to bother him after the reveal...), there's nothing. There are no consequences to this revelation at all. Why even waste the screen time on it?
Arya Kills The Night King... Really Easily
In the background of the show, the White Walkers and Night King lurk. From season one, from the first scene, they've been implied to be the Big Bad — that the politics of Westeros will matter little when they come for the kingdom. But before they can even solve the politics, the White Walkers come for the North and Arya kills the Night King.
Okay, so it's done like a boss, and the scene is badass. Arya is awesome. But for the Night King to go down so easily and all of the White Walkers to vanish... It was an anticlimactic rush.
Stannis Burns His Own Daughter Alive
Something that definitely was not and will not be included in the books was Stannis' decision to burn his own daughter alive.
It seems to have been a plot twist done for shock value. Stannis watches his daughter scream and beg as she dies painfully, only a child, encouraged by Melisandre. Stannis is pretty under her thumb in the book series too, but this is a whole new level for a man with integrity who claims to truly love his daughter and fans viewed it to be another great misunderstanding of a key character.
Brienne Records Jaime's Legacy
It's bad enough that Jaime left Brienne, but her own ending is still... entirely focused on him.
Fans wanted Brienne's last scene to show her being a badass. Fans wanted Brienne's last scene to be her riding off into the sunset, because she don't need no man. Instead, she's busy writing about Jaime as a good person.
He abandoned her for his evil sister. We would have all understood if she'd harbored some resentment, and she didn't owe him a thing. Her ending could have been so much more gratifying.
Bran Becomes King
The question we all wanted to know at the end: who becomes king?
Uh... Bran Stark?
Bran did nothing throughout the last season. Sure, he can warg and do some pretty cool things with magic but ultimately, he was next to useless. That didn't bother Tyrion Lannister or the rest of Westeros, who wanted to seat him on the Iron Throne. The books might be going this way too, but hopefully there will be more of a lead up and more examples of Bran actually deserving it — or at least something to suggest he'd be a good king.
Gendry's Heart Is Broken With No Follow Up
Poor Gendry's offer of marriage is rejected by Arya. This, in itself, most fans didn't have a problem with — Arya is inherently independent, and going off to travel on her own and find new lands seemed very fitting. But Gendry's been good and loyal throughout the whole series, and to have this twist thrown down with no sign of what he does next... boo.
Drogon Destroys The Iron Throne
Drogon, when he finds Daenerys' dead body, does not kill Jon. Instead, he destroys the throne.
It's symbolism, of course. The throne is what led Dany here, and what ultimately killed her. But how did Drogon comprehend all of this? Are dragons that smart? And surely he would have murdered Jon too, just for good measure, since Jon had just stabbed his mother?
Viewers all know the answer, of course — Jon's plot armor was simply too thick. But this twist wasn't well-executed.