The two years wait for season 8 of Game Of Thrones was one of the most excruciating waits for a fandom with so many exciting things to come for the show. Some of this includes character arcs that would be paid off in satisfying manners, time used wisely and carefully spreading out the storytelling to give the best possible results, battles with high stakes and Battle of the Bastards level beauty and an overall satisfying and beautiful ending to one of the greatest shows ever put to television.
Unfortunately, not a lot of this came to be in the end and the last season of the show left a bitter taste in fans' mouths, this all being down to fewer episodes, lazy writing, and an awful finale. Despite an honestly great start to the season the show simply could not stick the landing and even though a lot of the criticism for early episodes is a little harsh, the criticism that falls the way of the finale is deserved. The six episodes are the six worst rated of the history of the show and here they are ranked, according to IMDb.
EPISODE 6 - THE IRON THRONE - 4.1
The final episode of season 8 and Game of Thrones as a whole sees all the surviving characters deal with Daenerys' destruction of King's Landing, Jon and Ser Davos survey damage, Tyrion mourns his siblings, Grey Worm slaughters Lannister men, Tyrion resigns as Hand in protest and is arrested. Jon is warned that Daenerys will kill him as he is a threat to her reign so he goes to Tyrion for advice, Jon then meets Daenerys and they kiss as he stabs her, prompting Drogon to burn the Iron Throne. Later, Tyrion convenes a council of Lords to decide ruler and Bran is nominated, Sansa does not want this and demands the North be separated from the kingdoms, Bran agrees and from there all our characters go in their various directions, Jon to the Night's Watch, Arya west, unsullied to Naath, etc.
The finale received 216,652 reviews with 44% giving it a 1, 13.7% giving it a 10, and the rest evenly spread between 2 and 9. Perhaps the episode will be looked at in a better light in 10 years but even now it still leaves a bitter taste. The pacing and tone prove that the season needed to be longer itself both to flesh out the characters and their arcs, such as Dany's descent to madness, and to wrap up storylines in a satisfying way. Some of the choices were unsatisfying and frustrating for fans with characters being treated unfairly nonsensically or to well nonsensically. Overall the episode leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of most people.
EPISODE 4 - THE LAST OF THE STARKS - 5.5
In the post-Long Night episode, a mass funeral takes place for those lost, Sansa tells Tyrion and Tyrion tells Varys of Jon's parentage, Euron's fleet ambushes Daenerys and kills Rhaegal and captures Millesandei, Varys believes Jon to be a better leader but Tyrion stands by Daenerys. Sansa suggests Daenerys will kill Cersei for capturing Missandei and despite Brienne's begging, Jaime leaves for King's Landing, Cersei, and Daenerys demand each other surrender after Cersei keeps the Red Keep gates open, but both refuse and the Mountain beheads Millesandei.
From 151,098 reviews, 25% deemed it a 1, and 16.4% a 10 with the rest being split between 2-9. The episode offers some intrigue and great dynamics between characters of which Thrones was a master of for 7 seasons. An issue with some people is the fact that the final battle comes against Cersei when the Night King has been defeated, but that to me is down to the season being rushed with not enough time to let stuff breathe or effort to make it make sense, the show was always going to end with the battle for the throne, it is literally called Game Of Thrones. The main issue for the episode to some is the laziness and lack of care, especially with the simply awful "Dany forgot about the Iron Fleet" excuse.
EPISODE 5 - THE BELLS - 6.0
In the penultimate episode, Tyrion tells Dany of Varys' treason, Daenerys informs Tyrion that Jaime has been captured and Tyrion goes to Jaime and releases him in exchange for him taking Cersei to Pentos to live out their days. From there Arya and the Hound get to the Red Keep, Drogon burns the iron fleet, Dany's army storms the city but the city surrenders, however, Dany rejects this and sets the city alight. Jon tries to keep control of the soldiers, and the Clegane bowl happens alongside Cersei and Jaime's demise.
The episode received 176,007 reviews with 24.2% giving it a 10, and 23.2% a 1, with the rest being split mostly between 5 and 9. The episode could honestly be a great one, but it goes back to the core problem of their only being six episodes, if it was a full season this episode would happen with more time and care, less plot crammed in and would be a spectacle for the ages, but alas it is not with a lot of people seeing it as illogical and unearned.
EPISODE 3 - THE LONG NIGHT - 7.5
Perhaps the most anticipated battle in Game Of Thrones history, the Long Night, all goes down in episode 3 with the Night King and the army of the dead looking for Bran and for Winterfell to fight back. There is shock, death, and sacrifice and in the end, when the Night King comes for Bran it is no one who kills him and saves Winterfell.
The episode from 198,353 votes gained a 7.5 with 41.2% giving it a 10, 14.3% and the others split, mostly between 5 and 9. The episode got a lot of hate for its dark lighting and handling of the White Walker with the feeling of anti-climax being felt in some. However, by IMDb's score, the episode is underrated, it is beautifully shot and directed, it is tense, emotional, with some fantastic and beautiful moments (Theon is a good man), also a lot of people lost sight of the true purpose of the show which was not the battle with the White Walkers, it was the battle for the throne, some people's expectations hurt this episode even though massive problems were arising from the season as a whole.
EPISODE 1 - WINTERFELL - 7.6
The season premiere of 8 sees characters reconvene as Jon and Daenerys get back to Winterfell, Jon rides dragons with Dany and is told by Sam of the identity of his parents, Theon saves Yara who decides to retake the Iron Islands while Theon goes to fight the dead at Winterfell, Euron and Cersei begin their relationship, and right at the end Jaime arrives in Winterfell and sees Bran.
The episode received 120,390 reviews with 24.4% giving it a 10, 11.4% a 1 and 48% a 7, 8 or 9. The episode is perhaps hurt on IMDb with such a large amount of reviews for an episode like this which has not been the case before with slower episodes of the show. Nonetheless, the episode received a lot of praise and at the time was viewed as a good season opener, setting up the future with great character work and performances, and beautiful reunions even if there were a couple of negatives (eg Cersei's proposal to Bronn).
EPISODE 2 - A KNIGHT OF SEVEN KINGDOMS - 7.9
Episode 2 sees Jaime judged by the Starks for his past crimes, tactics for the Battle of Winterfell are discussed, Jon reveals his true parentage to Daenerys in the crypts, and the Night's Watch characters are reunited. Finally, the characters who are preparing for battle all preparing mentally and emotionally for what is to come.
The episode got 118,490 reviews with 29.1% deeming it a 10, 36.3% a 9 or 10 and 11% a 1. Again it is not the type of episode this amount of people usually vote for on IMDb which may hurt it but overall it is a pretty great episode. While it is less driving force of narrative and more callbacks and waiting, it still builds a story before the Long Night and has great performances, humor, character work and tension, with a sad atmosphere as a lot of characters await mass death. The episode is hurt by the main issue with the whole season, it was only six episodes long.