I don't mean to be a contrarian. My tastes actually run more towards populism than elitism. I cannot stand when people take up a contrary position simply because it is contrary. I remember years ago, someone had told me that they refused to see Titanic because so many people loved it. I found this be rather weak. This person was trying to show independence, but all they were really doing was basing their own opinions on the (opposite) opinion of others.
This takes me to Game of Thrones Season 8, which has been reviled by most fans of the show as the worst.
But I am here to tell you that it was the best. Now that many months have passed and the passions have subsided a bit, I would like to set for the reasons why the show ended on a high, not a low. You may hate Game of Thrones. I am not here to talk you into like it or approving of it. I am only here to make the case the of all 8 seasons, the final one was the best. If you are of the mind that it was all terrible, then the final season was the least terrible.
Here are the 7 reasons why.
*****MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES BELOW*****
1. Least Pornographic
This may sound like I am damning with feint praise, and in a way I am. I started Game of Thrones from the beginning. It was a show that got a lot of attention because of its pornographic sex and violence. Yet buried within the show were some great story elements and excellent performances. It was an incredibly difficult show for me to justify watching (even with my eyes closed for good portions of the time). It got to the point in Season 5 or 6 that I tapped out. I hit my TV Threshold. Still curious, however, I would read recaps of the episodes and watch scenes posted on YouTube (which generally did not have the pornographic element).
The final season, however, was nearly nudity free. I think there was only one scene in the first episode and some partial nudity in a later one. For Game of Thrones, that is practically G-Rated. Now, you may argue that the presence of any lewd material would mean that the show has no redeeming value. I will not argue that point, if that is what you believe. The only point I am making here is that of all of the seasons, Season 8 was the most watchable because it had the least pornographic material.
2. Character Convergence
Game of Thrones has often been a story with a complex tapestry of characters all over the world. But in this season more so than any other, the characters were finally brought together in an incredibly dramatic convergence. Jon is finally reunited with Bran and Arya. Jamie must confront his attempted murder of Bran. Daenerys and Sansa face off as allies and enemies. The tender moment between Tyrion and Sansa in the crypts... Each fresh interaction felt like the comic book crossovers I loved as a kid. And watching the amazing performances by Kit Harrington and the rest of the company was wonderful to watch.
3. The Battle for the Dawn.
There is a strong complaint that this episode was literally too dark to see. While there is just criticism here, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Because the show is very free in the way it kills characters, every moment was filled with danger. The action set pieces were bold and exciting spectacles. The choreography was top-notch. And all the way until the final moments, I felt like I was holding my breath.
4. The Villain of the Series
Many people were confused when the Battle for the Dawn ended earlier in the season rather than later. That is because the series' main villain was not the Night King. One of the things I love about what the show did was that it hid the main villain right before our eyes and most people did not notice. In all humility, early on I said to my wife, "Daenerys is actually the villain, not the hero." We felt great sympathy for her because she was victimized early on. But victimization is not virtue. She was a conquering war monger and was from the beginning. The final episode had Tyrion recount her entire enterprise in a new light to show us that if you were rooting for her, you were actually rooting for evil. Many accuse the show of making her heal turn too sudden. On the contrary, it was in the making since day one.
That is why the prophesied Long Night was not about the Battle for the Dawn. Jon Snow is Azor Ahai, the Prince That Was Promised. He was destined to be the great hero who would stop the long night. When Arya killed the Night King, everyone was confused. But that is because Jon's destiny was not to stop him, but the Dragon Queen who would cover the world in the darkness of ash.
5. Anti-Nihilism
Game of Thrones has long been a show whose true themes had been a mystery. The violence and the tragedy seemed so unjust and random that many believed the show held a nihilist point-of-view. I always maintained that we would only know this when the story is resolved. Was everything just random chance or was it all a part of a plan? The series brought the two elements of fate and free will to a knife's point in the final episode where you could see the hand of greater forces at work to let the heroes make the choices they needed to make. There was purpose and meaning in the end, which in the world of Westeros was always a question mark.
6. Anti-Humanism
There is no truly omnipotent benevolence revealed in Game of Thrones, only some vague sense of destiny. But this destiny is in stark contrast to the humanism presented in Daenerys. Daenerys does not believe in any god or higher power. The only thing she believes in is herself. At first this sounds like the typical self-belief found in all successful people. But as the series came to a close, we saw that she saw herself as the arbiter of goodness. This is pure humanism, and it is consequences are quite ugly. After she has just indiscriminately killed thousands of people, Daenerys tells Jon that she will create a good world. The dialogue is so revealing:
Jon: How do you know it will be good?
Daenerys: Because I know what is good. And so do you.
Jon: No I don't.
Daenerys: Yes you do, you've always known.
Jon: What about everyone else? All those other people who think they know what's good.
Daenerys: They don't get to choose.
Jon is someone who desperately wants to do the good, but he knows that the human heart is flawed and that we are all prone to sin. Daenerys thinks that she can make her own rules, not beholden to a higher power, because she is the highest power who will impose her will on men. Jon has to make a choice and he doesn't know if it is the right one. And the show will not give you an easy answer to this either. But Jon knows that even though he has to choose, and his choice may be wrong, he is answerable to a higher morality than one of his making.
7. Redemption and Atonement
The final season was all about redemption and atonement. Theon Greyjoy did some of the most craven acts of evil on the show. And even though he suffered much since, it wasn't really until this season that you saw him become whole. After all he had done, for Bran to tell him he was a good man was one of the greatest victories for any character. It showed that any external reward was nothing in comparison to the peace that comes with moral goodness. Of course there was a price that had to be paid. Some were not willing to pay it. Jamie had a chance to abandon his old sins, but like a relapsed addict it destroyed him in the end. The Hound could not abandon his quest for vengeance and so died in a blaze of pointless glory instead of living out his days by Sansa or Arya's side. But both Jon and Tyrion are given responsibilities of power, but both look at them as ways to serve and make up for (as much as is possible) past mistakes. Jon says one of my favorite lines of the series: "The world we need is a world of mercy." He understands that this is the ideal and that redemption is possible. This makes his ultimate choice so tragic, because I think he will always wonder if Daenerys could be redeemed. And it should haunt him because in a world where redemption is possible, closing that door comes with a terrible price.
Now I am not blind to the season's flaws:
-it was too abbreviated
-Circe was given nothing to do
-the epilogue felt hasty and a bit contrived
-how did Daenerys miss an entire fleet of ships?
But compared to the others, season 8 of Game of Thrones was the best.
Thoughts?
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