JESSICA JOSEPHS
GAME OF THRONES season eight has seen numerous disappointed fans. Regardless of the questionable writing, we have witnessed thus far, viewers, including myself, are in hope of a miraculous season finale to make up for all the ‘wtf’ moments we’ve encountered.
One of these moments include the death of one of the greatest, most conniving and dangerous villains television has ever seen – Cersei Lannister. Yes, her death was highly disappointing. Yes, she should’ve died in a more torturous manner, and yes, she did not deserve to die in the arms of the person she loved. But maybe the writers were trying to prove some other point – the bad guy, or in this case the evil queen, doesn’t always get the death he/she deserves.
The same can be said about her dwarf brother, Tyrion Lannister. Tyrion has been, by far, the smartest character throughout the entire series and suddenly, this season, he decides to be one of the most short-sighted (no pun intended) characters.
This too, is highly disappointing and frustrating, as we all know never to trust a single word Cersei says, and it was very much evident Daenerys Targaryen was losing her marbles. Then again, it could be said that the writers were perhaps trying to humanise Tyrion – not everyone can be brilliantly smart twenty-four-seven.
Another aspect we can criticise is how the writers have managed to disregard the majority of our favourite characters’ character development this season.
What was the point of Jamie Lannister realising that Cersei was a horrible person, leaving Kings’ Landing, ending up with Brienne for one night and joining the resistance against the Night King? All for him to run back to her, rendering his entire story arc null-and-void. Perhaps this was a piece of advice for those who keep running back to their exes, regardless of how toxic the relationship is – you will die a pathetic death.
Again, after all the King in the North has been through, including resurrection and dragon-screaming, Jon Snow has become a high profile secondary character with no meaningful contribution to the overall narrative of this season.
The episode did have some positives though. We’ve come a long way from the grainy aesthetic of season one, and it is only fair to mention the magnificent cinematography. In this episode we witnessed some of the most beautiful shots the small screen has ever seen.
From the beautiful encounter between Sandor and The Mountain, to Arya Stark and the white stallion, we can see that more thought was put into the cinematography than the actual writing of this episode.
Nonetheless, the second last episode leaves many questions unanswered. What is the purpose of Bran and his supposed powers?
Who are the children of the forest and why have they not been incorporated into any narrative this season?
Will they be able to answer all of our questions in a single episode? Find out on the next, and final, episode of the most disappointing season of the century.
*Jessica is a BA Journalism Hons student.
