By: Isabella Langner

People Editor

This summer, I completed one of the best shows of all time, Game of Thrones. The series features eight seasons spanning about ten episodes each that I watched whether I was lounging at the pool or hibernating in bed. However, the final season had me cringing and crying at how god awful its resolution was. Unfortunately, eight seasons of pure perfection led to total garbage in the end.

Game of Thrones is set in the mystical lands of Westeros and Essos, where noble families fight for control and the Iron Throne, while a previously dormant enemy species rises in the north. While there are many overlaps, each plot line follows its own rich path, building characters and stories throughout the many different locations on the continents. It’s incredibly easy to get addicted to this show due to the intense action, well-developed characters, and compelling worldbuilding.

One of the major plotlines follows Daenerys Targaryan, the last survivor of a dynasty who ruled Westeros but was killed off twenty years prior to the beginning of Game of Thrones. Daenerys lives in Essos and slowly accumulates power through hatching previously extinct dragons, freeing slaves, and acquiring armies with the final goal of ruling Westeros. Through all of Daenerys’ accomplishments, the show leads viewers to assume it will conclude with her on the Iron Throne, a seemingly perfect and fulfilling ending.

The second major plotline includes Jon Snow’s, a bastard of the noble Stark family in the North. Jon’s story follows him joining the Night’s Watch and defending Westeros from the ancient species of White Walkers who threaten all living creatures. The series builds up suspense regarding the Walkers from the very beginning, with the first scene in the show featuring a Walker slaughtering a man. However, when the Walkers finally attack, they are defeated in one battle, which comes off as underwhelming, considering a 700 foot tall wall of ice was built to keep them out thousands of years prior. Season 7 also revealed Jon to be a Targaryan, which makes him the true heir to the Iron Throne and made most viewers expect the series to end with Jon’s heritage somehow mattering.

However, with all of this build up, the final season features Daenerys going insane out of nowhere and burning an entire city, so Jon kills her and is then exiled back to the Night’s Watch (which doesn’t even exist because the Night’s Watch’s sole purpose was destroyed with the Walkers). With the right build up, this conclusion might have been satisfying, but season eight was incredibly rushed, and therefore, rated the lowest out of any season in Game of Thrones. I highly recommend this series due to the amazing first seven seasons, but when it comes to the ending, join me and ignore that it ever occurred.