In 2019, after eight seasons, the final ever episode of Game of Thrones brought the epic fantasy series to a close. Ever since its creation, the show was lauded as one of the greatest television had to offer, thanks in no small part to its incredible cast of both characters and actors, and the source material.
The adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire saga produced 73 episodes, most of which were incredible must watch TV. Four of them even scored a near perfect IMDb user rating of 9.9. However, the show was not without its problems, no more so than over the final seasons.
After such a patient, deliberate approach to building characters, stories, and situations through the first six seasons, the showrunners saw a potential Star Wars project in their future and rushed through the final two seasons, robbing them of the previous quality that had earned the show its reputation.
While this was certainly the most notable dip in quality, truly the show started its decline as soon as the source material was overtaken, leaving Benioff and Weiss to try and match the storytelling of George R. R. Martin. Unsurprisingly, they failed, and while there are only a handful of bad episodes, they all come from the later years of the show.
