There may never be a television show ever again that dominates the lives of so many, and gets so unbelievably anticipated as well as gets everybody talking in the same way as Game Of Thrones did for ten years. Despite an eighth season that has enraged a lot of the fandom, many still have it as their favorite show and herald it as the best.
However, there is also a group of people out there who believe the show is overrated, even if they have invested in it. There are certainly arguments on both sides, it is definitely an incredible show, but is it one of the best of all time?
Overrated – Chunks Of Bad
Throughout the show, there are streaks of perfection. The first four seasons start to finish are pretty flawless. But, there are still chunks of bad that pop up as the seasons go on.
Dorne jumps immediately to mind, with so much wasted potential, and some of Daenerys’ travels across the Narrow Sea disappointed most. As well as that, some character arcs have their downfalls, which hurt the overall stories indefinitely.
The Best – Game Of Thrones’ ‘Worst’ Is Better Than Most Show’s Best
However, the other side of that argument is that when Game Of Thrones is at its worst, that is often still higher quality than most television show’s best.
There are no episodes where absolutely every part is terrible. If an A storyline disappoints, the B story usually picks up the pieces. It’s always full of things like iconic moments, production design, or incredible music, there is always a redeeming quality that is more often than not fantastic.
Overrated – Needed More
Overall, season seven of GoT was great and had some stuff that was nothing short of incredible. However, the most significant issue with it is one that bled into season eight; it needed more.
There was so much stuff that got rushed, that did not have the care and attention needed to make it as good as it deserved. In reality, a couple more seasons with or without D&D would have likely led to a satisfying, and adequately prolonged finishing run, but even just a full ten episodes for season eight would have done a world of good.
The Best – The Game
At its heart, GoT is a human story, and political drama that, while having a layer of excellent fantasy surrounding it, is focused on the game and the politicking.
Said politicking is incredible, the way people like Littlefinger and Varys maneuver and make plays to better their position or better the cause they are fighting for is a joy to watch, and unlike anything else out there quality-wise.
Overrated – The Books
It is always strange territory for fans when a TV show or movie gets made from a book, with there being a section of loyal book lovers who inevitably have them in the back of their minds when watching the show.
GoT is no different, but in terms of the lore, there is more missed from the series that is in the books than most other franchises, and as such, anyone who likes the series will likely enjoy the books more. Stuff like Dorne, which sucks in the show, is fantastic in the books, characters who are given pathetic deaths like Selmy are alive in the books, and overall, the books are more immersive. There are high-quality changes made from the books, but especially given the show’s ending, the books overshadow the show to many.
The Best – The Subversion Of Expectations & Realism
What helped stamp GoT’s authority as a show unlike any other is the way it subverted expectations, not giving surprises and twists for the sake of it, but capitalizing on the route of the narrative has been going to blow fan’s minds.
For the most part, when people made mistakes in playing the game, they paid for it, usually with their lives. In battle, again, for the most part, if somebody slipped up like Oberyn, they pay for the mistake with their life. Heroes were not kept alive for merely being good people; honor led to death as much as evil did. It kept fans on the edge of their seat every week.
Overrated – How Could It Live Up To The Hype?
It may be a weak argument, but given how GoT took over the world, how it dominated lives, how it was talked about daily by millions of people, how could it live up to the hype, especially to those who never watched?
It is always a danger in pop culture, a film is called the greatest thing since sliced bread, ruining it for so many who deem it good but overrated, and the same thing can get said about GoT. Even hardcore fans disappointed themselves partly on their own hype.
The Best – Characters & Conversations
As mentioned earlier, GoT is a human story at its core, and as such, throughout eight seasons fans get introduced and get to know some genuinely terrific characters. So many of these characters inspire jaw-dropping conversations.
The way Tywin dominates the screen yet gets challenged by the Queen of Thorns, the way Varys and Littlefinger have different goals and get at each other’s throats with genius plays and fierce conversations, even the way Jon Snow inspires his men, it is all so exhilarating.
There is then the way characters grow, develop, and have insane arcs throughout. Even if the end leaves a bitter taste in fan’s mouths when it comes to some characters, the show is home to some of television’s greatest characters.
Overrated – The Finale
The final season of the show has gotten referenced a few times, but if there is anything that harms the legacy of GoT and stops it from being perhaps the most excellent show ever, it is the final season.
Not only does the final season need more episodes, but even the stuff in those episodes gets rushed somehow (namely Daenerys’ mad Queen moment). There is a lack of care in a lot of aspects of it, there is a betrayal of characters and fans by the writers, and the actual ending itself, the finale, while it has a couple of incredible moments and shots, is just bad.
The Best – Changed Television
There is not and will never be a show like GoT. The world of film has seemingly been taken over by television, and GoT is such a massive part of that as it changed television so much.
The show is so incredibly cinematic and accumulated a mouth-watering episode-to-episode budget. In addition, the fantasy aspects of the show are unlike any other, deconstructing the genre and defying so many of the tropes that hold it back. Viewership was record-breaking, the subversion of expectation had never existed to that level before, it continued past its source material, the blend of CGI and realism was awe-inspiring, and the show set a new bar in a variety of ways. The bottom line is, it is one of the most extraordinary and most important shows ever.
