Revisiting the DOWNFALL of Game of Thrones | Video Essay

In this video essay, we break down the infamous Downfall of Game of Thrones. With House of the Dragon Season 2 here, and it being 5 years since GoT concluded with the disastrous Season 8 I figured, let's take a deep dive look into the downfall of one of the greatest TV Shows ever made. Many people point the finger at season 8 for the downfall of Game of Thrones, but the truth is, it started long before that. We dive into it all!

Game of Thrones (2011)
House of the Dragon (2022)

Timecodes
0:00 - Intro
1:24 - Part 1 (Perfection) Seasons 1-4
8:44 - Part 2 (Downfall) Seasons 5-7
19:04 - Part 3 (Season 8)
43:11 - Outro

[Siile_]

Absolutely insane how they threw away their legacy and the opportunity to cement GoT as a TV masterpiece, all to go work on Star Wars, which eventually didn't even happen. This could have been so incredible

[codeallnight]

Bran saying "I can't be lord of anything anymore, I'm the 3 eyed raven" and then immediately takes the iron throne is ridiculously bad writing. How did no one even catch that

[EasyHunii]

5 years and the wound Never realy healed

[fromchomleystreet]

It’s so weird to see the way the signature blondeness of the Lannisters was progressively abandoned over time. Those early shots of season one Tyrian with his straightened blonde hair - by the end he has curly dark hair with inexplicable honey-coloured tips, while Jamie has been allowed to revert to the actor’s natural mousey brown.

[selfexplanatory]

Tyrion teasing Brienne about being a virgin and Sansa saying her abuse wasn’t so bad because it made her smart were some of the most painful scenes in season 8.

[HeyApples]

It took Rob Stark an entire season to cross the continent. By season 6 and 7, main characters were jumping around the continent within adjoining scenes in the same episode. When that started happening I knew the wheels were falling off.

[TotallyNotMark]

"The Mad Queen Arc" wasn't a character arc. An arc suggests gradual progression over time. It was more like "The Mad Queen" Cliff.

[daveycrocket]

You forgot to mention John is sentenced to the wall that doesn't exist anymore. The wall that doesn't exist anymore that was built to keep the people up north that are now living down south. The producers and writers knew they had a mad hit on their hands took the money and ran.

[Primojay]

The white walkers needed an entire seasons post wall crossing. It was foreshadowed since the beginning and got pretty much one episode to be resolved.

[curtthechameleon]

The most disappointing thing was Bran and the magic. They never explained anything. Bran just sat there.

[joncarter]

I once heard a great comparison to Arya killing the Night King. It’s the equivalent of Legolas surfing into mount Doom and back flipping off while throwing the ring into the lava.

[WaakikiTheGoat]

The ending to the show + Grrm not finishing the books = the biggest fumble of a great piece of art of all time. An absolute disaster

[PolliitoAle]

It's only been 5 years???? my anger somehow manages to feel centuries old and brand new at the same time

[billusher]

In my opinion when it was clear they’d overtake the books they should have had George help them sketch out a simpler alternate ending for the show. That would fit better in the time they had while also not spoiling the end of the books. It also probably needed one or two more seasons to wrap things up without rushing.

[kittenadoption]

The ever-impending "Long Night" became like a 42 minute battle

[byakugan]

I still remember that sinking feeling towards the end of episode 3 thinking to myself "I'm never gonna get to see all that I wanted, am I"

[AProvocateur]

Let's not forget these amazingly complex season 8 quotes:

"I do not want it"
"Muh queen"

[saragiovaa]

The fact that they warned us about the danger of the white walkers for 7 seasons, basically saying that who sits on the throne doesn't really matter because they will need to face a much bigger threat just to have Arya killing the Night King in ep. 3 is something that i will never forgive

[giotsas]

One of the most infuriating writing fuckups is when Tyrion finds Jamie and Cercei they're literally buried under a single layer of bricks, if they stepped a bit in to the right they'd have survived. But in their death scene it seems like the entire keep is collapsing.

[klgw]

Joffrey's killer was technically revealed sooner. Olena tells Margery she had something to do with it. She tells her "you didn't think I was going to let you marry him did you?"