The Chinks in 'Game of Thrones'' Armour

(SPOILER WARNING FOR ALL SEVEN SEASONS OF GAME OF THRONES)

No franchise is infallible. There have been several stories that have been told through the course of books, movies, TV shows, and even video games that have touched both the heights of glory and the depths of monotony and boredom. However, every once in a while, there emerges that story that seems like it can do no wrong. For many years, the series that, in my opinion, occupied this position was J.K Rowling’s masterful Harry Potter. As of late, though, one series has risen to take on the mantle that everyone’s favourite boy wizard left, and that series is none other than George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, or, as it is more popularly known, Game of Thrones. And while it is no exaggeration to say that the show has become one of the icons of the entertainment world in recent years, I say that it suffers from key problems that, while not reducing the quality of the show, definitely takes it down from what it used to be back when it first came on the air.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m a huge fan of the show. I think it has a fantastic story with very well-written characters. Both the actors and the writers must be given credit for bringing such a huge world to life in such an immersive fashion. As of late, though, I feel that the series’ seemingly impenetrable armour has begun to crumble, and although the show is not by any means unwatchable, it does irk me that what was once something that could have been truly unique has fallen to something so much more commonplace.

1. Lack of Original Source Material

Game of Thrones is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, and, as such, the majority of the show has already been done in the form of books by GRRM. Now, this first point is being a little harsh on the show, for while the original material that has been created by David Benioff and W.B. Weiss is great, it is not as gripping and immersive as GRRM’s work. It would have worked for almost any other show, but we were left so spellbound by what we saw on screen in 2011 that perhaps nothing could match up to it.

2. The Shift in Tone

When the show first hit television, it was very evident that the main focus of the show was the way the characters tussled for control of the kingdom—for the Iron Throne. And for the first five seasons, we saw several characters play the game well, scheming and conniving for any kind of control they could get. It involved politics, tact, resourcefulness, and skill in manipulation. An excellent example of this is the initial part of the conflict between the Starks and the Lannisters, and how Tyrion acted as Hand of the King in the events leading up to the Battle of Blackwater Bay. Now its all about the wars and battles—the clash of the living and the dead. Now, understand that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. One can even argue that it can’t be helped, really, because the show has reached that point where the time for talking and scheming is over.

But here’s the thing—while the show had balanced the political aspect and the war aspect in the past, now its skewed in favour of the battles.

In season six, when Jon Snow fought against Ramsay Bolton’s army, it was visually engaging, well-choreographed, and very gritty, but most of all, it felt good knowing that Ramsay had connived his way to being Lord of Winterfell, even murdering his own father to gain control. He had played the political game so damn well and we hated him for it, which made it all the more satisfying to see Jon stomp him into the ground.

None of the battles in season seven felt like that.

Sure, when Drogon swept across Lannister forces it was exhilarating, but it was more akin to a massacre rather than a battle—a mere exhibition of strength and power, and I couldn’t really feel the pressure or terror that Jamie was feeling, the fear and shock at seeing a dragon, the utter feeling of powerlessness as he watched his troops burn. A good fight always has a great build up, and even if the fight itself is visually appealing, with no mounting tensions or anticipation, it simply recedes into our memory in place of more captivating battles.

3. The Reality of the Show

When the show first aired, each season had ten episodes. Since each episode was one hour, we had roughly about ten hours of content every year. This carried on for six seasons, and for the most part, the pacing worked. It was a bit slow at times (Faceless Men arc, I’m looking at you), but it wasn’t unbearable by any means.

In season seven, we had seven episodes instead of ten, thereby missing out on three hours of content.

Three whole hours. To put how much time that is in perspective, three hours (three episodes) is how long it took for:

a. Ned Stark to be betrayed by Littlefinger, thrown into prison, and later executed on false charges of treason.

b. Robb Stark to call the banners and march against the Lannisters.

c. Arya to run away from the Red Keep and then start heading North for the wall.

d. Khal Drogo to get the infected wound that would later kill him.

As you can see, a lot can happen in 3 hours. And when you cut that much time out of the season, it results in a lot of content being compressed into very little screen time.

Need proof? Look at episode five of season seven. There’s so much going on that it genuinely exhausts you to keep up with it all. We travel from Dragonstone, to King’s Landing, to back to Dragonstone in about ten minutes of screen time. No matter how you look at it, that’s many, many miles traversed in what seemed like nothing. Game of Thrones has always established itself as a huge universe, and both the characters within the show as well as we, the audience, recognize the fact. Earlier the journey would have taken a couple of episodes at the least, but here, it just happens. Sure, it makes for faster plot progression, but it does add a certain feeling of disbelief.

Now, the solution here is to obviously increase the number of episodes so plot points can properly be fleshed out, but since that might be a tad difficult, what can be done is make sure that the important events are presented in a better way. The content on its own is good; it's just that how its shown to us is sloppy, and that makes us think that it's of inferior quality, which is far from the truth.

4. Predictability Factor

One of the main talking points of Game of Thrones back when it first aired, and for a good while after it did, was how it was brave enough to kill virtually every character possible. No one was safe, no matter how important they were to the story. We saw this in the very first season, when King Joffrey ordered the execution of Eddard Stark, who many of us assumed was the main character and the person who would spearhead the conflict between the Starks and the Lannisters, along with Cersei and Jamie. Robb Stark, whom we all thought would avenge his father’s death, was killed at the absolutely gut-wrenching Red Wedding, along with his pregnant wife and his mother. Joffrey was poisoned at his own wedding, and Tyrion murdered Tywin at the end of the same season. Oberyn Martell had his skull crushed while fighting the Mountain after we all thought he was going to win, Cersei killed nearly all the Tyrells by blowing up the Sept of Baelor, the list goes on and on. Geroge R.R. Martin is a cruel, cruel man indeed. The show was ambitious, daring to take on typical fantasy tropes and throwing them back in our faces.

However, now, the show has lacked the drive or the decisiveness to actually take the extra step of killing a character. Jon Snow was killed in season five, but he was brought back to life three episodes later. The twists and turns have become stale and predictable. You just know that Tyrion’s not going to die, you know that Cersei and Danerys will survive until the very end, you’re absolutely sure that Jon Snow will be there for the final episode. Let’s be honest, how many of us saw Jamie betraying his sister and turning over to join Jon and Danerys?

(Raises hand)

I don’t feel the sense of anticipation that I did before as to who was going to live or die. It seems that everyone has some sort of plot armour now, and that does not do for a show that built its reputation on being fearless enough to kill basically anyone.

Overall, however, despite what I’ve said above, I think Game of Thrones is a fantastic show, and one I would recommend to anyone looking to have a good time. It's got great characters and a sense of scale that we haven’t seen in the genre since the likes of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. It has already been assured of a place among the history books of fantasy worlds as one of the greatest ones to have ever been created, and not, the only question is how it can cement its position as the greatest show ever.