Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harrington , Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams have become household names, owing to one of the longest running TV Shows.

The Game of Thrones, based upon A Song Of Ice and Fire written by George R. R. Martin, is indeed one of the most popular shows, where the fans not only watched but also got involved with the development of characters and tried to guess the direction the storyline would take in future, by coming up with their own theories.

The past nine years, 2010 to 2019, saw the young Stark kids grow up, many characters killed and various plots and subplots intertwine. The fans heaved a sigh of relief on seeing Tyrion Lannister come unharmed from death, doubled over with surprise as the young Daenerys Targareyn transformed into ferocious dragon mother and rejoiced as Jon Snow maintained high ideals even in most adverse conditions.

Yes, the beauty of GOT as it is popularly called, lies in its unpredictable storyline. Here, no character is indispensable and no event is unimaginable.

As for me, I joined the party quite late. I began watching the series only two months back and binge watched on seven seasons at a stretch. But by the time Season 8 began, I had become quite involved with the series. I even went ahead and bought all the books of the series, as I wanted to know more about this fantastical show. However, I put off reading those books till I have finished watching the TV adaptation.

Yesterday, I watched the Game of Thrones finale and was left in an introspective silence. Many fans have complained against the way Season 8 has turned up, largely owing to the ordinary events and lack lustre fighting scenes. To tell you the truth, I am also a bit disappointed as this season lacked the chutzpah of previous seasons for sure. However, I would not blame the creators for taking a more subtle route in the final season.

Despite the outer fantasy like structure, Game of Thrones, had always been more about the human eccentricities and political ideologies. There may have been dragons, white walkers and children of forest, essential elements of fantasy land yet the main story always focused upon how the decisions would be made by mere mortals. There always had been great stress upon how the emotional and moral grounds would be used and abused for personal gains. In short, it had always been about how we live and survive in this world!

And this is what the last season focused on. The evil turned out to be selfish even when the danger of death loomed, while the good ones continued to sacrifice even when they could back out! It’s not only the last episode, but the entire Season 8 followed this line of thought.

Yes, the ending could have been better, the battle scenes could have been more elaborate and of course, the main Characters could have been killed with a little more finesse. The viewers had been waiting for this season with bated breath. Their patience should have been rewarded with more effort and imagination.

And yet here we are, at the end of the final season with the Iron Throne melted, Dragons vanished and even a Kingdom chopped off!

The last episode seemed a bit forced. The creators worked under great duress to perform and tie up all the loose ends. And in an overzealous approach, ended up ceating more theories than practical outcomes. Still I wouldn’t blame them. At times, stories end abruptly and remain memorable. Whereas at other times, the effort to create something greater and more logical, backfires. I believe the producers found themselves on this sticky road. They tried taking one route for earlier seasons and then lost track. In trying to recover, they ended up on another path, which though logical, isn’t really well thought of!

Stil you can either blame Benioff and Weiss for trying to create something different from what George RR Martin has written or praise their ingenuity. The choice is entirely yours.

However one thing is for sure, GOT has stirred enough curiosity in me to dive straight into Winterfell and King’s Landing with Martin and first handedly experience the prophecies and tales, left unattended in the show.

Anyhow Written World is always more elaborate and promising than the Make Believe World. One way or the other I am a happy viewer and a curious reader. Anupama Sarkar