Game of Thrones: The Importance of Putting the Story First
Game of Thrones is almost over. Ten years & eight seasons later, the epic television series will finally find it’s conclusion in less than ten days. Two. Episodes. Left.
But it’s not all great. Game of Thrones has managed to turn itself into one of the saddest entertainment phenomenons ever. In only two weeks, the writers managed to almost destroy the show and completely end all emotional attachment that fans might have had to it. Since episode three, The Long Night, Game of Thrones has slowly, but steadily, been declining in quality and heading towards some dark places.
(Before we move on, a disclaimer: this article does not reflect OurMovieLife or its staff’s views towards the show. We are simply reporting on what most fans seem to think & analyzing why it may be so.)
Is there hope still? Maybe. Maybe Dan & Dave have something insane planned out for the last two episodes that will save the show. And yet again, maybe not. Probably not.
We’re using Game of Thrones as a prime example of what happens when the story is not put ahead of everything else. Because the decline in quality, the multiple plot-holes, and the general degradation during the final season of the show are all rooted in exactly that: putting something before the story.
There are many logistics that go into creating a massive franchise such as this one. Let’s explore some of the things that Dan & Dave were probably influenced by that led to the decline of quality:
Focusing on individual scenes and characters.
Dan & Dave think the audience wants to see Bronn. So they create a whole story arc with him for the final season so that he has more scenes and more interaction with other important characters. Dan & Dave think the audience wants to see Jon riding a dragon. So they create a story act about that, too. Etc. Etc….
Doing this is a huge mistake. This way, from a storytelling perspective at least, a writer has hundreds of different little scenes that they want/need to put in the story. They then take all of those little bits and bobs and try to create an overarching story through them.
It should be the other way around. The overarching aspect of the show should come first and then all the little bits and bobs should come through that. What, the general plot doesn’t allow for more Bronn screen time? It doesn’t matter. Everything extra must come from the story. Not vice versa. For example, the editing serves the film, not the film the editing. The latter would be preposterous. Similarly, crafting a story that just serves smaller scenes and unnecessary arcs makes no sense.
(Read our Azor Ahai theory here.)
Fan satisfaction and the need to surprise.
Dan & Dave obviously really wanted to surprise us. They wanted to do something that no one expected because, for some unknown reason, they feel like they need to stay withing the ‘shocking story structure’ that Game of Thrones has existed in so far.
They probably knew that fans were expecting Jon to defeat The Night King. And they probably know that fans of Game of Thrones watch the show expecting the unexpected. So they combine those two beliefs and come up with an unusually unexpected twist; they decide that the unexpected will be the more concrete and sensible storytelling.
Usually, there is actually nothing wrong with that. If the unexpected actually does make more sense. No one really minds Arya killing The Night King. Jon killing him would have been very cliche and purely fan service; this we can agree on. The unexpected in this case (who kills The Night King) worked because it stayed true to a main Game of Thrones premise.
What doesn’t work is breaking the entire message of the show (a.k.a. the game of thrones is only a distraction from the great war) just for the sake of surprise. This breaks the story. It’s an easier solution to The Night King problem – both from a storytelling perspective and from a logistics perspective; but the story is not put forward. And the story being good and coherent is more important than surprises or general public satisfaction.
(Read our rant about The Night King’s ending here.)
Personal interests.
Dan & Dave have been running this game for 10 years. They are probably tired. And, to be completely fair, we’ll give them this: they never signed up to finish this story. GRRM was meant to do so before the final season. They probably never expected this.
But it’s no excuse. When you have something as huge as Game of Thrones with this many people watching, it’s your duty to give it a proper ending. With great power comes great responsibility. Destroying and improperly wrapping-up this story and thus disappointing millions of people because of personal interests is, in this case at least, egoistic.
(Read the Blue-Eyed Giant theory here.)
Time & money.
We would put this as a reason. But we won’t. Because HBO offered Dan & Dave more episodes and, with that, more money. And we could’ve waited for those episodes. But Dan & Dave refused. They said they are confident they can give Game of Thrones a good conclusion in six episodes.
Hey, maybe they can. There is still some hope. Still two episodes left.
We talked very harshly against the Game of Thrones showrunners in this article. Some of it is probably called for. But some of it probably isn’t. We have no idea what’s happening behind the scenes. This is all speculation. It’s all unconfirmed analysis. Maybe we should give these two young writers the benefit of the doubt.
There are 160 minutes of Game of Thrones left. Let’s enjoy the ride while it lasts. Even if the last few stretches are bumpy as hell.
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If you’re like us and know you’ll rewatch the whole show immediately after its over, get the Game of Thrones Blu-Ray here. And what better way to enjoy that than with a nice glass of scotch? Get your Tyrion Lannister whiskey glass here.
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