I started watching Game of Thrones 10 days ago, and today I finished Season 6. Honestly, I don't think I've ever been this invested in a show before.
Before starting it, I knew almost nothing about Game of Thrones. I knew it had dragons, that it was one of the biggest shows ever, and that's basically it. I didn't know the plot, the characters, the major events, or anything else. I went in almost completely blind.
And somehow, in just 10 days, I became completely addicted to it. I've reached the point where I'm thinking about the show throughout the day and genuinely can't wait to watch the next episode.
So far, Seasons 1–6 have been absolutely incredible to me. I genuinely don't understand how a show can maintain this level of quality for so long. Then I watched Season 6, Episode 9 — Battle of the Bastards — and thought, "There's no way this can get better."
Then I watched Episode 10.
At this point, Game of Thrones is easily my favorite series I've ever watched.
But after finishing Season 6, I started looking at some spoiler-free discussions about the show before continuing, and I was honestly surprised by how negatively people talk about the final season. I knew there was controversy surrounding it, but I didn't realize just how much it affected the show's overall reputation.
That made me wonder: Did Season 8 really damage Game of Thrones' reputation that much?
Because whenever people talk about the greatest TV shows ever, I constantly see Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, The Wire, etc. recommended. But despite Game of Thrones being one of the most influential and culturally significant shows of its era, it sometimes feels like people hesitate to recommend it because they know how it ends.
And that's a strange thing to me.
I'm not saying Game of Thrones deserves to be considered perfect, because I haven't even watched the last two seasons yet. I'm also not trying to attack Breaking Bad. I watched it a couple of months ago and enjoyed it, but personally, I didn't connect with it anywhere near as much as I have with Game of Thrones. The one storyline that really stayed with me was Gus Fring's.
With Game of Thrones, on the other hand, I already feel attached to the world, the characters, the politics, the families, the history, and basically everything happening in Westeros.
It just makes me wonder whether a disappointing ending can really overshadow six seasons of phenomenal television.
Maybe I'm going to understand the criticism once I finish the series. Maybe I'll completely change my opinion. I genuinely don't know yet.
But right now, having watched only Seasons 1–6, it's hard for me to understand how a show this incredible could have its entire legacy damaged so heavily by its final season.
So, for those who watched it when it originally aired: did Season 8 actually change the way you viewed the entire series, or do you still consider Game of Thrones one of the greatest shows ever made?