Date: 19th May 2019. Millions of dedicated fans, battered and bruised (mentally and emotionally) after watching The Long Night the previous month, glued to their TV screens, hoping to find some solace after seeing someone worthy ascend to the Iron Throne. A grueling hour filled with chaos and adrenaline passes in front of their eyes. The next thing we see is the same dedicated fanbase rise up against the franchise they once rooted for, calling it the great “Butchering of Game of Thrones”, and signing petitions to remake the series finale, which is going on even now, 3 years since it aired.
Yes, the infamous Game of Thrones finale. 3 years have passed since the series ended, but the wound is still fresh in the minds of those who followed the show piously over the period of nearly a decade. Even when the story somewhat started limping after Season 6, fans believed it will somehow redeem itself towards the end. After all, this is the same franchise that delivered some of the most terrific and astounding masterpieces during its run, The Red Wedding, The Battle of The Bastards, and The Battle of Blackwater, to count but a few. The D&D duo can’t betray such a beautiful storyline, right?
What happened in the infamous final season is the stuff of controversy that is even talked about today. Be it the rushed out storyline, Daenerys’ sudden turn to madness, Arya killing the Night King while Jon played the floor is lava with the wight dragon and being completely unharmed, Cersei being smothered to eternal slumber by a blanket of bricks, Bran becoming the king of the six kingdoms, and the various inconsistencies and plotholes, blew the minds of the audience, in a really bad way.
Well, in the end, it really doesn’t matter who won the Game of Thrones. The fans were the biggest losers. While it is still up for debate how bad was the series finale or if the final season really deserves all that hate, it is quite clear the fans lost the Game of Thrones.
However, all is not lost. Even though the petition to remake the finale hasn’t been successful as of yet, it does seem like HBO is learning from its mistakes. From straightaway keeping David and Dan away from Game of Thrones projects, who most believe to be the main culprits behind the Season 8 fiasco, to hiring the best showrunners for the prequel, Miguel Sapochnik (director of Battle of Bastards) and Ryan Condal (creator of Colony and screenplay for Hercules), HBO seems to be more cautious about House of The Dragon.
Moreover, the prequel has a completed source material unlike GoT, and one of the heaviest budgets in the television industry. George R. R. Martin, the man himself, likes what he has seen so far of House of The Dragon, which is a plus point considering how messed up the pilot of Game of Thrones was (a little foreshadowing, maybe?).
The future of House of The Dragon does look promising in the eyes of HBO, but its success depends completely on the reaction of the fans, the majority of whom they disappointed during the finale of Game of Thrones, which aired exactly 3 years ago. Will the once biggest franchise on earth redeem itself with House of The Dragon? As a Game of Thrones fan, are you willing to give the prequel a chance to shine? Tell us in the comments below!
