Game of Thrones ruins its legacy with sexism and laziness
*major spoilers ahead*
In the decade that Game of Thrones has captivated audiences, it has faced its fair share of clashes with sexism and racism. For the most part, however, writers have righted their wrongs and appeased watchers.
This final season has been different.
This season writers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss seem to have given up on their meticulously cultivated story arcs. The biggest story arc betrayal award goes to Daenerys Targaryen whose moral character went from heroine to barbarian when she followed in the footsteps of her family and went completely “mad queen.”
Since the dawn of the iconic show Daenerys has been the ultimate protagonist, a symbol of hope and a natural leader. Without warning, in the final three episodes of the series her character description shattered. Her decisions became increasingly irrational and culminated in the desecration of King’s Landing, in which she burned an entire city of innocent people.
There was absolutely no foreshadowing or build-up to this massive twist making it shocking to audiences, but not in a good way. Many people love a good twist, but this one was done with a heavy-hand and general lack of passion.
Not only is the show’s ending disappointing for the reasons previously mentioned, it also shows the underlying sexism that the show never really recovered from. Daenerys was unable to be a capable ruler and the loss of close friends drove her to insanity. While the male characters grow out of their adversity and grief, the female characters ultimately lose themselves due to these same circumstances. After the death of her three children Cersei Lannister came to be the cold, malicious and scheming queen we knew her to be by the end of the series. Let us not forget that Jamie Lannister is also the father of the same three children and he grew to be braver and kinder after the tragedies of losing his children.
All in all, the show’s ending was disappointing in every sense of the word. While the writers were striving to unnerve and surprise audiences they ultimately lost what makes the show special.
