How “House of the Dragon” Resurrected a Franchise
Westeros lives to see another day
When Game of Thrones ended, it quickly garnered a reputation as one of the worst series finales of all time. Recent decades have seen more and more shows disappoint viewers with their conclusions. But so often, the shows that disappoint most are the ones that overstay their welcome.
The Walking Dead stretched on for over a decade before branching into roughly five different shows and concluding on a note that hardly felt final for any of its viewers. Dexter had a finale so sloppy that a decade later its writers attempted to go back and settle the score. Unfortunately, its attempt at score-settling landed it even more deeply in the realm of notorious bad show conclusions with this second try.
But even the much-reviled ending of Lost and second finale to Dexter were more well-received than the conclusion that befell Game of Thrones. This franchise was unique in its failure. Where so many shows fail by stretching on so long that they lose their soul and their audience, Game of Thrones differed. It had established a world so grand that it simply demanded a timely conclusion. The eight seasons that viewers got could easily have been stretched into ten and still left the narrative feeling incomplete.
