While it was airing, HBO's Game of Thrones was the talk of the town. Viewership was incredibly high, breaking records all over the world. In general, the series was very well-reviewed by critics and fans alike save for some criticism of excessive violence and nudity. Things went relatively swimmingly until the final season, which was, by all means, a disaster.

The eighth season began on April 14, 2019 and ran for six episodes until May 19, 2019. This was the shortest season of the show and was meant to serve the purpose of concluding all of the storylines, of which there were many, and wrapping up the fan-favorite series. However, it was deemed a failure. There were some episodes with strange production and lighting, but as a whole the technical aspects of the show were still high. The performances and music as well, were great as ever. The writing and the creative decisions were where the show's conclusion suffered.

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Critics thought the choices made in terms of writing and character arcs were weird, but it's the fans who were hurt most. They were upset that the characters they loved and had grown to genuinely care for for nearly a decade weren't given endings that fit. They were upset at how some people died, at decisions beloved characters made, and at how many storylines were wrapped up. In a way, it felt like a betrayal to some of the most die-hard viewers.

Anyone who was active on social media at the time, remembers how big Game of Thrones was. Throughout its airing, it was trending after most new episodes and there was always a lot of discourse. This was true when things were really loved, and it was especially true when things were really bad. With the final season performing so poorly, social media was pretty much on fire. People were genuinely hurt, people were making critiques, and of course, there were plenty of memes.

This isn't really abnormal for any big television series, but the weirdness begins after it finishes. Game of Thrones was in many ways viewed as the biggest show ever. It was a cultural moment. But after the final season was such a disaster and such a fail, people kind of forgot about it. Of course, it's natural for popularity to dip down a little bit after a show ends. But the way that Game of Thrones went from being the most talked-about thing to being practically forgotten is odd.

The ultimate question is, did the final season ruin the entire show? Was it so bad that people just don't want to care about it anymore? There's probably no real way to find out if that's true for sure, but it does kind of seem that way. The backlash was so bad that fans genuinely wanted a redo of the final season, with different writers and different stories. While with any other show it seems like that would be absurd, this campaign seemed like it gained real support. And then after the week or two following the ending, the memes died and no one talked about it anymore. For many, it seemed like its existence was just wiped from memory.

There are plenty of other series that have had a bad final season or bad final episodes. The first that comes to mind is Dexter, which is actually getting a reboot season soon. Bad final seasons or bad final episodes can really taint a series, but most seem to recover from it. The difference with Game of Thrones seems to be just how popular and hyped it was. Dexter was popular, but it wasn't Game of Thrones popular. And it also experienced ebbs and flows throughout the series. Game of Thrones was on a complete high for basically its entire reign, and then came to a sudden and crushing defeat. This stark difference in quality, combined with the emotional investment that people held with the show, meant that the final season of Game of Thrones felt like a real punch in the gut.

The show still gets mentioned here and there on social media, and there's a spinoff series in the works. It's not like it's dead forever. But there are plenty of other series that were not as popular as Game of Thrones, and their fanbase still keeps them alive. In so many ways, it feels like the fandom felt so slighted by this final series that they no longer desire to do that. Perhaps for some, it was a truly traumatic experience to watch that final season and they've suppressed it.

Or maybe it was just overall so meh, people who once loved the show now feel apathetic towards it. In many ways, apathy towards a series is worse than hatred towards a series. Hatred gets talked about. Hatred can still mean numbers and attention. Apathy and "meh" is where series become lost. It seems so much that people just no longer care about Game of Thrones, which is sad because it used to be such a force. Perhaps a spinoff will revive it, but that final season of the original series still exists. Season eight of Game of Thrones will forever go down in history, as the television season that ruined the biggest series in the world.

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