This ‘Game of Thrones' Ending Still Divides Fans Years Later

It's been seven years since the final episode of HBO's Game of Thrones was released, and fans still haven't gotten over some of the finale's bold decisions.

It's no secret that Game of Thrones' reputation was going downhill over the final two seasons; ratings were down, fan discussions were getting heated, and even the cast didn't seem quite as enthusiastic about the show.

Perhaps the biggest reason for Game of Thrones' gradual downfall was the necessary decision to drift away from George R.R. Martin's source text, as the story progressed way beyond the point that had already been written.

A Dance With Dragons was released in 2011, and fans are still waiting for the next novel in Martin's saga. This meant that by the end of season five, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had to make up the story as they went along-and by the show's conclusion, they'd taken many character arcs in directions that fans didn't approve of.

Whether it's Daenerys Targaryen losing her mind and dying at Jon Snow's hands, Arya Stark killing the Night King with relative ease, or Bran Stark ending up on the Iron Throne, there were many aspects of the finale that didn't quite line up with fans' expectations for the books.

Perhaps the most glaring failure of the Game of Thrones finale was the fate of Jaime Lannister, who had quickly become a fan-favorite character thanks to his well-written redemption arc and relationship with Brienne of Tarth.

Throughout the show, Jaime had drifted away from the manipulative grasp of his lover/sister Cersei as he grew disillusioned with his family legacy. So when Jaime returned to Cersei in the show's finale and sacrificed his own life to be with her, many fans were understandably upset.

Today, that sentiment hasn't gone anywhere. The finale's legacy has only soured with age, and fans are still raging about the show's decision to U-turn Jaime's redemption arc at the last second.

"Jamie's entire character development thrown out the window in mere seconds with no real rational or reasonable meaning was f**king stupid," one Reddit user wrote.

"The ending on its own isn't terrible," another counters. "The way we got there and those whole last two seasons were arguably worse than terrible."

"They also left out a bunch of plot points that probably would have made things make more sense, and decided to skip around from place to place without any travel time, which led to things feeling rushed. They also ruined multiple characters, including my favorite, Jaime."

Interestingly, there are some fans who still defend the Game of Thrones ending despite all the relentless criticism. "It's not great, but it's not as terrible as people say," one user wrote. "People who watch it after release and don't know about the hate for the ending usually don't mind it much. I'd be really sad if it discouraged Martin from finishing [the books]."

"All my friends who rewatched the series since then said the ending isn't as bad as they remembered, and they're fine with how it ended now. Perhaps more people should rewatch."

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 13, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 9:06 AM.