Game of Thrones: What season was of the show was the worst, not counting the final season?

[The Artisan]

I had this this thread about a year ago, but it massively backfired. So I'm trying again to do it right this time.

Imagine we live in a world without season 8. In some strange universe, the show gets cancelled after season 7. I think a lot of people say that this show started to get a little bad as early as season 5, and as I understand it that part of the show has some of the biggest controversies. Then there is season 6 and 7 which had 7 episodes and got a lot of heat too.

Besides the real ending of the show, what season was the worst? 5? 6? Or 7? Or is the worst season of Game of Thrones somewhere between 1-4?

What do you think?

 

[AaronMT]

Season 5. Reason? Dorne.

 

[Solo]

It's 7 but every season of the show had issues. They just happened to get worse each year.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

After 4 they get progressively worse. The Dany plot line in season 2 is really really bad too.

 

[gforguava]

Season 6.

The whole Sparrows thing is the worst thing the show ever did and then it all ends with a ludicrous and insulting climax. The whole season is just big hollow moments piled on top of each other.

 

[DopeyFish]

Season 6.

The whole Sparrows thing is the worst thing the show ever did and then it all ends with a ludicrous and insulting climax. The whole season is just big hollow moments piled on top of each other.

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one of the best episodes of any show ever made is ludicrous and insulting? wat

 

[gforguava]

one of the best episodes of any show ever made is ludicrous and insulting? wat

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Well I clearly don't agree with that ridiculous statement.

 

[Lotus]

Season 7 once one stops being in denial

That plot to kidnap a wight... Ugh

 

[skillzilla81]

I will never stop laughing at that bastard of Robert running to the wall, getting a pigeon off, the pigeon making it to Dani, Dani flying to the wall w/ dragons in time to save the group Jon was with.

It is one of the most hilarious sequences I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

 

[Farmboy]

It's very obviously 7. 6 was something of a return to form after 5, which is also quite bad.

 

[HMD]

Season 5 was dull but there was still something about the show, Season 6 was genuinely terrible but was saved by the last two episodes, Season 7 is where they just gave up.

 

[Axon]

The show really goes off track the moment they started diverging from the books in a major way, but I think season 7 is where very little of what there once was to love about the show remained.

 

[Ashes of Dreams]

It was a consistent downward slide from the beginning. Huge drop in quality between 4 and 5, don't get me wrong, but ignoring which drops in quality are large versus small, every season is still worst than the last.
So, the second worst season is 7.

 

[DoubleTake]

Season 2 is pretty weak but light years ahead of 5 and especially 7.

At least 6 had some gripping spectacle and stuff happening to push the plot(Jon's parentage, Honor, Sept, BotB)

 

[devilhawk]

I can't recall which season had the "conclusion" to Arya in Braavos. That was horrendous. The Sandsnake/Dorne stuff was terrible as others have said.

I'd have to go through the ups and downs for each season, it's too easy to recall the awful parts. It's probably safest to just assume 7 is the next worst (after 8).

 

[Nugnip]

Season 1, for making me hope something good would somehow come from this.

 

[TaterTots]

The last 2 seasons were pretty bad imo. Season 6 was a big build up to Battle of the Bastards and it paid off for me. One of the best episodes. Seasons 7 and 8 were a speedrun.

 

[Quinton]

I legit think 5 is worse than 7.

6 is certainly dicey at times but it's my favorite season alongside 4. The highs are incredible.

 

[BossAttack]

Season 5 was Sansa rape, yes? If so, then Season 5.

 

[GalaxyDive]

I'd have to go remind myself of the exact contents of each of the last few seasons, which I'm not going to bother with lol. But was it... 5 maybe that was just really dull? Maybe parts of 6 too? I kinda feel like 7 picked back up. 7 had a bunch of stupid stuff, mostly contrivances from throwing travel time etc completely out the window. At the time, I was willing to forgive such under the auspices that the series could only get the key cast to commit to doing the series for so much longer and it was time to hurry things along to the climax. But given how awful 8 was, in retrospect 7 probably wouldn't get any leeway.

 

[ZeroRay]

Season 5 because it personally confirmed to me D&D didn't have the chops for ASOIAF (or much of anything else if their other original screenwriting credits are anything to go by)

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

The sand snake one

 

[Muitnorts]

7 was just as bad as the final season. I loved the loot train attack but that was the only redeeming moment of the season for me.
6 was shaky as hell but had a couple of cool sequences like hardhome and battle of the bastards to elevate it.
5 was a step down but fine.

 

[Unknownlight]

I think Season 7 was quite a lot worse than Season 8 actually. It's just that Season 8 was so much more disappointing, while during S7 we could still pretend that they'd turn things around.

 

[Ferrio]

That's easy, show progressively got worse each season as they strayed further and further. So just subtract 1 from whatever season you're asking about.

 

[WildGoose]

It's 7. I can forgive a lot of GoT's flaws, but the "let's go north and steal a zombie" plot was the most indefensible nonsense in the entire show.

 

[electroshockwave]

Season 5 because it personally confirmed to me D&D didn't have the chops for ASOIAF (or much of anything else if their other original screenwriting credits are anything to go by)

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You didn't like Gemini Man?

 

[Altazor]

I was going to say "it's obviously S7" but then again... S5 had the incompetent mishandling of Dorne *and* the Sansa rape.

S7 was a narrative mess, top to bottom, with the absurdity of the "beyond the wall" episode and Jaime cheating death as infamous lowlights, but are they *worse* than how they fucking butchered everything to do with Dorne and what they did to Sansa?

EDIT: Just to be clear, I dislike S7 as much as S8. I remember my circle of acquaintances was tripping balls with the Beyond the Wall episode and I was... "this... doesn't make any sense!", lol. I was the only sour one basically. Time proved me right :P

 

[Chaos Legion]

Season 5. Reason? Dorne.

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Season 5 managed to tank Dorne and cheapen Sansa's storyline in one fell swoop (I don't really care about Stannis, but this season also did him dirty). Fuck Season 5.

 

[Soap NickTavish]

The abridged seasons starting with 7 were just straight bad. I understand the writers wanted to conclude the show, but the seasons felt rushed which directly impacted character moments and story beats. The raid to capture a wight and ensuing logistical ridiculousness of Gendry Bolt getting back to the wall in time to send a raven is laughable.

Yeah, there were issues season to season, but the first 1 - 4 were still pretty strong because the story had time to breath and build. Even some of the plots in 5 I felt were enjoyable, like the Wall stuff, though I know that season gets brought up a lot for the Dorne mese. Can't forget how one of the biggest players in the series, Littlefinger, gives up Sansa to a Bolton he knows nothing about lol

Actually, I'm suddenly reminded of 20 Good Men™ and the hilariously, unbelievable string of bad luck Stannis ran into in basically 30 minutes of run time between two episodes. What a joke, only to bump into Brienne of all people after that slaughter and getting hurt in battle lmao.

 

[AncientReptileBrain]

i feel like season 6 was maybe slightly better than 5, but 7 was just... pretty irredeemable. like that episode where they all head north is almost self-parody level bad.

 

[louisacommie]

Season 7 had Jaime Lannister take highgarden


One of the dumbest things ever

The whole Cersei Daenerys conflict just doesn't work becuase even to abcinpete idiot just going g to kings landing immediatly and using dragon dire to destroy the outer gates so the armies can effortlessly get in without siege is too obvous

The wight hunt being dumb and pointless since it lost a dragon and didn't even convince cersei

The fact the dragons can fly halfway across south America in one night

Yet next season can be hit 3 times by a string based projectile weapon on water is just incromhenasible dumb


The fact the warriors sons and poor fellows despaired just becuase cersei killed the high septon makes no sense
What we call the star wars the phantom menace driod control ship trope


And I don't even remember anything about the winterfell plot
Like bran is creepy sansa and arya hate eachother and then they like eachother and then kill baelish


Euron is a cartoon

 

[Meows]

Season 6 was great with maybe my favorite episode so not that one.

I think the "we need to get a white walker to get Cersei on our side" from Season 7 is maybe the worst storyline in the entire show - nothing about it made any sense, especially after all of them had been backstabbed by Cersei numerous times. It was laughable.

 

[dyreschlock]

Season 7 once one stops being in denial

That plot to kidnap a wight... Ugh

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I answered Season 5, but then I totally forgot about this part. I rescind my vote.

 

[Steven]

what was the season where they stood on an ice platform for like 2 days and the white walkers just stood there waiting...then as soon as Dany arrived one of the white walkers creates a spear and throws it

Why didn't they just do that on day 1...then do it again when Dany arrived

 

[Jachaos]

7 for sure, though a case could be made for 5. 6 was fine, not as good a 1, 3 or 4, but pretty close to 2 for me.

 

[Odesu]

Season 5 was so utterly terrible that it made me consider quitting the show. After the amazing first 4 seasons, that's quite the accomplishment.

Season 6 is, from what I remember of it, pretty amazing and pulled it back for me. Season 6 alone proves everyone wrong who claims that the authors are unable to write a good season of TV that is not an adaption.

 

[The Unsent]

I say series 7. Didn't like how casterdly rock and high garden fall in like 5 minutes of screen time.

Never bought the 'Let's catch a wight' plotline. You just knew it was going to be a fucking disaster and the Night King gets his own dragon from it.

 

[NotVeryFriendly]

I voted season 5. It felt dragged down by being beholden to the events of AFFC and ADWD, it was poorly written and plotted, with little of interest (even Hardhome, while interesting as a sceptical and was well-directed, is impressive more for it's context as an episode of a TV show rather than being building on much).

Season 7 was also poorly written, but it had a much clearer sense of purpose than 5 and although it probably has lower lows (the horrendous beyond the wall episode) I think a lot of that could have been forgiven if eight had delivered. It definitely wasn't good and it was massively hurt by the shorter episode count, but I think it could have been forgiven if it the final season properly capitalised on what happened in seven.

I honestly think claims that 6 is subpar come from people really stretching the quality of the first few seasons and are tinted by the material being original; it's aligned pretty strongly with the quality of the show in season 3 and 4 (2 being notably weaker, and 1 being notably stronger). The dialogue isn't always stellar, but the plotting (outside of the Bravos plot line) comes together in a way which the show hadn't really managed successfully outside of its first season while also having some of the strongest episodes of the show (The Door, Battle of the Bastards, Light of the Seven). It's easily the show's most successful attempt at balancing the many plot threads since the much more focused first season.

 

[Soap]

From what I remember season 5 was the worst because of Dorne, and it also character assassinated Stannis.

 

[The Unsent]

Season 5 was so utterly terrible that it made me consider quitting the show. After the amazing first 4 seasons, that's quite the accomplishment.

Season 6 is, from what I remember of it, pretty amazing and pulled it back for me. Season 6 alone proves everyone wrong who claims that the authors are unable to write a good season of TV that is not an adaption.

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Imo series 6 isn't that good, it has 3 great episodes. The middle episode The Door, and the last two episodes, that allivate the rest of the series, which is pretty mediocre.

 

[MrConbon210]

Season 6 is my favorite season next to 3 and 4. I don't understand the hate outside of a few moments like Arya surviving her stab wound. I say this even as a book fan.

 

[loco]

I liked every season.

 

[Blank]

I voted 7 when they hard made Tyrion a fucking moron. The wight plot was just hard stupid.

 

[El Bombastico]

Season 5 because bad poosey.

 

[Heshinsi]

Everything about season 7 was stupid, and Tyrion's dumb ass is at the centre of almost all of that stupid shit.

Season 5 redeems itself for not featuring a single second of Bran the Yawn Inducing in it. That alone makes it better than season 7.

 

[Fanuilos]

Season 5 paved the way for the rest of the series to be bad. 6 & 7 have their good moments.

 

[RomanticHeroX]

Season 5, presumably. I missed that entire season and picked up again at the start of Season 6 and feel like I missed nothing.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I can't recall which season had the "conclusion" to Arya in Braavos. That was horrendous. The Sandsnake/Dorne stuff was terrible as others have said.

I'd have to go through the ups and downs for each season, it's too easy to recall the awful parts. It's probably safest to just assume 7 is the next worst (after 8).

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The conclusion to Arya learning the Faceless Man stuff was she used her newfound power to get close to and assassinate the Night King.

Oh wait no; that would be a decent payoff to a character arc so we can't have that. How about she leaps at him screaming instead?

 

[BossAttack]

It's 7. I can forgive a lot of GoT's flaws, but the "let's go north and steal a zombie" plot was the most indefensible nonsense in the entire show.

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As an avid book reader, I am willing to grade the show on a curve especially in the later seasons. For me, post S4 the show was purely about spectacle. Thus, the more impressive and well-executed the spectacle, the more willing I am to forgive it's stupidity.

With that in mind, I more than enjoyed the Suicide Squad mission when compared to Jaime's adventures in Dorne or whatever the fuck the show thought was political intrigue in S7-8. I still laugh at the fact that Littlefinger, a High Lord, was coldly executed based purely on the word of a boy that claims to see "everything" with no ability to defend himself, call witnesses, or bargain. And all the rest of the Lords, including the Vale Lords who serve their liege lord Robyn Arryn, just sat by and let it happen without even opening their mouths.

It's shit like that which kills me and what show-watchers don't realize really brought the show down. Recall when Tywin Lannister wanted Tyrion disposed of, did he simply cut his throat in open court? No, he held a "legitimate" trial where witnesses were called and Tyrion allowed to call his own witnesses and mount his own defense. The genius part of Tyrion's trial is that for the most part, excepting Shae, all the words spoken by the witnesses are true. However, when taken out of context they make Tyrion look awful. The whole reason this fictional world is interesting is because of all these rules and customs an individual must navigate to achieve their goal. You can't just kill a noble, they have rights. So, you have to engineer means by which to take them down such that it appears to be in line with the rules and customs of the society.