History YMMV / GameOfThrones

** Most of the fans of Jaime Lannister who were pleased with his character's growth over the series and his decision [[spoiler: in the final season to finally break from Cersei were extremely unhappy with the decison for Jaime's character to throw all of that development to the wind to simply go back to King's Landing and die with Cersei, especially after a good portion of them tried to reason that Jaime's sudden change in personality in the fourth episode and making Brienne cry was so he could go back to King's Landing and kill Cersei himself, when that was never the plan.]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow: [[AuthorsSavingThrow/GameOfThrones Has its own page.]]

* EscapistCharacter: Generally the series averts this. As fans joke, people may want to live in [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Middle-earth]] but no one would want to ''even visit'' [[TheDungAges Westeros]], and even the few characters who are heroes (Jon, Tyrion, Bran, Davos, Ned) have very difficult lives full of emotional and psychological pain and violence. Having said that, if people have to go, they'd rather do so in the shoes of these characters:

** Tywin Lannister is an unforgiving piece of work but a remarkable nemesis all the same, oozing competence and contempt at every turn. Charles Dance gives life to a formidable character who is a dreadful force to be reckoned with.

** Jon Snow will forever be remembered as the man who gave away his loyal Ghost without even stopping to pet him or say goodbye. Nor will he ever live down how the final season limited his dialogue choices to a select few lines that have reached [[MemeticMutation memetic proportions]].

* AudienceAlienatingEnding: Potential viewers who were waiting for the show to conclude before watching are likely to hear about the controversies of the final season, so they can easily be turned off from watching if they've heard about the ending. Quite a few former fans have gone so far as to admit that they can't even bring themselves to rewatch the much lauded earlier seasons, knowing that it all doesn't matter in the end. A recurring joke is that the only people that still talk about the show are reviews and analysis on how bad the final seasons are. That being said, and [[AndYouThoughtItWouldFail contrary to some predictions]], it didn't prevent the first season of ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'' from becoming a big success and a return to the early ''Game of Thrones'' form for Creator/{{HBO}}.

* [[AuthorsSavingThrow/GameOfThrones Author's Saving Throw]]

* [[SignatureScene/GameOfThrones Signature Scene]]

* SalvagedStory: The third season finale has a scene where Daenerys is lifted aloft by the jubilant army of slaves she has just freed. Since the slaves are mostly played by dark-skinned Moroccans and Daenerys by the very light-skinned Emilia Clarke, this comes across as [[WhiteMansBurden rather questionable]]; Season 4 ameliorated this somewhat by repeating the scene with a much more diverse group of former slaves.

** Season 6 is largely regarded as better than what came before or after, but it still contained plenty of the elements that afflicted those seasons, such as the increasingly blatant PlotArmor for major characters[[note]]Arya surviving multiple stab wounds and still managing to engage in a footrace and eventually kill the Waif, Jon surviving the Battle of the Bastards through enormous amounts of luck[[/note]], while minor characters [[DroppedABridgeOnHim get perfunctorily killed off, sometimes in ways that make little sense]], coming BackForTheDead and having little emotional impact[[note]]The Martells, Roose and Walda Bolton, Balon Greyjoy, Shaggydog, Osha, Summer, the Blackfish, Rickon[[/note]]; Ramsay [[VillainSue continuing his]] [[InvincibleVillain unrealistic effectiveness]][[note]]notably managing to recruit more Northern houses to his side than Jon and Sansa do, despite having murdered his more pragmatic father who constantly warned him that his AxCrazy tendencies would hurt their status with said Northern houses, his abuse of Sansa Stark, and his eventual [[WouldHurtAChild murder of Rickon Stark in broad daylight]] and his [[BadBoss willingness to kill his own men with arrow fire in battle]]. Sure seems like the North did not actually remember.[[/note]]; and several plotlines being retreads of plots from the previous season[[note]]Arya and Margaery spend much of the season in the same positions in which they spent the previous season, while Jon and Sansa's storyline echoes Stannis's[[/note]]. All that said, [[WhamEpisode "The Door"]] was largely considered to be an effective TearJerker in the first half of the season, and "Battle of the Bastards" and ''especially'' "The Winds of Winter" are often considered season highlights, so most at least agree that [[WinBackTheCrowd the season ended strong, unlike the other three seasons mentioned here.]]

** While Season 6 is largely regarded as better than what came before or after, but it still contained plenty of the elements that afflicted those seasons, such as the increasingly blatant PlotArmor for major characters[[note]]Arya surviving multiple stab wounds and still managing to engage in a footrace and eventually kill the Waif, Jon surviving the Battle of the Bastards through enormous amounts of luck[[/note]], while minor characters [[DroppedABridgeOnHim get perfunctorily killed off, sometimes in ways that make little sense]], coming BackForTheDead and having little emotional impact[[note]]The Martells, Roose and Walda Bolton, Balon Greyjoy, Shaggydog, Osha, Summer, the Blackfish, Rickon[[/note]]; Ramsay continuing his unrealistic effectiveness[[note]]notably managing to recruit more Northern houses to his side than Jon and Sansa do, despite having murdered his more pragmatic father who constantly warned him that his AxCrazy tendencies would hurt their status with said Northern houses, his abuse of Sansa Stark, and his eventual [[WouldHurtAChild murder of Rickon Stark in broad daylight]] and his [[BadBoss willingness to kill his own men with arrow fire in battle]]. Sure seems like the North did not actually remember.[[/note]]; and several plotlines being retreads of plots from the previous season[[note]]Arya and Margaery spend much of the season in the same positions in which they spent the previous season, while Jon and Sansa's storyline echoes Stannis's[[/note]]. All that said, [[WhamEpisode "The Door"]] was largely considered to be an effective TearJerker in the first half of the season, and "Battle of the Bastards" and ''especially'' "The Winds of Winter" are often considered season highlights, so most at least agree that [[WinBackTheCrowd the season ended strong, unlike the other three seasons mentioned here.]]

** Danaerys is widely seen as being at her least heroic in Season 5, despite the story still treating her as a MessiahArchetype. First, she foolishly has one of her advisors ''publicly'' executed for murder, which causes a riot. Then, in response to Barristan's death, she has ''all'' the masters imprisoned, and coldly pushes one into the jaws of her dragons (even acknowledging that he could be innocent). ''Then'', she forces the imprisoned Loraq to marry her, while also making it clear she will never be faithful to him. Keep in mind that Loraq has done ''nothing'' wrong at this point, besides having a different cultural perspective, and Danaerys also had his father unjustly executed. Many fans pointed out that a lot of these actions made danaerys scarily similar to ''Joffrey'' in this season, and arguably serves as foreshadowing for Dany's later FaceHeelTurn.

** While Season 6 is largely regarded as better than what came before or after, but it still contained plenty of the elements that afflicted those seasons, such as the increasingly blatant PlotArmor for major characters[[note]]Arya surviving multiple stab wounds and still managing to engage in a footrace and eventually kill the Waif, Jon surviving the Battle of the Bastards through enormous amounts of luck[[/note]], while minor characters [[DroppedABridgeOnHim get perfunctorily killed off, sometimes in ways that make little sense]], coming BackForTheDead and having little emotional impact[[note]]The Martells, Roose and Walda Bolton, Balon Greyjoy, Shaggydog, Osha, Summer, the Blackfish, Rickon[[/note]]; Ramsay continuing his unrealistic effectiveness[[note]]notably managing to recruit more Northern houses to his side than Jon and Sansa do, despite having murdered his more pragmatic father who constantly warned him that his AxCrazy tendencies would hurt their status with said Northern houses, his abuse of Sansa Stark, and his eventual [[WouldHurtAChild murder of Rickon Stark in broad daylight]] and his [[BadBoss willingness to kill his own men with arrow fire in battle]]. Sure seems like the North did not actually remember.[[/note]]; and several plotlines being retreads of plots from the previous season[[note]]Arya and Margaery spend much of the season in the same positions in which they spent the previous season, while Jon and Sansa's storyline echoes Stannis's]]. All that said, [[WhamEpisode"The Door"]] was largely considered to be an effective TearJerker in the first half of the season, and "Battle of the Bastards" and ''especially'' "The Winds of Winter" are often considered season highlights, so most at least agree that [[WinBackTheCrowd the season ended strong, unlike the other three seasons mentioned here.]]

** {{Downplayed}} with Season 6, as it's largely regarded as better than what came before or after, but it still contained plenty of the elements that afflicted those seasons, such as the increasingly blatant PlotArmor for major characters[[note]]Arya surviving multiple stab wounds and still managing to engage in a footrace and eventually kill the Waif, Jon surviving the Battle of the Bastards through enormous amounts of luck[[/note]], while minor characters [[DroppedABridgeOnHim get perfunctorily killed off, sometimes in ways that make little sense]], coming BackForTheDead and having little emotional impact[[note]]The Martells, Roose and Walda Bolton, Balon Greyjoy, Shaggydog, Osha, Summer, the Blackfish, Rickon[[/note]]; Ramsay continuing his VillainSue tendencies[[note]]notably managing to recruit more Northern houses to his side than Jon and Sansa do, despite having murdered his more pragmatic father who constantly warned him that his AxCrazy tendencies would hurt their status with said Northern houses, his abuse of Sansa Stark, and his eventual [[WouldHurtAChild murder of Rickon Stark in broad daylight]] and his [[BadBoss willingness to kill his own men with arrow fire in battle]]. Sure seems like the North did not actually remember.[[/note]]; and several plotlines being retreads of plots from the previous season[[note]]Arya and Margaery spend much of the season in the same positions in which they spent the previous season, while Jon and Sansa's storyline echoes Stannis's]]. All that said, [[WhamEpisode"The Door"]] was largely considered to be an effective TearJerker in the first half of the season, and "Battle of the Bastards" and ''especially'' "The Winds of Winter" are often considered season highlights, so most at least agree that [[WinBackTheCrowd the season ended strong, unlike the other three seasons mentioned here.]]

** {{Downplayed}} with Season 6, as it's largely regarded as better than what came before or after, but it still contained plenty of the elements that afflicted those seasons, such as the increasingly blatant PlotArmor for major characters[[note]]Arya surviving multiple stab wounds and still managing to engage in a footrace and eventually kill the Waif, Jon surviving the Battle of the Bastards through enormous amounts of luck[[/note]], while minor characters [[DroppedABridgeOnHim get perfunctorily killed off, sometimes in ways that make little sense]], coming BackForTheDead and having little emotional impact[[note]]The Martells, Roose and Walda Bolton, Balon Greyjoy, Shaggydog, Osha, Summer, the Blackfish, Rickon[[/note]]; Ramsay continuing his VillainSue tendencies[[note]]notably managing to recruit more Northern houses to his side than Jon and Sansa do, despite having murdered his more pragmatic father who constantly warned him that his AxCrazy tendencies would hurt their status with said Northern houses, his abuse of Sansa Stark, and his eventual [[WouldHurtAChild murder of Rickon Stark in broad daylight]] and his [[BadBoss willingness to kill his own men with arrow fire in battle]].

* ShippingBedDeath: Lots of fans believed Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen would have a romance, which indeed happened in Season 7. However, the execution left many underwhelmed; they go from tentatively trusting each other to lovers in just four episodes (equalling a few weeks in-universe) and then barely spend any time together as a couple before hitting a rough patch, going from consummating their relationship to 'breaking up' in only two episodes. Dany is so devastated by Jon's rejection [[spoiler: after they learn they're [[SurpriseIncest aunt and nephew]]]] it contributes to her [[spoiler:[[BrokenBase highly contentious]] [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope descent]] into [[LoveMakesYouEvil villainy]]]], culminating in [[spoiler:Jon [[KillTheOnesYouLove assassinating Dany]] after spending most of Season 8 harping on about her being the 'rightful queen']]. While most viewers weren't expecting a happy ending for the couple, many felt the whole romance came off as [[StrangledByTheRedString awkward and contrived]] rather than a heartfelt tragedy.

* SalvagedStory: The third series finale has a scene where Daenerys is lifted aloft by the jubilant army of slaves she has just freed. Since the slaves are mostly played by dark-skinned Moroccans and Daenerys by the very light-skinned Emilia Clarke, this comes across as [[WhiteMansBurden rather questionable]]; series 4 ameliorated this somewhat by repeating the scene with a much more diverse group of former slaves.

* EscapistCharacter: Generally the series averts this. As fans joke, people may want to live in [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Middle-earth]] but no one would want to ''even visit'' [[TheDungAges Westeros]], and even the few characters who are heroes (Jon, Tyrion, Bran, Davos, Ned) have very difficult lives full of emotional and psychological pain and violence. Having said that if people have to go they'd rather do so in the shoes of these characters:

* AudienceAlienatingEnding: Potential viewers who were waiting for the show to conclude before watching are likely to hear about the controversies of the final season, so they can easily be turned off from watching if they've heard about the ending. Quite a few former fans have gone so far as to admit that they can't even bring themselves to rewatch the much lauded earlier seasons, knowing that it all doesn't matter in the end. A recurring joke is that the only people that still talk about the show are reviews and analysis on how bad the final seasons are.

* [[HoYay/GameOfThrones Ho Yay]]]

** The Dothraki are mainly remembered for their suicidal and idiotic charge in "The Long Night" despite their InUniverse depiction as TheHorde. They just have the misfortune of having [[WhatAnIdiot moronic leaders]] while going against the one force that aren't affected by their modus operandi. Said moronic leaders also aren't going to get this black mark off their resumes anytime soon for all the tactical blunders they made in the battle of the living despite being competent leaders during the rest of the show.

** Season 5 was highly contested for the show's radical alteration and streamlining of books, which includes changes to Sansa's and Stannis's storylines, Shireen's death, characterization shifts, and general plot holes became more frequent. The [[IdiotPlot entire Dorne subplot]] and the [[StrawCharacter straw-stuffed negative portrayal]] of the show's religious characters. Scenes come across as cheap shocks rather than actual narrative twists, which also saw the introduction of unlikable new characters such as [[TheScrappy the Sand Snakes]]. "Hardhome" was generally considered one of the best episodes of the series, and a redeeming factor in an otherwise disappointing season. It doesn't help that the season came after Season 4, which was one of the most praised in the series and based on the second half of ''A Storm of Swords''.