I have read the critical reviews and I say: eh! The finale could have been better, but there were a couple of poignant moments in the last episode such as Brienne immortalizing Jamie’s legacy as the hero who “Died protecting his Queen,” which realized both the flawed (irredeemable) character of Jamie and the fact that he could still be remembered nobly by someone who loved him nonetheless. Of course, another memorable scene is the last one in which Jon rides off into the same woods where the GoT journey began. I’ve always liked stories that come full circle in the end. One cannot help but feel the sadness and pain of the story’s greatest hero ultimately enduring the same punishment for being a bastard as for saving the seven kingdoms. I think this is a particularly salient takeaway that other critics neglected to recognize. Jon is the classic tragic hero. He is a Snow and will always be a Snow, thus banished to live among the Wildlings — those with whom he has always felt a kinship. In short, he is returning home in the end.
Now, as for all the other criticisms of the last season — the pace, the storytelling, the character misdevelopment, the narrative shortcutting and so forth. This is all true. Everything about this season was rushed and took the viewer for granted, sadly! Needless to say, most GoT followers are fairly savvy viewers (except those idiots signing a petition for a season 8 redo — OMG! — get a life) who understand and expect the complexity of the characters and the story. The decision to end the series when they did seemed to leave too much left to be told in too short a time. Conquering the White Walkers and deciding the new king of Westeros in one (shortened) season is just too much too quickly. I guess we will never know why there was such a rush, but the storytelling suffered in the end. It was always going to be difficult to top scenes like the Red Wedding or narratives like how Hordor got his name or when Cersei blows up the Great Sept. They kind of gave up in the end. I guess the writers and creators, alike, couldn’t wait to move on from this project.