historian said:
I have not seen it yet. I'm debating if, when, or how (Netflix, Amazon Prime). I do know that there was a lot of disappointment about the ending but I don't know any details.
Seasons 1-4 are the high-water mark for TV storytelling imo, right up there with or better than whatever shows you want to cite as the best ever (e.g. Breaking Bad, and The Wire for me personally). Seasons 5-6 was when they (the shows 2 principle writers) were forced to go past what has been published in book form so far, and even though the show's writing started to noticeably lapse, it was still very high quality TV. In the final seasons, 7-8, the guy who authored the books was allegedly pretty uninvolved (outside of one infamous 10hr meeting where he supposedly spelled out the endgame) and the 2 main show writers almost seem to have burned out on the story, so things started to feel very rushed as they tried to wrap things up quickly instead of organically telling the story like in the early seasons. I will say, the visuals and music have always been top notch, no matter what the writing was like. The last season was so frustrating in part because of how good everything but the writing was.
The show is worth watching for sure, with some serious gut-punches that are pretty much unrivaled by any other show, but it is defintely an investment of time. The books are even more of an investment, but are also well worth reading. The first 3 books are a relatively self-contained story arc (5 are out now, 7 planned), and it is some of the best fantasy writing there has ever been. Seasons 1-4 are such high quality mostly because they are very faithful adaptations of books 1-3.