Game of Thrones is one of the most popular TV Shows from our generation. It will hold that status for a long time even if the story is coming to an end. The show built its popularity upon the writer’s ability to create awesome plots and surprise the audience.

Surprise is just what Game of Thrones delivered in the last episode, shocking fans with the unfold of the events. Some people were happy with Season 8 – Episode 5, although most were not. This can be noticed in the rating of the episode, “The Bells” only receiving a 6.8 score on IMDb.

However, the big question remains, what’s up with this Game of Thrones bad ratings epidemic? We’ll try to break it down in this article.

Huge Expectations

Season 8 wasn’t an overall worse season than all of the others in the past. It was in fact quite good. However, when you’re building up to the last episode of the most popular TV Show, according to IMDb, there are some expectations. When those expectations are not met, people can get angry.

Unfulfilled expectations are what might have driven those ratings down in this season. Everybody was expecting a brilliant end to the show. This idea was perpetuated by actors through promotional campaigns as well. So, when you’re coming with a show that has a rather slow pace focusing on characters and not as much on events, people tend to get rather frustrated.

The writers certainly cannot meet all of the expectations, turning an already brilliant show in something even better. When you set the bar too high, you cannot surpass it anymore, and that’s just what happened in this season to some extent.

Unexpected Turn

Another factor that surely influenced the ratings of episode 5, “The Bells” is the impressive turn of the episode. Nobody expected it, and it wasn’t necessarily pleasant.

The battle for the throne is the event that everybody was patiently waiting for since the beginning. No theory predicted the unfolding of the events. Most people were expecting one of three major scenarios.

When it comes to the throne of the Seven Kingdoms, there are three candidates, Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, and Cersei Lannister.

Most people were expecting Daenerys to win since she has one dragon and a huge army. Although she has the upper hand, there was a chance that she might get replaced. She might not be suited to rule, as emphasized in our Daenerys Targaryen Character Analysis.

If Daenerys gets eliminated, Jon Snow, who is the rightful heir to the throne, would be the favorite for the win. However, considering that Cersei is pretty smart, she had a chance of defeating both Daenerys and Jon, considering that he killed one of the dragons in the past.

Mad Queen

Even if most odds were with Daenerys Targaryen and people were expecting her to win, nobody was expecting this shocking turn of events. Even if the armies surrendered, they rang the bells and she had the win, Daenerys decided to act like a mad person and “burn them all.”

What shocked people was the ugly transformation Daenerys Targaryen experienced, from a liberator of slaves to a Targaryen “Mad Queen,” just like her father. In broad lines, this is the reason the episode received such ratings, nobody was expecting such a massacre from this, so far perceived as the positive, character.

Conclusion

The enthusiasm was huge for the last episodes of Game of Thrones. The huge expectations fans had, combined with an unexpected turn from Daenerys, results in a Game of Thrones bad ratings phenomena.