Thread by @davekarpf

Part of what went off the rails with #GoTS8 is that Benioff and Weiss subverted *how fans watch television today.*

Throughout the Peak TV era, fandom has flourished through close readings of the text and fierce arguments about where the story is going.
(1/x)

That trend starts with Lost, and probably reaches its zenith with Westworld S1 (where fan communities saw every twist coming).

It’s basically the only reward left for the serialized tv model. Netflix-binging doesn’t let fan communities marinate in and unravel the mysteries (2/x

S8 actively punishes this style of fandom by jettisoning so much of the mythology.

Azor Ahai prophecy: Nevermind.
Cersei’s prophecy: Nevermind.

It isn’t so much that they subvert or complicate these prophecies. They just drop them as unnecessary luggage.
(3/x)

You can find justification for this is GRRM’s books, where he says prophecies are imprecise and shouldn’t be trusted. So you can work up an excuse for the showrunners if you try hard enough. (4/x)

But if fans seem extra-pissed, I think that’s why.

It isn’t just “we wanted a different ending!”

It’s the expectation in the Peak TV era that shows reward the work that committed fans put into closely following the story.

(5/x)

The showrunners didn’t just take the story in an unexpected direction, or rush the conclusion through an abbreviated season 8.

They just acted as though the implicit social contract with fans (you put more time into this and you’ll get more out of it) didn’t exist.

(Fin)