As a writer, I find that when people don't like the way things happen they say that the "writing is bad." If they can give examples of what would have made the writing better, they have a legitimate beef. Seasons 1-6 allowed the characters choice. It gave them options to explore, consequences to endure and a number of paths to follow. Seasons 7-8 have been about the culmination of those choices. Varys, whose career has been about undermining the Baratheons, is suddenly faced with the fact that there's a better choice than the one he's backing. He has no choice. Jon, who has always put others before himself, has to put others before himself. He has no choice. Cersei, who has always put her own needs before others, ends up with no choice. Grey Worm finally does something for himself - he chooses vengeance over chain of command. Brienne became a knight, got the guy, had the guy leave her, and stayed a knight. Not only that, she bloody manned up and forgave the guy when it came time to write his fate in the book. Tyrion realized that all his wit painted the world into a corner and did what his heart wanted - very much like when he executed his girlfriend and father. The great explainer? he got Jon to murder the rightful queen of Westeros for the good of the people. Daenerys has always been a strong character, it's just that her strongest actions have always been betrayal and vengeance. She reached maximum betrayal and vengeance, and experienced maximum betrayal. It is boring that Bran should be king. The argument of the series is that "boring" is better for the smallfolk. The first people we see the series? Bystanders murdered by an ancient grudge and misapplied justice. Who makes out largely okay in Game of Thrones? Hot Pie. Gendry. The Onion Knight. It's an extremely proletariat story wrapped in the trappings of feudalism. Sansa gets to keep the North because nobody wants to go to war with the North. They're really the only army left standing. Arya beheld a pale horse. She looked death in the eye and said "not today." She put her purpose down. The girl with the murder list not only didn't follow The Hound into Hades, she got her fill of killing. Which was the whole point of burning King's Landing - everyone got their fill of killing. Except the Unsullied, who have had humanity driven out of them since they were little boys.