Can we appreciate how good game of thrones was.

I hear a lot of people saying how its all ruined because the finale sucked, and while rewatching it might be a lot harder knowing the lacklustre outcome, I still think the first 4 seasons of game of thrones are the best television ever produced. (And yes I have read the books)

As someone who has seen all of madmen, sopranos, succession, the wire, breaking bad, true detective season 1, better call Saul, and read the books, I was prepared to be disappointed rewatching game of thrones. But I was immediately surprised by how good the dialogue, pacing, writing, story and characters are. No other show I have watched makes listening to characters casually talking as entertaining as this show. The only shows/movies that do it like this show is pulp fiction in its dialogue. Im not saying it is on par with this movie, but it is easily just as enticing as it. Also, the cinematography and style the show achieves felt so refreshing, the show compared to the others felt so much more gritty but still just as entertaining, even when nothing was happening.

Also, the pallet of characters is huge, by season 4, we have Tyrion, Oberon, Tywin, Cersei, Jaimie, Sansa, Arya, Jon, Brienne, Ygritte, Bran, Stannis, Margery and Theon getting their own scenes and story and somehow it didn't become convoluted. That is pretty impressive. And all these characters are so special and different in their own way, and you're always wondering how they will interact with each other, and when they do it, is so entertaining. Like, I could listen to Arya and Tywin casually talking in season 2 all day.

Also, we have the battle sequences. In the show, we have the battle of the bastards, Blackwater, the wall and gold road, and (nearly) all of them are lord of the rings level masterpieces. I did just said that. All these battles manage to pack in so much more heart into their battles then anything I've ever seen. Like the battle of the blackwater had the wildfire scene, an extremely well done scene that sells being haunting due to the destruction it causes, we have Tyrion's speech to the men which is peak dialogue (like most of the show) and then we keep cutting to Cersei and Sansa who are talking to each other and we learn a lot about Cersei as a character, but always doubting if she's trying to give advice, or if she is just being cold. And it just gets better, with it culminating to Cersei nearly committing suicide with Tommen with her amazing speech too that made you sympathise for her, the hound offering Sansa to go to the North (a totally unexpected ,out of nowhere for his character but very touching) and Tyrion getting cut in the face but saved by Podrick as Tywin's men save the day. And this is literally all the battles in the show, it always has spectacle, but the battles always go that extra step to fit shock factor and heart into their battles, like Rickon's pretty shocking death at the beginning of the BoB, and Jon and Ygritte's last scene in the WoW.

And onto the best thing about the show, how shocking, unexpected and touching the show can be. Perhaps the best scene in all of television, is the red wedding. This didn't necessarily come out of nowhere seeing it was quite hinted to, but it was extremely shocking, but damn effective at what it was supposed to do. It's such an overwhelming scene, where the reigns of castamere starts playing, the doors are closed, and suddenly, everyone gets ambushed. Then in the next 3 minutes, everything goes to shit for the characters you have been hoping for to win for the last 2 and a half seasons. It pulled what it did with Ned Stark again but better. No other show has killed off its characters without just seeming mindlessly shocking as well as this show. Their deaths still made a lot of sense, and pushed the plot forward relentlessly while you're still grieving for them, making it all seem so grounded at the same time.

There are way more cumulative things the first seasons of game of thrones does, but that would take all day. Though the show has ended and gets a lot of shit for it, people forget how good this show really was, even with season 8, it is still one of the best shows ever made. Excluding season 8, it is by far the best run of television that Im aware of. And I think the show gets the most crap by its fans, and fair enough, season 8 was a rushed abominable turd of a season that will forever be a brown stain on television history. But some fans do forget how well adapted, acted, the show was. Its not perfect, but it is the best adaptation you could really ask for at its peak.