‘Game of Thrones’ is screwing itself over with bad romance

Spoilers for Game of Thrones: Season 8, Episode 4 incoming.

Struggling to get invested in Game of Thrones lately? You’re not alone.

Longstanding promises have been , basic storytelling conventions , and numerous disappointing mistakes . For many, the show that could once leave even the mightiest of us in hysterics is now an illogical and emotionally deadened husk. (YMMV.)

A huge part of this problem? Thrones‘ rapidly worsening romance game. Sure, this show is great at getting horny. Like really, really great at it. But when it comes to tugging at heartstrings, Thrones: Season 8 has been less than skillful.

Of course, Thrones has never been the most romantic show on the market, but love stories are an important part of effective world-building. In earlier seasons, Thrones knew how to approach the dating game in a form fitting of its “love conquers nothing” viewpoint.

The fiery passion between Khal Drogo and Daenerys gave way to the birth of three dragons. The tragic death of Shae marked a critical allegiance switch for Team Lannister. The too-good-to-be-true love of Robb and Talisa caused the infamous Red Wedding. Even the stoic, but not exactly sizzling partnership between Ned and Catelyn added essential weight to the finale of Season 1.

Although each of these iconic loves ended, their lasting impacts gave Thrones its heart.

In Season 8, Westeros’s power couples are getting unceremoniously skewered left and right, with mysteriously limited emotional impact. 

What’s worse? Those that remain are hardly worth supporting — a major problem for the series’ final two episodes. 

Why aren’t these romances resonating like before?

During “The Last of the Starks” on Sunday night, fans watched as Thrones’ couples dropped like leaderless wights. 

The long-awaited Braime was gloriously realized and then abruptly shattered. Then, Gendrya turned a marriage proposal into a one-and-done policy. Finally, Missandei and Greyworm, a phenomenal couple for whom a fitting nickname was never found (Missan-grey? Deiworm? Miss Worm?), ended with a shocking twist.

That didn’t feel quite as emotional as expected. 

Any one of those developments could have been devastating, but for some reason they didn’t feel quite as emotional as expected. 

Sure, the death of Missandei brought tears and for many, rage. But why did the episode overall fail to pack the kind of punch we’ve come to expect from Thrones?

There are two minds here. On one hand, it’s possible that Thrones‘ consistently ruthless nature over the past seven seasons has numbed viewers to loss, even when numerous major blows occur in a single episode. On the other hand, it could be that these un-couplings hadn’t earned the big reactions the show was going for simply because they happened too fast.

As Thrones scrambles to wrap up its massive narrative, a story that in its complete form creator George R.R. Martin claims would take five more seasons, romantically entangled characters are being forced through emotional gymnastics to support big plot developments. 

Jaime had to bail on Brienne so he could run back to Cersei and either die at her side or kill her. Gendry and Arya couldn’t ride off into the sunset together as one or both of them needs to fight — and possibly die — in the Battle for King’s Landing. Missandei had to be executed (debatable) to up the stakes even further for Daenerys and her army. 

But stakes aren’t all about who lives and who dies. The happiness or unhappiness of characters fundamentally drives many viewers’ investment in a show. That’s why the will-they-won’t-they tension of Jon and Ygritte in Season 3 resonated so well. 

We were given a whole lot of time (and one very sexy cave) to fall in love with those two. So when Ygritte was killed in Season 4, we felt our commitment to their romance die along with her, and coughed up the big reaction Thrones was looking for.

In Season 8, Thrones has introduced and broken up so many couples at such a startling speed, viewers have had no time to get truly invested. Over the past four jam-packed episodes, we’ve spent very limited time with these people, let alone stared longingly at their budding romances. Even Missandei and Greyworm, who got together last season, shared a single rushed courtyard conversation before their tragic ending.

The big losses in Episode 4 failed to garner the emotional impact wanted because many of us were just settling into those couples’ existence, and their endings came all too abruptly. Simply put, love — both theirs and ours — was rushed.

Can Jonerys and/or the Lannicest bring it home?

With Sam and Gilly gone and Thrones‘ other viable couples prematurely blown up Citadel-style, the romantic fate of this series now rests on the shoulders of two pairings: (1) Jon and Dany, King and Queen of the North Uncomfortable Sex Scene, and (2) Jaime and Cersei, the problematic incest twins who started this whole mess. 

While it remains to be seen how their stories will end, these four aren’t set up to stick the romantic landing, through tragic partings or victorious reunions. 

Jon and Dany have never been the most believable couple in Westeros, and the veiled threats exchanged between them last episode are bad news for their final moments together. To accept that Dany loves Jon more than she loves the Iron Throne seems optimistic at best and foolish at worst. These two will meet an end, but romance will be long gone when it arrives.

Similarly, Jaime’s truly bizarre behavior in Episode 4 doesn’t bode well for his relationship with Cersei or Brienne. Either, Jaime is going to backslide into his disturbing infatuation with his sister and get himself murdered during the Battle for King’s Landing — or he’s going to kill Cersei and return to Brienne, which will have a limited emotional impact thanks to being so rushed.

Romance has never been Thrones‘ main selling point, but its absence in recent episodes has left much of Season 8 soulless. With no happily ever after to pine for, many romantic Thrones fans have nothing to mourn — other than the emotional juggernaut this show once was.