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  ===Critical response===
  The season received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 56% based on 13 reviews with an average rating of 6.32/10. It is the lowest-rated season of the series on the website. The website's critical consensus reads: "''Game of Thrones'' final season shortchanges the women of Westeros, sacrificing satisfying character arcs for spectacular set-pieces in its mad dash to the finish line". On Metacritic, the eighth-season premiere garnered a score of 74 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."
  The first two episodes were met with mostly positive feedback. "The Long Night" was praised for the cinematography and grand scale of the battle between the living and the dead, but was criticized for its lack of catharsis, logic, disorienting lighting, and the anticlimactic ending of the White Walker storyline that had been built up for seven seasons. "The Last of the Starks" and "The Bells" were criticized for their rushed pacing, writing, logic, and deviation from character development, with "The Last of the Starks" being labeled as "anticlimactic" and "a huge letdown." "The Iron Throne" was described as "divisive," and according to Rotten Tomatoes, the series finale represents "a modest rebound" but it "went out with a whimper." "The Bells" and "The Iron Throne" are the worst-reviewed episodes of the entire series on the website, with an approval of 49% and 48% respectively, while the last four episodes of the season "plunged to record low scores."
  David Sims of ''The Atlantic'' wrote that the final season "has been the same story over and over again: a lot of tin-eared writing trying to justify some of the most drastic story developments imaginable, as quickly as possible. As usual, the actors did their best with what was on the page." Lucy Mangan of ''The Guardian'' wrote that the final season "has been a rushed business. It has wasted opportunities, squandered goodwill, and failed to do justice to its characters or its actors." Zack Beauchamp of ''Vox'' wrote that the final season "dispensed almost entirely with trying to make sense of its characters' internal motivations — let alone the complex political reality that its psychological realism initially helped create." 
  Kelly Lawler of ''USA Today'' wrote that the series ultimately betrayed its "identity" of "tragedy and injustice" with a "pandering" ending. Judy Berman of ''Time'' wrote that the series failed to complete the answer to "conflicting ideas about freedom, justice and leadership"; these were themes that previously brought depth to the series. Ellen Gray of the ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' and Darren Franich of ''Entertainment Weekly'' agreed that the final season was not as complex as previous seasons. Franich gave the final season, featuring "big-huge set pieces," a 'C' rating. The final season's "broseph mentality shined through," shunting the interaction between female characters. Additionally, Franich criticized Cersei doing nothing this season, as well as the ultimate focus "on Jon Snow, the least complicated main character."
  Huw Fullerton of ''Radio Times'' wrote that the eighth season was not "Thrones at its best" but still had "some sort of ending for the characters." For Fullerton, the season was "like the finale — some bits I liked, one or two I loved, an awful lot that leaves me scratching my head."