There were probably people with terminal illnesses holding on so they could catch the finale of their most-beloved TV show, Game of Thrones, and who died horribly disappointed.

In another way, GoT may have given them the gift of looking forward to a legit ending.

Sweet relief

In the wise words of Lindsay Ellis: "The ending being bad was foreshadowed by other things being bad."

Lindsay summed up the theme of the final season so well in the thumbnail of one of her videos: "Dragon Lady Bad".

Within this context, netflixes policy of unceremoniously killing shows is probably keeping people alive.

Word

Makes me think of the story Steven King told about getting a letter from a fan, sometime around book 5, explaining that she was over 90 and begging him to tell her how it ended, because she didn't know if she'd live long enough for him to finish the series. He had to decline, explaining that he simply didn't know yet, and wouldn't know until he wrote the last page.

It's oddly heartbreaking, as she probably didn't; it took him 22 years to complete the series, all told, and 6 or 7 years from her letter to the culmination of the story.

Anyway, your thought reminded me of that.

OP is referencing the Dark Tower series for those who didn't know.
- Which, while they are quite good, they feel like the least "Stephen King" of his novels, even the bachman books.
- Yeah, thanks. I meant to reference it.
- Thank you.
- It could have been better, but I was OK with it. I didn't hate it like many people did; I just thought it could have been better.

How the writers are still employable, let alone not in massive debt, astounds me. They single-handedly got one of the most successful shows, a show that people wouldn't shut up about and were hanging for each episode every week, and turned it into something to feel a bit embarrassed to admit liking. All the potential DVD/bluray sales - gone. All the merchandising - gone. The potential for spin-off shows - gone. HBO and their partners just watched millions in revenue disappear in one catastrophic season,and somehow D&D got away with it.

I did laugh when Disney told them their services weren't needed after all though.

All the potential DVD/bluray sales - gone. All the merchandising - gone. The potential for spin-off shows - gone

I'm sure they're still making money hand over first from DVD sales & streaming. Not to mention they actually did launch a spin off show
- I have seasons 1-7 if anyone wants them.
turned it into something to feel a bit embarrassed to admit liking

Pretty sure that's not a thing

Yes, I was almost one of them. I went on living out of spite.

Seriously though, that's a really sad fact of life. Just think about those who died after the "Lost" finale.

Nah, they'd just assume they'd died a year ago and were in purgatory since then.
- I did not understand that reference.
Lost finale was great though.

Edited to add, wild to get downvoted for a harmless opinion. Did my love of a show hurt you? Yeesh.
- In the sense that it was a mercy killing, yes
- No matter what you think about the Lost ending (I liked it), it couldn't compare to the trainwreck that was Game of Thrones' final seasons

And then there was Jimmy Carter.

My guy was so disappointed he died. Rip

My cousin and How I met your mother.

Poor guy. It's been 8 years since I last watched that show and I'm still pissed.
I showed my wife an alt ending I had found that ends the story without the bad stuff and the dumb stuff

Yup. That's the thing that upset them.

"Why do you think I came all this way?"

*dies*

Pfft. I held out for Winds of Winter and A Dream Of Spring...I might be immortal as long as George RR Martin keeps on aiming for perfect being the enemy of the good enough, lol.

You're only as immortal as GRRM himself. Have you tried Brandon Sanderson? His work isn't nearly as gritty as Martin's, but his world building is top-notch, and he, um, actually writes.
- Thanks for the recommendation. I'll investigate.

didn't that one guild (web series) character come back from their dream dimension for got?

I hated the ending of GoT almost as much as I hated the ending of Mass Effect 3.

I still am not over that trainwreck.

At least with Mass Effect, most of the third act was solid. Plus, there's always the Indoctrination Theory to help cope (even if it wasn't intended).

GoT is utterly unsalvageable.
- Yeah, but I was so invested in ME. It was such a deep game with so many storylines...all ultimately pointless.
  
  I see your point, though. Right up until the very end, I had a great time. Somehow, though, it feels worse for that abrupt lurch into stupidity.

i never quite got what was so bad about the ending. i heard for years how shit it ended and i waited for the show to become shit and i waited so long that the final episode finished and i was still waiting for the shit

Honestly, /r/freefolk really have a nice list.

The quality of writing tanked.

Multiple story threads from all the way back to season one went literally no where (like the patterns), Arya and the Faceless Ones. So many characters who just blinked out of existence because D&D forgot they existed and they didn't directly server the plot (like literally everyone following Bran around for so many seasons).

Characters started not acting like themselves. Daenerys went from the savior of the people to mad queen... a roll that better fir Cersei, in a blink of an eye because of "bells". Cersei nukes a chunk of the cities. Daenerys earned the title 'Queen of Meereen' from her campaign in Slaver's Bay. Bran was shown to be the villain and it's literally never addressed. He has wild powers and doesn't use it. Seems to go from an innocent child on a wild adventure to positioning himself as king.... instead of anyone else that would have made sense. "Who has a better story"... FFS, EVERYONE. And D & D seemed to forget the "Mad King" was saying "Burn them all" because Bran, yet again, fucked with someones head.

D & D forgot where Westeros was... Also forgot about the Iron Fleet

Cersei dies by brick to the head... (just more pointing out the lame writing). Contrast that with like, Eddard's execution.

Just go to /r/Freefolk... Season 7 and 8 were shit. Because D & D wanted to abandon GoT to go do Star Wars. HBO had more money for them, told them they could do more seasons. Naw, last 2 they phoned it in with 2 "seasons" there were the length of 1 and the quality of the aftermath of a night out of drunk taco bell binge eating....
- daenarys was going to be the mad queen from episode 1, so that specific complaint has no ground because you can see the foreshadowing all over the series. honestly, think of all the times daenarys had to be talked out of mass slaughtering

Doors of stone has entered the chat

No worries then, the only way to live past your natural expiration date is believing in Medicine and getting qualified help. The vast majority of terminal patients couldn't live on longer even if they were emotionally invested in a TV Show.