The Game of Thrones finale could never succeed. And we only have ourselves to blame.

Warning: This post contains A LOT of spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8. If you’re not caught up on the latest episode, bookmark us and come back once you’re ready to properly debrief.

After eight long seasons, a (still unfinished) book series and far too many battles to count, Game of Thrones has officially come to an end.

For the past nine years, fans have wondered who would finally get to sit on the Iron Throne and become the next ruler of the Seven Kingdoms – and now, we finally know.

For die-hard watchers of the HBO show, the past decade has been about far more than just watching power struggles and incestual relationships play out on screen.

You see, one of the best – if not the best – parts about Game of Thrones is actually the enormous discussion that surrounds it.

LISTEN: We discuss the final episode of Game Of Thrones on our podcast, Mamamia Recaps. Post continues after audio…

For years, fans have delved into the show with forensic attention to detail, deciphering hidden clues from singular scenes and building fan theories about how the show might end.

For the other side: The Game of Thrones finale was actually perfect storytelling in action.

But when the finale aired on Monday evening, garnering record numbers worldwide, the end result was actually very different from what fans were expecting – and not in the Game of Thrones’ trademark sharp shock way.

Instead, with Bran Stark now sitting atop the (non-existent) Iron Throne and Jon Snow sent back to the Night’s Watch once again, it all felt a little bit… empty.

Yes, the finale did end with a satisfying wrap-up for the Stark children, with Sansa Stark now serving as the Queen of The North and Arya Stark adventuring west of Westeros, and yes, we can’t deny that we all became victims of getting our hopes up with boundless fan theories – but there was a lot that was overlooked too.

As many viewers have mentioned, the series ended with lots of burning unanswered questions.

From prophecies that were completely left behind to entire plot points which were dropped from the show at the last minute, in the eyes of the fans, Game of Thrones’ final episode had quite a few missing pieces.

In some cases, in fact, the theories about what might happen in the final season were even stronger than the plot itself.

Here’s just some of the ways we wish Game of Thrones’ final season ended:

The death of Daenerys Targaryen.

The fate of Daenerys Targaryen in the final episode of Game of Thrones didn't quite come as a surprise.

From the moment the Dragon Queen began mowing down the innocent citizens of King's Landing in last week's episode, it was clear that Daenerys had changed for the worse.

But when Daenerys died at the hands of her lover (and nephew) Jon Snow, fans were divided.

For weeks, it's been speculated that Arya Stark would be the one to kill Daenerys.

Although Arya had been the one to kill the Night King and the entire army of the undead, one victim still remained according to Melisandre's prophecy.

Ahead of the Battle of Winterfell, Melisandre reminded Arya of their previous encounter, when Melisandre declared: “I see a darkness in you. And in that darkness, eyes staring back at me: brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes. Eyes you’ll shut forever".

Of course, the brown eyes represented Walder Frey and the blue eyes was the Night King. But while many assumed that the green eyes referred to Cersei Lannister, who ended up being killed alongside her brother Jaime, viewers began to speculate that Daenerys could be Arya's true green-eyed victim.

In the end, however, Arya didn't shut any green eyes. What happened to the prophecy? Who knows. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We just really wish we could have seen her face changing skills one last time...

The death of Cersei Lannister.

In the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones, two of the show’s most important characters were finally killed – Jaime and Cersei Lannister.

As Daenerys Targaryen wreaked havoc on King’s Landing, burning everything and everyone in her way to a crisp, the twin siblings were reunited in the Red Keep.

But instead of murdering his twin sister as many fans theorised he would, a mortally-wounded (thanks to Euron Greyjoy) Jaime took Cersei down to the crypts.

Within seconds, the walls of the crypt came crashing down around them and Jaime and Cersei were killed.

Throughout the entirety of Game of Thrones' eight seasons, Cersei Lannister was painted as the show's true villain.

She was vain, cruel and unforgiving – the classic narcissistic villain. She killed people left, right and centre – including burning down the sept in a devastating burst of lime-green wildfire; a vicious attack on her enemies which ended in her own son, Tommen, taking his own life.

But when it came to the end for Cersei, it almost felt like her death was an afterthought. Instead of a brutal villain's execution she so rightly deserved, Cersei's death was incredibly far from what longtime fans of the show were expecting.

Cersei's death also ignored a longtime prophecy on the show, the Valonqar prophecy, which determined a "little brother" would end her life.

In the end, the theories about Cersei's Lannister's death – including the theory that Jaime would kill her or even the theory that Arya would murder Cersei in a revenge-fuelled execution – were far better than the reality.

The Night King and the White Walkers.

At the end of the Battle of Winterfell, Arya Stark took down the Night King and his army of White Walkers.

It was a moment fans had been anticipating for years and one of the biggest plot points in the entire series, but once they were killed off, they were never mentioned again.

Although it was long believed that Bran Stark was connected to the Night King, the theory was never answered in the show – and neither was the question about where Bran went during the Battle of Winterfell.

It was all just... dropped.

And just as the stories about the Night King and the White Walkers were dropped, all the prophecies about the Lord of Light were, well, thrown out the window. It was as if none of it ever mattered.

There was no final shot of the Night King's (or hell, even Bran Stark or Daenerys Targaryen's) bright blue eyes or even one of Jon Snow coming across a spiral of bodies in the snow.

Were we expecting too much? Maybe. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Catch up on all our Game of Thrones recaps, right here:

• Mamamia recaps Game of Thrones episode 1: Finally. Jon Snow knows something.
• Mamamia recaps Game of Thrones episode 2: We need to talk about THAT Arya Stark scene.
• Mamamia recaps Game of Thrones episode 3: The episode that broke the world.
• Mamamia recaps Game of Thrones episode 4: GHOST DESERVED BETTER, JON.
• Mamamia recaps Game of Thrones episode 5: Well. That was... a mess.
• Mamamia recaps Game of Thrones episode 6: The television event of the decade that's divided the world.

For more on this topic:

• All the unanswered questions we still have after watching the Game of Thrones finale.
• "Plotters vs pantsers." A Game of Thrones fan just nailed exactly why season 8 feels so wrong.
• We need to talk about Cersei Lannister's death on Game of Thrones.
• Bad writing didn't kill Game of Thrones, but 'bro culture' certainly did.