The Last Kingdom is a better GoT. Don't @ me
I don't have high hopes for this last season of Game of Thrones. First of all, the last few seasons have been dogshit compared to the first ones, as already stated in this thread.
Second, they're going to have to rush like fuck to wrap up all the plotlines. Nothing seems any closer to conclusion than they did six seasons ago, yet everything is supposed to be concluded satisfactorily in just one season? I sincerely doubt they're going to be able to pull it off.
Third, the best thing about the show has always been the nuance, the human conflict, the power plays, the little moments. Now there's every indication that the last season is going to be a classic "let's unite to fight the zombie horde + dragons and shit" fantasy. Not much room for intrigue there. Fighting a dumb zombie horde is just boring, and it's obvious which side the audience is going to root for.
Fourth, related to the last point, judging by the trailer and last season, they're more and more focused on these hero wank fantasies where Arya/Jon/whatever pull off unrealistic heroics, rather than the down-to-earth stuff of the first seasons.
Still going to watch it, but not that hyped. More looking forward to the Expanse and Bosch, for example.
Like yes, LoTR is a 6 hours of midgets walking, but dammit that's what its all about.
It's what makes LoTR what it is, really. The world feels
alive. It's the depiction of the journeys, the showing of these run-down taverns, the breakfasts, the miserable weather and wet clothes, campfires.... all of it makes the books and the movies feel really magical, like you're watching some alternate history or some shit, it's a believable world and feels like an adventure. Part of it is definitely because of how old I was when I first read the books and saw the movies, but nothing else has come close to giving me the same feeling as LoTR. I'm cautiously optimistic for the big-budget Amazon show, especially if it focuses on young Aragorn, but on the other hand, it's probably going to be about explosions and strong warrior girls saving the white male Aragorn constantly.
GoT, especially lately, is just ticking boxes for "huge battle at A, huge battle at B, bad ass moment at C", etc. No time for the little things that make the world believable and add context to it all.