How Game of Thrones ’ focus on flawed villains backfired by the final season 

Game of Thrones reigned on television screens for several years owing to its classic structure, morally ambiguous setting, and frequent supernatural backdrops. Despite the highs of narrative storytelling that it illustrated, one long-standing drawback of Game of Thrones was certainly the lack of truly formidable antagonists.

Be it Cersei Lannister or Petyr Baelish, the heroes of the HBO show often won without a contested fight and emerged victorious against rather foolhardy antagonists. This brought to bear on the final season of Game of Thrones, which, many believe, couldn't meet audience expectations properly, owing to the fact that the Stars seemed to emerge victorious without much of a fight.

Here's everything that you need to know.

The Game of Thrones villains often did more harm to themselves than to their enemies

There's no doubt about the fact that Game of Thrones presented villains who were tainted and flawed. This served to further the overarching theme of social leaders and antagonists being incapable and inadequate when it comes to ruling the state. On the other hand, this also had the opposite effect of reducing the antagonists in stature, which in turn reflected poorly on the struggles of the heroes. Take, for instance, Cersei Lannister, who had a penchant for taking on more than she could possibly handle. There was the time when Cersei enlisted the help of the Faith Militant to resist her enemies. In a surprising set of events, Cersei soon became a victim of them. This went on to prove her streak of self-sabotage.

Aidan Gillen's Petyr Baelish didn't fare any better. Being a self-proclaimed agent of non-sense who did things to keep people on their toes on the show, his designs seemed to be foolhardy and confusing, so much so that after the first season, he was consigned to the fringes of the narrative and didn't figure as a prominent villain on the show. Sansa and Arya Stark's ultimate victory over him seemed to be rather convenient.

Aidan Gillen speaks about his character and Game of Thrones

Gilen sat down with the Rolling Stone magazine to reveal his unique insights about his character, Petyr Baelish. When asked about his first reaction every time a Littlefinger monologue came across in the screenplay of the HBO show, Gillen remarked:

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"I would say I generally react with glee when some Littlefinger gold is thrown my way. Like any actor who’s putting a character together over a number of episodes, or rather a number of seasons, it’s always good to have another piece to add to the puzzle. Some might say it’s about unlocking the puzzle, but it’s probably best if both purposes are served. The audience are maybe getting to understand the character a little more as you try and give some new shading here or there. Like in the books, you get snippets, and there’s never any more than you need. There’s lots of other stories to be telling, many plates to be kept spinning, so it’s kind of a long game."

Game of Thrones is exclusively available on HBO.

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