I can actually see Shireen meeting a similar fate in the books. Given how cozy he is with religious fanatics, why not? Just because he's not personally not much of a believer? Do you really think all of the politicians in real life that cozy up with religious fanatics are true believers? In my opinion, that makes him worse that he's not a true believer. He knows that they use their belief system to justify horrendous shit, and he doesn't buy into any of the justifications, but he thinks it will personally benefit him, so he goes with it. Not the mark of great character.
Yup, I think we're all acquainted now with politicians who might not have a preference but just hand a blank check to who will support them and stand by while bad things happen.
Edit: Not to derail things too much, but considering that American exceptionalism still seems to be a viable force within the contemporary political arena and central to mainstream (even "liberal" ) media discourse means this is still rather bold. I suspect some of the backlash to the finale has to do with the fact that Danerys wasn't greeted as a liberator (and the finale really showed you how absurd that concept was as she give that speech in the center of ashes), even if nobody will come right out and say that.
it's hard to tell because the Internet is not really objectively representative; any noise is being directed through whatever social media circles you're attached to.
Since GoT became a popularized shows for non-genre (aka non-fantasy) audiences, it's hard to tell what the bulk of expectation was. For the circles I hang out in, it was about the writing and other decisions. But I would not be surprised in the non-fantasy audience demographic if some of them were upset over the failed expectations for Dani's role, etc.
Just think how powerful this could have been if they had done it properly -- where you can see a "good" person, or at least someone with good intentions, veer off into justifying genocide and destruction and not realize how far they have wandered. It could have been an instructional moment, an insightful "wow!" moment. But nope.
I don't think every ounce of every bit was awful. There were good scenes here and there (Ramsay's final moments, Brienne's knighting, Hold the Door, the massacre at Hardhome, I could go on and on). But certainly not the balance and certainly not the big picture. I don't agree with Async's apologist tone in his comments but I agree that a lot of the issue happened when we had four seasons of intricate plotting and characterization where everything was relevant, then going off-book in Season 5 and everything quickly just becoming Cliff Notes and vague brushwork. The early seasons set a standard and expectation for the show that D&D could not maintain in later seasons once off-book. I fully suspect a lot of the major plotpoints are things that will appear in GRRM's books, but I expect them to make sense because he will have filled in all the gaps.
Those forkers couldn't even give the Prince of Dorne a name in the finale. I mean, come on, guys. Make up a forking name. it takes five seconds. It's like they scribbled down the script on a breakfast napkin because someone left the first draft at home and they had to shoot in five minutes.
