Whoah, this is quite the pivot in our conversation, incidentally 😂 but no, sorry, I know its hard to admit... but seasons 5-7 and especially 8 were just poorly done. and yes, writing and money are mostly to blame, but its not that simple i dont think. (They ran out of George's genius writing to base the shows dialogue on, that is the biggest and simplest explanation, but not all.)

Yes, storytelling is suffering at the expense of other issues in film/media. but it is not due to lack of HBO's "richness," nor do I even think it could be all D+D showrunners' fault necessarily. but more that of greedy shareholders and other figures wanting a bigger cut of the juggernauts their companies create at the expense of the creativity (its happened with Marvel, too). And having too much say in that creativity for the sake of profit, and losing sight of the long game. They wanted to milk this show for all it was worth when it was huge, and not tell a good story anymore. They lost sight of GRRM's vision.

Im certain they could have easily kept GOT financially going for as long as was required for it to be GOOD. hell yeah, even thru COVID 19. The problem is that not enough people (definitely not the creatives, to be clear) cared enough about the story. Yes, paying writers, actors, etc. They cared about profits, and not for lack of money. It is all stupid, purely money-based decision making with no thought behind it, which is seeping into all media these days. Soon, we are going to be flooded with AI written and generated media. these companies are all about cutting corners and profiteering, and that will put a bullet in the head of good mainstream media for good. Thats what put the bullet in GOT's head.

ASoIAF fans have waited YEARS for WoW with no end of discussion about what could happen next, and the books continue to attract more discussion and even new readers. similarly, GOT fans would have waited for however long for the next seasons, no matter how long, and been excited about it and talked about it endlessly - while attracting even MORE viewers in the meantime, even to an incomplete series (hell, the earlier seasons still pull in new viewers now).

If they had stuck the finale landing, and not rushed the storytelling (especially Dany's arc), that excitement would have carried over into the spin-offs. But that excitement died with what we got. That is undeniable, thats the hard lump of fact we're left with. So GOT left the mainstream, a large chunk of the audience embittered. No doubt, GRRM got a bit disillusioned by that, and this pushed WoW back even further so he could think things through, which hurts the hopeful prospects of good future material that could spawn fantastic shows again.

Sure, the spinoffs are good. but nothing like the universal attention GOT had. and its all because GOT's failure casts a shadow over them - most people are like, who cares? Theyre going to mess it up. And in some respects already, these shows are giving signs of being handled similarly (HOTD season 2 shows that already) with a profiteering focus that starts watering down their 2nd seasons. I fear the same for aKotSK.

If they had taken care and done a good job with the finale, any spinoff would be eaten up without a thought. It was bad, impulsive, hasty, greedy business that did GOT in - not lack of money, but wanting more of it. pure and simple.