So, working backwards, thirdly, the books are excellent. The first three are by far the best and cover up to season 3/4ish. The next two are good, but also different. The show also really starts to diverge so kinda up to season 6, but only in the broadest sense.
In either case if you’re going to read the books, read them all for full background. If course we’re still waiting on at least 2 more new books, sooooooo you might be waiting a while/forever.
Second. The House of the Dragon TV series. I was also hesitant to watch it, but it really is great. It’s not perfect, but if all we ever got was this one good season, I’d be happy. If season two ends up sucking, bummer, but at least we had one good one.
And firstly. King Bran. The biggest issue with Season 8 is that it just rushes to the ending. Bran has the best story? He is a weird raven character now. What does that mean? Who understands what that means? What did he actually do? What about Meera?
But what if we knew more about this three eyed raven character? What if we understood their goals? What if they foresaw the events of the series? What if they caused, or guided them? Hodor’s purpose was to eventually save Bran. To do that Bran would have to make Hodor, Hodor. What if he helped ensure other events also took place? What if Bran being “King” was a setup from the beginning?
If all that is properly explained, I don’t really have an issue with King Bran.
Of course that only explains it for the viewer. To King’s Landing Bran is just some weird kid.
So let’s change Bran’s role slightly. The White Walkers are going to attack. The only way to win is with a united Seven Kingdoms. By the time Dany arrives the kingdom is largely united. However Dany has dragons. Can Bran convince Dany to give everything up and focus on the White Walkers? We see hints of this in the show. If the White Walker threat isn’t fixed in one episode, what happens?
There are multiple seasons of story, and that’s just Bran.
They key points of the show can still work (some of them at least), but they need time. Think of the Red Wedding. Arya’s seasons long journey is nearly at an end. Caitlyn and her negotiating is paying off. Robb is about to achieve victory. Three seasons of setup, executed perfectly.
Realistically, looking back, season 8 was never going to be able to wrap things up. Even less so with a reduced last season.
The show runners fucked up and they fucked up big time.