The TV series was based on George RR Martin’s hugely successful A Song of Ice and Fire literary saga - and its first few seasons were outright adaptations. But as the show progressed, it began to overtake Martin’s work - and indeed, even now, the author still has two books left to write. When the show began treading its own path in terms of storylines and character development, that’s when some fans have argued that it began to lose its way - and now Reddit user StillFlyingHalfAShip has posted a well-received suggestion as to how and why. In a post that has been 92% Upvoted, they argued that “the show kinda forgot it wasn’t a book.”

They explained: “It's been pointed out by Youtuber 'The Dragon Demands' that D&D [showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss] seem to be fixated on close ups of the main actors emoting without dialogue. “As the series progressed from GRRM's material to their own this became more and more prevalent, with the absolute extreme scenario occurring in the final episode (which they directed). We see Tyrion looking at things, crying, shocked and saddened, all with barely any talking whatsoever. “In 'The Bells' there was meant to be a 7-minute long take just following Arya and her reactions as the city is destroyed. The scenes will be full of Cersei smirks, Jon Snow brooding, Arya stares, Tyrion worried faces - so much time dedicated to moments with barely any dialogue at all. “Why do you think everyone was raving about the acting this season? Don't get me wrong, they're all incredibly talented, but so much of the focus is on non-verbal emoting that all we have to talk about is the performances.” MORE: George RR Martin admits he "throws a lot away" while writing Winds of Winter

The concluding season of Game of Thrones was somewhat divisive

GOT wrapped up in May

They added: “So we come to the strange irony of the last few seasons... they would actually work better as a book than as a show. “We can't always figure out what's going on in the character's heads from performance alone. Sometimes we need dialogue and actions to help us out. “If the internal monologue was written on a page it would be simple, but often it was impossible to tell what was going on. “I point to season 7 episode 7 as an example. Jaime has just informed Cersei that he wishes to desert and ride to Winterfell. She looks at The Mountain as some sort of threat that she'll unleash him against her brother(?).

George RR Martin's books were not finished in time to be adapted for the final seasons

“Jaime looks back at her horrified. Then she gives a kind of evil stare, he walks towards the mountain (I legit thought he was gonna die at this point) and then just walks past him and out the courtyard, with no consequence. “If Cersei had said something I would better understand just what the hell Cersei & Ser Gregor were playing at. “Despite not being adapted from book material, the later seasons are full of non-dialogue scenes where only a written internal monologue would let us know what the characters were thinking.” Do you agree? Read the full discussion on Reddit here.