Warning: the story below contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season eight episode five.
Game of Thrones‘s penultimate episode has earned the lowest rating in the fantasy drama’s history.
The Bells currently has a rating of 49 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. The previous record holder was season five’s sixth instalment Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken, which scored a 54 per cent rating.
Both scores are especially noticeable given that Game of Thrones has very rarely dipped into “rotten” territory over its eight seasons, achieving 100 per cent ratings on several occasions.
The Bells, though, failed to win over viewers because – per Rotten Tomatoes’ summary: “Death, destruction, and the deterioration of Daenerys’ sanity make The Bells an episode for the ages; but too much plot in too little time muddles the story and may leave some viewers feeling its conclusions are a little unearned.”
Game of Thrones‘s scores on Rotten Tomatoes have decreased throughout the fantasy drama’s eighth and final season. Winterfell, the season premiere, managed an impressive 92 per cent.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the second episode, scored an honourable 88 per cent. The Long Night followed with a 75 per cent rating.
Things appeared to turn sour with the fourth episode, The Last of the Starks, which currently has a 57 per cent score.
Game of Thrones is available on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK, and on HBO in the US.
