The decision to conclude the story at all was incredibly bold. The only thing they can be blamed for is the decision to rush to the end. The brevity of the dialog, the whiplash travel across the continent, the apparently unmotivated character pivots, all ties back to that. For all we know, George could have handed them all those plot points nobody likes on a cocktail napkin, intending to flesh them out over 20 years with 500,000 words each. Brilliant, we would have thought. Now he’s just laughing as he goes back to the drawing board.
I also don’t think people understand the monumental task and cost of keeping this cast and crew together going forward. The cast might be criticizing how poorly their character was handled now, but what were they asking for that next season?
I would have stopped production after season 6 and pointed at George whenever anyone asked about more. You want an ending, let that guy commit to it. Anyone who read the books as they were released has had the nagging suspicion in the back of their mind that this wasn’t going to end well since the first announcement.