Unfortunately, the series is being killed off by a thousand cuts. Reducing the number of episodes for season 8 to just 6 is a telltale sign that HBO just wants to wrap this thing up asap. To me, the whitewalkers were such a crucial part of the show. Obliterating them in the third episode, so easily, seemed ridiculous. Sure, the fans will say, GoT is about the characters, the living characters, well, no it's not. Because with the whitewalkers gone, there isn't much there in the remainder of the character's story line to sustain the level of theatrical intensity that we are so use to in the past. What we have is a rehash of the political intrigue we saw in seasons one and two.