Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones are both fantasy stories of epic proportions. Both feature characters dealing with difficult situations and using their wits and occasionally help from others to get out of them. Both deal with issues of good and evil, though Lord of the Rings takes more of a traditional fantasy position of good conquering evil while Game of Thrones deals with a lot more gray areas.
Most of Game of Thrones' main characters are more morally grey than the protagonists of Lord of the Rings. The protagonists of Lord of the Rings, though, get more of a happy ending than those of Game of Thrones. Being one of the main characters in Game of Thrones does not guarantee happiness, it's often the opposite. Given their similarities in genre and the attempted bittersweet tone of both endings, however, it makes sense to compare the two fantasies.
Unfortunately, for some Game of Thrones fans, Lord of the Rings ends up looking better when compared with the HBO show. There are definitely a lot of reasons why, of course, but it really all boils down to one thing. This reason has to do with the endings of both stories, both of which claim to be bittersweet, though only one succeeds. For those who are unaware, the ending of Game of Thrones is very controversial for many fans. Asking 10 fans how each one feels about it might result in 10 different answers, but the majority would probably dislike it. Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, is pretty well-loved, including its hopeful ending.
To understand why Lord of the Rings is better than Game of Thrones, one must understand both stories and their endings. Lord of the Rings ends with evil defeated in the form of Sauron and the Ring of Power, both being destroyed. Aragorn becomes King of Gondor and Arnor, reuniting the kingdoms under his rule. The Hobbits who saved the world get their rewards, but it does come with a bit of a cost. Frodo Baggins eventually leaves Middle Earth for the Undying Lands, or Valinor, with the elves.
Game of Thrones ends with far more costs for some of its main characters, as protagonists become villains, get killed, and the show ends with only some characters reaching anything like happiness. The remaining members of the Stark family for the most part end up happily, but that happiness comes at a cost to the happiness of some other characters.
The ending of Game of Thrones is particularly difficult for Daenerys Targaryen, a popular character and, until near the end, quite a heroic one. Daenerys begins as a young woman who is sold to a warlord to help her brother Viserys reclaim the throne of Westeros. She ends up adapting to her new culture easily enough and even ends up with dragons. But this is not the world of Lord of the Rings. Daenerys liberates people from slavery, helps save the world from the threat of the White Walkers, but unlike the Hobbits, she gets no reward. Instead, in the penultimate episode of the last season, when she is so close to her goal of reclaiming the throne, she slaughters the citizens of King's Landing. Her lover (and nephew) Jon Snow then kills her.
Those who didn't watch Game of Thrones might be wondering why Daenerys did such a thing, especially when she was so close to victory. Well, so are many of those who watched the Game of Thrones finale. Daenerys' descent into madness is never fully explained and is strange at best, harmful at worst. To some viewers, Daenerys' tragic ending seems to send the message that it is impossible to rise above your past. Since Daenerys' father was mad, so is she, and it is not possible for her to forge her own path. Some fans would probably argue that Daenerys' ending makes no sense given her character development up to that point. On the other hand, the endings for all the protagonists of Lord of the Rings make perfect sense given their characterizations.
The Game of Thrones ending is far away from the sad yet hopeful one of Lord of the Rings. In the end, many fantasy fans might prefer Lord of the Rings' bittersweet ending to that of Game of Thrones, which is more bitter than anything else. Of course, everyone has different tastes. Other fantasy enthusiasts might be more intrigued by the end of Game of Thrones. In the end, both stories have their legacies, for good and bad, and fans enjoyed watching both. Both gave fans years of entertainment and for this, they are definitely grateful. Some viewers might even enjoy both endings, for their different takes on the fantasy genre.