Imagine all the extra money they couldve made from selling complete blueray boxes if it wasnt specifically bc of that last season. Sure, 6, 7 were shaky, but definitely not as damaging as 8.6 and 7 were cut a lot of slack because "oh they're just building up for the last season". Shit like characters teleporting everywhere or smart/badass characters becoming unlikeable caricatures of themselves. In hindsight I don't think they were much better than 8 outside a few big moments, people were just blinded by optimism.