There are manyfantasyTV shows that have a great run but ultimately have terrible endings.It is difficult to nail a fantasy TV show from beginning to end—continuity and logic must be consistent while pursuing compelling storylines for the characters and dynamics. It is even harder forTV shows that blend fantasy with another genreto keep up with everything and deliver an excellent narrative. Furthermore, just because a fantasy TV show has a great run does not necessarily mean it will stick the landing.
Plenty offantasy TV shows have almost perfect endings, while otherfantasy TV shows have wasted their potentialaltogether. As a TV show approaches its inevitable end, many questions arise depending on the circumstances. The stakes are even higher if the TV show is fantasy since it has multiple elements to get right for the conclusion. Unfortunately,too many fantasy TV shows fail to provide satisfying endings. A show’s ending might be too vague, or the last few seasons might be so abysmal that the ending has no chance. Regardless, at least 10 fantasy TV shows have terrible endings.
10Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994-1998)
Final Episode: Spider Wars, Chapter II: Farewell Spider-Man
Spider-Man: The Animated Seriesis easily one of thebest animated fantasy TV shows. It aired on Fox Kids Network for four years, following Peter Parker’s adventures as Spider-Man during college while juggling his personal life. The show had a great run, but it fumbled with the finale’s cliffhanger.Spider-Man: The Animated Seriesseason 5, episode 13, “Spider Wars, Chapter II: Farewell Spider-Man,“ends with Madame Web taking Spider-Man to find Mary Jane, who had fallen into an interdimensional portal.
Spider-Man: The Animated Seriescuts after this point, never revealing whether Peter found Mary Jane or not. Supposedly, there was supposed to be a sixth season of the show, butSpider-Man: The Animated Serieswas canceled after season 5, never revealing whether Peter found Mary Jane or not. It is not the worst ending, but it is still pretty bad, given the cliffhanger.
9Merlin (2008-2012)
Final Episode: The Diamond of the Day – Part 2 (July 08, 2025)
BBC’sMerlinwas a popular fantasy show based on the Legend of Arthur that aired for over four years.Merlinrevolved around the titular character as he learned of a prophecy where Merlin would protect Arthur with his own magic so that Arthur would become king and end anti-magic laws.The show featured five seasons of fantastical adventures as Merlin and Arthur grew close while Merlin bore his magical secret.Everything had been leading up to the prophecy, so it was a stunning shock when Arthur had an anticlimactic death in the show’s finale.
20 Best Shows Like Merlin
Fans looking for the best shows like Merlin should check out these series that contain similar references and stories.
WhenMerlinended, Arthur was already king and had united Albion, completing part of the prophecy. However, anti-magic laws had not been let up, and Arthur’s death had no greater meaning.There was nothing to suggest that Arthur would rise again to fulfill the remainder of the prophecy.Arthur learned the truth about Merlin’s magic, but nothing else happened except thanking his friend. BBC’sMerlinhad a terrible ending because of its execution, leaving no hope for magical people in Albion. Guinevere becoming Queen of Albion was the only good part about this ineffective finale.
8True Blood (2008-2014)
Final Episode: Thank You (July 31, 2025)
HBO’sTrue Bloodran for seven seasons, revolving around the persisting conflict between humans and vampires now that the latter were able to roam freely and exist publicly, featuring iconic characters such as half-faerie, half-human Sookie Stackhouse, the elusive vampire Bill Compton, and the millennium-old vampire Eric Northman.True Bloodwas a progressive show ahead of its time, tackling issues such as equal rights and oppression, so it was surprising to seeeverything go wrong inTrue Blood’s final season.
Sookie’s ending was a slap in the face to her development and the conservative moldTrue Bloodfought to break.
True Bloodseason 7 killed off several main characters without a good narrative reason; they became forgotten after their deaths. Sookie ended up with some human nobody and had his kids, providing her with an anticlimactic ending that ultimately did not align with the show’s progressive themes. Sookie’s ending was a slap in the face to her development and the conservative moldTrue Bloodfought to break. It is also notable thatTrue Bloodis based on Charlaine Harris' seriesThe Southern Vampire Mysteries, andthe show and books have drastically different endings.
7Penny Dreadful (2014-2016)
Final Episode: The Blessed Dark (August 06, 2025)
Penny Dreadfulwas a fantastical reimagining of Victorian England featuring several Victorian Gothic literary characters, including Victor Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, and Mina Harker. Vanessa Ives tasked Ethan Chandler with finding Mina, but Ethan eventually became Vanessa’s protector once Lucifer sought her out to become his bride.Penny Dreadfulhad a controversial series finalewhen Ethan fatally shot Vanessa. This narrative decision was extremely out of character for Ethan, despite Vanessa making him promise to kill her if she ever hurt people.
Even considering what Vanessa made Ethan promise, the ending was nonsensical. At the end ofPenny Dreadfulseason 2, Ethan left for the United States, which led to a new romance between Vanessa and Dracula. In turn, Vanessa and Dracula’s relationship led Vanessa closer to the Mother of Evil prophecy, which is why Ethan felt inclined to kill her in the series finale. However, it felt out of character for Ethan to abandon Vanessa only to return and end her life.It contradicted Vanessa and Ethan’s special dynamic that they had cultivated over the years.
6Teen Wolf (2011-2017)
Final Episode: The Wolves of War (August 04, 2025)
Teen Wolfended with its sixth season, the final episode being “The Wolves of War.” However, this finale was set up to fail for three reasons. Firstly,Teen Wolfspent almost six seasonsbuilding up Stiles Stilinski and Lydia Martin’s romance. Although they finally got together inTeen Wolfseason 6, episode 10, “Riders on the Storm,” the episode felt more like a series finale than a mid-season ending. “Riders on the Storm” wrapped up the last long-awaited storyline, giving the show a sense of completion. Therefore,the last 10 episodes ofTeen Wolffelt unnecessary, redundant, and even overkill.
The Teen Wolf Movie Completely Failed The Show’s Friendships
Teen Wolf: The Movie moves so fast that it hardly has any time to focus on its most important relationships, and more specifically, its friendships.
Teen Wolf’s series finale was also terrible because ofthe show’s abysmal treatment of Kira Yukimura.Teen Wolfwrote Kira off at the end of its fifth season for no reason. Kira’s actor, Arden Cho, has always been transparent aboutTeen Wolf, including when she made a video explaining that production had let her go because “they were done with Kira’s story, even though Kira was one ofTeen Wolf’s most underappreciated characterswith a lot more story to tell. Production did not ask Cho to return for the show’s finale, making “The Wolves of War” extremely distasteful and disheartening.
The final reasonTeen Wolfseason 6, episode 20, “The Wolves of War,” was a bad finale was because it turned out not to be a finale.Teen Wolf: The Moviewas released in early 2023 as a spinoff.Teen Wolf: The Movie’s endingessentially destroyed every single character—bringing Allison back to life undid years of Scott McCall’s character development. Furthermore,Teen Wolf: The Movie’s major missing characters(including the iconic Stiles Stilinski) set the movie up for failure.Ultimately, this film was a terrible idea and only butchered the characters further.
5Star Vs. The Forces Of Evil (2015-2019)
Final Episode: Cleaved (June 10, 2025)
Star vs. the Forces of Evilwas an animated TV show aired on Disney XD and Disney Channel from 2015 to 2019. The show revolved around Star, heir to the Butterfly Kingdom, and her journey as a foreign exchange student in the real world, based in Los Angeles. It was an excellent show, filled with heart and hilarity. However,the series finale, “Cleaved,” had a shocking twist that significantly dimmed the ending—Star eliminates magic from the world and combines her home dimension Mewni and Earth together.
Erasing all magic suggested a mass extinction of innocent magical creatures, which was unfair, wrong, and completely out of character for Star.
While Star had to stop Mina,the dramatic narrative decision to eliminate all magical elements was not well-executed. Erasing all magic suggested a mass extinction of innocent magical creatures, which was unfair, wrong, and completely out of character for Star. Furthermore, combining the worlds and eradicating magic just for Star to have a romantic relationship was not fulfilling and was a complete disservice to the show.
4Game of Thrones (2011-2019)
Final Episode: The Iron Throne (June 22, 2025)
Of course,Game of Throneshas one of the most notorious terrible endings of any fantasy show. Everything Daenerys had worked toward went up in smoke; Arya left the North after years of trying to get home; Jaime’s redemption arc turned out to be pointless; and Bran becoming King of Westeros because of disability was significantly ableist and a decision that came out of nowhere. AlthoughGeorge R.R. Martin told David Benioff and D.B. Weiss about Bran’s kingship, Martin will write it sensibly and not base it entirely on Bran’s inability to walk—especially since Bran’s book counterpart is more developed.
However,Game of Thrones' finale was doomed before the final episode. Of course,Game of Thronesseason 8 went wrongin many ways, butthe show began deteriorating in quality the further Weiss and Benioff strayed from the source material, particularly around season 5. A few iconic episodes, such as “The Battle of the Bastards,” do not make up for other poor choices. It must have been difficult to create original content once the show passedA Song of Ice & Fire’s timeline. However, many narrative decisions felt out of character and for shock value rather than advancing the narrative.
The one good thing about theGame of Thronesseries finale is Sansa becoming Queen of the North, a satisfying ending for one of the few characters that remained close to their book counterpart. Otherwise,Game of Throneshas gone down in history as having one of the worst endings. That being said, because the show’s downfall occurred much earlier than the final season, the finale would still have been unsatisfying because the show simply began prioritizing the Iron Throne over the White Walkers conflict.
3Supernatural (2005-2020)
Final Episode: Carry On (June 16, 2025)
Supernaturalhad a notoriously bad ending with its final episode, “Carry On.” Although Dean and Sam Winchester reunite in heaven, the events prior to this reunion—most notably, Dean’s death decades earlier—were just awful.The show’s creator had initially planned to endSupernaturalafter five seasons, with the show’s fifth season ending with the creator’s initial vision. However,Supernaturalwent on for 10 more seasons, creating a risk that whenever the show would end, it would not live up to its original ending.
Dean Winchester’s death was a complete insult to his character development.He struggled with his mental health and the idea that he was not good enough, only for him to die in a way that aligned with his darkest thoughts.Supernaturalhad many traumatic moments, but Dean’s death took the cake. The only thing worse was Castiel dying two episodes prior, confessing his love for Dean—after years of discourse on the romantic nature ofDean and Castiel’s relationship inSupernatural—only to die moments later.
2American Gods (2017-2021)
Final Episode: Tears of the Wrath-Bearing Tree (June 23, 2025)
American Godswas a fantasy drama TV show based on Neil Gaiman’s book. It revolved around the protagonist, Shadow Moon, as he got involved with a magical world filled with “Old Gods” and “New Gods” because of the mysterious Mr. Wednesday. WhileAmerican Godshad a great first season, the show’s quality deteriorated after that, notably onceAmerican Gods' original showrunners leftafter budget and source material disagreements. Notably,American Godsstrayed further from the book in its second and third seasons, which is ironic considering Neil Gaiman had wanted a more accurate adaptation of his book.
American Godsended after three seasons with Shadow Moon’s death, which did occur in the book. However, Easter resurrected Shadow Moon, whereas in the show, Easter does not appear after season 1. It also certainly did not help thatAmerican Godshad different showrunners for each season, establishing a lack of continuity for the show’s development and storyline.
1Riverdale (2017-2023)
Final Episode: Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Seven: Goodbye, Riverdale (July 23, 2025)
To be fair, by the timeRiverdalefell into the fantasy genre, the show’s quality had significantly gone down. Nothing aboutRiverdalemade sense anymore, and it was clear more than ever that the show should have ended after its first season. However,Riverdalestill became a cultural icon and a renowned guilty pleasure. The show was bad, but it was so bad that no one could turn away from it. A show as iconic asRiverdaledeserved an equally iconic ending, so it was just flabbergasting that afterRiverdale’s seven seasons, the series finale fell completely flat.
WhileRiverdaleseason 7 introduced interesting new storylines, the characters staying in their new timeline was a disappointing decision after everything they had endured. Even more disappointing was Tabitha leaving her friends to fix the multiverse, which was a disservice to her character. However,the most disappointing decision wasRiverdalerefusing to establish a final endgame.Riverdale’s finale introduced the quadbetween Archie, Betty, Jughead, and Veronica, which seemed like the ultimate copout rather than choosing decisive romantic endgames.
