Breaking Bad versus Game of Thrones is the greatest debate in prestige television history — two series that dominated their respective eras and are still argued about with extraordinary passion. Breaking Bad is the most perfectly constructed television series ever made — five seasons with no bad episodes, a protagonist whose transformation from chemistry teacher to drug kingpin is one of the great character arcs in storytelling, and a final season that delivered on every promise the show had made. It maintained its quality from first episode to last. Game of Thrones was a cultural phenomenon of unmatched scale — the most watched, most discussed, most memed television series of the 2010s — before its final season became the most controversial ending in television history. Without that finale, which show would win? And with it?
