Game of Thrones' eighth and final season received a largely negative response from fans, with the way things wrapped up for certain characters and who ended up on the Iron Throne proving particularly divisive. A few cast members have since acknowledged that they know it wasn't necessarily the conclusion some viewers wanted, but none of them have outright slated it (which is understandable).
Tyrion Lannister actor Peter Dinklage recently spoke to The New York Times and shared his thoughts on whether season 8 was the right time for the HBO series to reach its conclusion.
"It was the right time. You don’t want to wear out your welcome, although I’m not sure that show could have. But I think the reason there was some backlash about the ending is because they were angry at us for breaking up with them. We were going off the air and they didn’t know what to do with their Sunday nights anymore. They wanted more, so they backlashed about that."
When the site put it to Dinklage that many fans wanted Game of Thrones to have a "happy ending," the actor was quick to dismiss that notion with some surprisingly harsh words. "They wanted the pretty white people to ride off into the sunset together. By the way, it’s fiction. There’s dragons in it. Move on. [Laughs] No, but the show subverts what you think, and that’s what I love about it."
"Yeah, it was called 'Game of Thrones,' but at the end, the whole dialogue when people would approach me on the street was, 'Who’s going to be on the throne?' I don’t know why that was their takeaway because the show really was more than that. One of my favorite moments was when the dragon burned the throne because it sort of just killed that whole conversation, which is really irreverent and kind of brilliant on behalf of the show’s creators: 'Shut up, it’s not about that.'"
Game of Thrones definitely subverted expectations during that final year, but whether that's a good or bad thing is obviously up for debate. It certainly feels like the final season - and the final episode, in particular - have soured the show's legacy to some extent, and hardcore fans are definitely anxious to see if George R.R. Martin's books end differently...well, assuming he ever gets around to finishing them!
What did you think of the show's finale?
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