While there have been plenty of contentious shows and movies from the past few months, nothing seems to top Game of Thrones. Back in April, the final season of HBO’s epic fantasy series hit the airwaves, and it didn’t take too long before the backlash became apparent. While some took no issue with how showrunners and co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss wrapped things up, plenty of longtime fans were left disappointed with how the ending panned out.
In all likelihood, some viewers probably saw this coming from a mile away (it was something I was afraid of, to be honest). While Game of Thrones handled the journey to the Iron Throne quite well, there were concerns that the creative staff would not be able to live up to the hype when it actually came down to the final battle for Westeros. A few characters and storylines didn’t get the conclusions they deserved, and the last season received a ton of negative attention and reviews.
While one of the show’s stars recently tried to blame the media for the unwavering backlash, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (who played Jamie Lannister) attempted to defend his character’s ending, only to get booed in the process. During the GoT panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Coster-Waldau tried to reason that Jamie’s tragic “end in the arms of Cersei” was the perfect conclusion for the incestual Lannister. Fans didn’t agree with this assessment, however, and proceeded to boo him.
#GameOfThrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau says that it was perfect for his character to "end in the arms of Cersei." The #SDCC crowd disagrees pic.twitter.com/CSCi9F6abE
— Variety (@Variety) July 20, 2019
To be honest, if I had attended the aforementioned panel, I would have been complaining, too. After all, a few outlets reported that the cast was asked softball questions, and the entire event was quickly ended before a Q&A session with the fans could take place.
While Game of Thrones‘ longtime actors and actresses will probably refrain from speaking out on the trainwreck of a final season, not acknowledging the criticism also isn’t doing HBO any favors in the eyes of longtime viewers.