Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss reflect on how they expected the season 8 finale to be received by audiences. Based on the books by author George R.R. Martin, the hit HBO fantasy series premiered in 2011, introducing audiences to the power struggles taking place between the lords and ladies of Westeros. The show was wildly successful throughout its eight seasons, but the Game of Thrones ending was infamously controversial.
During a recent interview with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Benioff and Weiss reflect on the audience response to the Game of Thrones season 8 finale, revealing that they didn’t anticipate just how divisive it would be. Weiss touches specifically on how feedback from HBO regarding the final season kept them from realizing that the audience response may be less than positive. Check out their comments below:
The Game Of Thrones Finale Was Always Going To Be Controversial
Although Game of Thrones may have come from humble beginnings, it eventually became one of the most-watched shows on HBO. Per a report from Variety, viewership increased with each subsequent season, with season 8 being the most watched at a staggering 46 million across linear, on-demand, and Max. As the audience grew and the storylines in the show barreled toward their climaxes, so too did expectations regarding how it would all wrap up.
By the time seasons 7 and 8 rolled around, the show had surpassed Martin’s novels, meaning it wasn’t working from any source material. When Game of Thrones season 7 ended, a number of key story threads had to be wrapped up, including the White Walker threat from the North, and the small matter of who would sit upon the Iron Throne when all was said and done. The decision to end with Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) being crowned King was a controversial one, but it would’ve been controversial no matter who was crowned ruler.
When a show gets as big as Game of Thrones, pleasing everyone essentially becomes an impossibility, especially when expectations are so high. With so many people watching, there were obviously a great number of opinions regarding how it should end, meaning some subset of viewers was probably always going to be left disappointed by the choices made. While the Game of Thrones ending clearly didn’t work for a large portion of audiences due to some key storytelling decisions, there’s probably no combination of decisions that would have resulted in a universally-loved finale.
