‘Game of Thrones’ star explains finale backlash

Fans “wanted the pretty white people to ride off into the sunset together,” says Peter Dinklage of the controversial ‘Game of Thrones’ finale.

During a wide-ranging interview to promote his latest film ‘Cyrano’, ‘Game of Thrones’ star Peter Dinklage gave his thoughts on the final season of the show, as well as the reasons he thinks fans disliked it as much as they did.

The discussion started when the interviewer asked Dinklage, who played Tyrion Lannister, if it was true that George R.R. Martin – the author of the books – had wanted the show to go on for two more seasons, and if the actor agreed with the notion.

Dinklage responded by saying, “It was the right time. No less, no more. You don’t want to wear out your welcome, although I'm not sure that show could have.” He then tried to explain the fallout caused by the finale, saying it was like a break-up. 

“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.”

Dinklage then added, “We had to end when we did, because what the show was really good at was breaking preconceived notions: Villains became heroes, and heroes became villains.”

The interviewer followed up by asking if the reason for the backlash was that people wanted a ‘happily ever after' ending, to which the actor replied: “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.”

In conclusion, Dinklage elaborated on the last season’s subversion of expectations, by saying, “They constantly did that, where you thought one thing and they delivered another. Everybody had their own stories going on while watching that show, but nobody’s was as good as what the show delivered, I think.”

'Game of Thrones' Created by David Benioff, D. B. Weiss © HBO

‘Game of Thrones’ was perhaps one of the biggest TV shows in history, with many praising the series for its riveting storytelling and complex characters, among other things. However, since George R.R. Martin has yet to finish writing the books, the showrunners eventually ran out of source material, which many fans see as the reason the final seasons took a huge dip in quality. In fact, many felt the finale was so bad that it ruined the show as a whole; the eighth season of ‘Game of Thrones’ holds an abysmal 30% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to the show’s overall score of 85%.

Fans have even launched a petition to remake the final season, stating that “[‘Game of Thrones’ showrunners] David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have proven themselves to be woefully incompetent writers when they have no source material (i.e. the books) to fall back on.” It concludes: “This series deserves a final season that makes sense. Subvert my expectations and make it happen, HBO!”

At this point over 1.8 million people have signed the petition, though HBO has not given any indication that it is open to the idea.