HBO has submitted the much maligned final episodes of the heavily criticised final season of Game of Thrones for Emmy consideration. TV Guide reports that season eight’s only acclaimed episodes – Winterfell and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms – ‘have been completely overlooked in the writing and directing categories’ in favour of the worst rated episodes of the show’s history.
HBO has submitted Miguel Sapochnik’s name for Game of Thrones season 8’s The Long Night, David Nutter for The Last of the Starks, and DB Weiss and David Benioff for The Iron Throne, in the Best Directing category. Benioff and Weiss script for the finale – The Iron Throne – is the sole submission in the Best Writing category.
In technical categories, “HBO has submitted cinematographer Fabian Wagner for The Long Night, David Franco for The Last of the Starks, and Jonathan Freeman for the Iron Throne. The penultimate episode, The Bells, has meanwhile been put into contention for Art Direction, Visual Effects, and Costuming, and the Hair and Makeup category will take a look at The Long Night. As a whole, the show will compete for the top award, Best Drama Series, as well as the Main Title Design, Casting, Editing, Stunt Coordination, Music, and Sound Mixing categories.”
Actors such as Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Alfie Allen, Pilou Asbæk, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage, Richard Dormer, Gwendoline Christie, Lena Headey, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, and Carice van Houten have self-submitted.
Here are some fan reactions to the news:
TFW you realize the best episode of #GameOfThrones‘ last season—”A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” obviously—is submitted for neither Directing nor Writing at the #Emmys. pic.twitter.com/PpSDtxjI4q
— Myles McNutt (@Memles) June 10, 2019
you: surely it’s been a month and you’ve run out of new Game of Thrones things to complain about
me: THEY DIDN’T SUBMIT A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS FOR OUTSTANDING WRITING OR DIRECTING AT THE EMMYS— Victoria Edel (@victoriaedel) June 10, 2019
so who thought it was a good idea for hbo to submit 8×06 of game of thrones for an emmy nomination in best writing category when this episode is of the most boring season finales to ever exist pic.twitter.com/UkI5dGFPdG
— ellie (@odairannies) June 11, 2019
Game of Thrones are shameless, I’m dYYYING!!!!!!!! bEsT wRiTiNg #Emmys pic.twitter.com/e42gUSNgZw
— Patrick (@PatrickSikler) June 11, 2019
Good luck with that. Lol. https://t.co/AOrahwS0Ep
— Emma Vigeland (@EmmaVigeland) June 12, 2019
The #GameofThrones team submitted their episodes for writing and directing Emmy categories and none of the ones submitted are the best one of the season. Hate to see it. pic.twitter.com/O6pWXPO64H
— Joanna Robinson (@jowrotethis) June 10, 2019
Game of Thrones’ season eight, one of the most highly anticipated seasons in television history, is the worst reviewed of the show’s run, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 53% and a 36% fan score. By comparison, the first season had a 91% score, seasons two and three retain a 96%, season four is the best rated with a 97% score, while seasons five, six and seven have 93%, 94% and 93% score, respectively. The consensus for season eight reads, “A mad dash to the finish line, Game of Thrones’ final season shortchanges the women of Westeros, sacrificing satisfying character arcs for spectacular set-pieces.”
Episode one, Winterfell, has a 92% score; episode 2, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has an 88% score; episode three, The Long Night has a 75% score, which was eclipsed by The Last of the Starks’ 57% score, and then by The Bells’ 49%. The finale, The Iron Throne, is tied at the bottom, also with a 49% score.
On IMDb, the worst rated episode prior to season eight was season five’s controversial Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken. Each of the final season’s six episodes has an IMDb rating either equal to or lower than that of Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken’s 8.1.
Game of Thrones has won 42 Emmys out of 132 nominations so far.
Follow @htshowbiz for more
First Published:
Jun 12, 2019 10:52 IST
