Game of Thrones‘ final season will likely gone down as one of the infamous chapters in television series history. Complaints about the acclaimed series’ final season were non-stop, and it seemed as though a vast majority of viewers hated the final season. Now, there’s a new poll about the Emmys circulating the web that shows that may not be the case and that a majority of GoT viewers actually enjoyed the final episodes overall.
According to a poll run by YouGov, which polled a group of individuals in late August, 52% of those polled said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with Season 8 of Game of Thrones. The poll (via Winter Is Coming) utilizes a lot more math than the average poll to account for margin of error and things like that, which does lend some weight to its validity.
With that being said, the YouGov poll only tapped about 2,475 adults for the survey, which is nowhere close to the numbers Game of Thrones was pulling per episode of Season 8 or long before that. With that being said, 18% of those polled said they had watched every episode of the HBO drama, which was the highest number for any series polled on the survey. Just because the numbers on this poll aren’t as high as GoT‘s ratings, doesn’t mean they’re immediately invalid.
When asked which show should win the top Emmy of Outstanding Drama Series, 18% of people polled picked Game of Thrones, which was the highest percentage for any answer beyond “I Don’t Know.”
The data also shows, however, that 41% of those polled were unsatisfied with Season 8 of Game of Thrones and that 7% were neutral on the final season. So, numbers aside, it still represents just how divisive Season 8 was, even if the bottom line is that the show satisfied more people than it disappointed in the final leg.
Online polls are far from the be-all end-all of credible information when it comes to sources, but it is worth noting that browsing the internet may not have been representative of the vast majority’s thoughts on Game of Thrones. There’s definitely such a thing as a vocal minority when it comes to the internet, and that could be the case here.
If these percentages are accurate towards the actual audience breakdown, 41% would make one hell of a dissatisfied minority. It may be why there’s so many folks behind efforts to re-write the entire season, and so much hatred being thrown around that the showrunners have been dodging public appearances in the months since the finale. Still, if the approval of Season 8 was as high as this poll alleged, it would seem like there’d be more efforts to combat the negativity from fans as opposed to mostly from the cast and George R.R. Martin.
Share your thoughts on the final season of Game of Thrones below, and be sure to catch the Emmys on Fox Sunday September 22 at 8 p.m. ET. Stick with CinemaBlend in the coming weeks for more on the award show, and for a look at what’s happening this fall in the world of television and movies.
