Cast members from Game Of Thrones tackled the final season backlash at Comic-Con, describing an online petition to have season eight changed as ‘absurd’.
In the HBO drama’s final appearance at San Diego Comic-Con, cast members Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark), Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Conleth Hill (Varys), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) and Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) all addressed fans directly on the divisive reaction.
Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss pulled out from the appearance two days prior, but the cast attempted to lighten the mood by poking fun at the whole coffee cup fiasco – where a stray beverage was left in shot.
Nikolaj addressed the severe backlash directly, saying: ‘It was surprising, the absurdity of the online petition. Of course, HBO is going to change the whole thing, because that’s the power of the internet.
‘Every season, there was a huge controversy, from Ned Stark to the Red Wedding. Obviously, the end… I feel so lucky to have met so many people, fans, realising this show brought so many people together.
‘When it comes to an end, it’s going to p*ss you off no matter what, because it’s the end. And that’s alright. If you hated the ending, or you loved it? That’s great – just don’t call people names.’
Conleth, who previously expressed disappointment at Varys’ death in the show, explained how he felt his comments were taken out of context.
‘We’re here [at Comic-Con] to thank you for watching us all those years,’ Conleth said. ‘We were never divisive as a cast. We always did our hardest work for you as a crew.
‘I think this is the reality, rather than a media-led hate campaign.’
Addressing the final season, Conleth added: ‘For the record, I loved all my 10 years on Game Of Thrones.
‘I started when I was 15,’ he joked. ‘The last season was about the futility of conflict and the pointlessness of war. If you got one thing from the series, take that. [War] doesn’t work.’
Cunningham spotlighted the importance of the journey over the destination.
‘You have to remember, it’s a metaphor for life,’ Cunningham said. ‘It’s not arriving at the end that’s the point. It’s the journey.
‘I started in season two when it was starting to create lives. To watch it grow… the reason you’re here is you recognise the amount of love we had for making this sure.
‘We were on this journey together. We never knew how big this was going to get. All of us feel absolutely blessed to have been a part of it. We’re all huge fans of the show. You have to be. It’s beautiful storytelling. I was blessed to be a part of it.’
Elsewhere at the panel, Nikolaj praised how the death of Jaime and Cersei Lannister was handled – prompting some boos from the crowd.
The show’s final season was largely criticised for questionable and rushed character decisions, including Daenerys Targaryen’s (Emilia Clarke) descent into madness and Bran’s ascent to the Iron Throne.
Despite the backlash, Game Of Thrones broke records recently with a staggering 32 nominations, including, most controversially, Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series.
Game Of Thrones is available to watch on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.
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