It feels like an eternity since Game of Thrones ended on HBO. Though the brand is in a better state thanks to the House of Dragon, the final season of the iconic show has been widely panned by fans and critics despite its shocking Emmy win. Since the final episode, The Iron Throne, David Benioff and Dan Weiss have been pretty quiet when it comes to the uproar over the last six episodes.
Five years later, the Game of Thrones showrunners have finally spoken about the one thing they would change about the series, and the answer might surprise you, “One thing I know I wish we could have done is there’s the character Mord the Jailer,” Benioff told The Hollywood Reporter. “It was a mistake not bringing Mord the Jailer back into it,” Weiss says. “We always talked about doing it.”
There’s no acknowledgment of the backlash surrounding the final season. Perhaps the showrunners genuinely feel that they left the series out on good terms. They did address the backlash to The Hollywood Reporter, noting that they understood the fan’s criticism, but they think it’s ultimately pointless to get bogged down by what other people think. While it’s respectable that the creators had a vision and are sticking by it, Benioff and Weiss don’t seem to understand the negative impact that the final season has on the entire Game of Thrones legacy.
Game of Thrones Was Far From A Perfect Show
Before the final season, the series was beloved by many fans and critics. However, Game of Thrones was not a perfect show. There were times when the series was plodding and felt like a mess due to the huge amount of characters on screen. Even before season eight, the penultimate season was considered weak because the characters and story seem to be going through the motions. Moments were more important than balanced storytelling, with fans often citing that it also felt rushed.
With characters traveling thousands of miles in a manner of minutes, Little Finger’s death not having the impact that it was supposed to, and Tyrion becoming a shell of his former self, it was clear that Benioff and Weiss didn’t truly grasp the world and characters that they successfully transitioned from George R.R Martin‘s best-selling novels. The showrunners were quite lost once they surpassed the books, but season eight pushed the series to a different level.
The Final Season Affected The Legacy Of Game of Thrones
We will never know the true intentions of Benioff and Weiss heading into the final season. However, the show felt incredibly rushed and the finale was downright awful. The Daenerys turn still makes no sense. She had the battle won and yet, she opted to kill thousands of innocent civilians who easily surrendered. Jamie Lannister doing a complete 180 and going back to Cersei negated all the hard work the writers did to redeem his character.
Arya’s whole faceless man journey was pointless because it magically disappeared in season eight. In fact, after vowing vengeance on Cersei and the Lannisters, her having a change of heart came out of nowhere. Bran becoming the King was nonsensical. I can go on and on about the issues of the final season, but the point is that all of the bad in season eight undid most of the good that the show had to come in. While most of the journey made this one of the best shows of the modern generation, the lasting image we have of these characters leaves a sour taste in everyone’s mouths.
Fans are always going to remember how the story ended and it’s pretty much agreed that Game of Thrones had one of the worst series finales ever. There’s no telling how Benioff and Weiss truly feel about the controversial final season, but it will always hold a black cloud over everything that came before it.
The Final Season Of Game of Thrones Almost Impacted House of Dragon
The backlash of the final season was so bad that the buzz for House of Dragon was considerably low. Even though Benioff and Weiss had no say in the project whatsoever, fans were highly skeptical of the HBO spin-off. Thankfully, House of Dragon brought back fond memories of why we loved the first few seasons of Game of Thrones; it’s a wonderfully written show with complex characters and a great balance between action, drama, and dragons.
There’s always going to be an asterisk in front of Benioff and Weiss’s name going forward. They let down millions of viewers who were die-hard fans of Game of Thrones. To be clear, writing is not an easy feat. However, when there are so many plot holes within your story then the talent becomes questionable. I hope Benioff and Weiss have success with their new Netflix series, but they do have to understand, that the final season of Game of Thrones has made it hard for most fans to trust them again.
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