Game of Thrones stars address season 8 backlash: 'Don't call people names'
At San Diego Comic-Con, Game of Thrones cast members talk about the strong fan reaction to the final season.
- She has a master's degree in journalism from Syracuse University.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau at Comic-Con 2019: "At the end of the day, it's absolutely fine -- if you hated the ending, if you loved it, that's great. Just don't call people names."
When Game of Thrones ended its eighth season in May, not everyone was happy with how things turned out. In fact, internet unrest even manifest itself in a petition to redo the entire final season. At San Diego Comic-Con on Friday members of the cast talked about the backlash during a panel in Hall H.
"It's going to piss you off no matter what because it's the end," said Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who played Jaime Lannister. He also noted that over the course of the show, plenty of other events made fans swear off the show, from Ned Stark's fate to the Red Wedding.
Along those lines, Conleth Hill, who played Varys, said he didn't think the backlash was as drastic as what it seemed.
Other panelists included John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran Stark). David Benioff and D.B. Weiss pulled out two days early.
“I stole most of the scenes I was in.” After this panel, I think @ConlethHill is my new favorite. #GameOfThrones #GoTSDCC #SDCC2019 pic.twitter.com/eMWA1v0o8Y
— cait petrakovitz 🦹🏽♀️➡️#SDCC (@misscp) July 20, 2019
The Game of Thrones panel comes just a few days after the show garnered 32 Emmy nominations, including nods for best drama series, best lead actor, lead actress, supporting actor and supporting actress.
Overall, Coster-Waldau said however fans felt was fine.
"At the end of the day, it's absolutely fine -- if you hated the ending, if you loved it, that's great," he said. "Just don't call people names."
Originally published July 19, 6:33 p.m. PT.