HBO Boss Comments on Petition to Redo Game of Thrones Final Season

It’s certainly no secret that Game of Thrones‘ final season was met with a bit of backlash, with fans even going so far as petitioning to “remake” the final batch of episodes. While the petition courted quite a lot of attention – and over one million signatures – it sounds like it was not about to lead to real change. During a presentation at the Television Critics Association Press Tour, HBO programming exec Casey Bloys was asked about the petition, and revealed that it was never taken seriously by the network.

“There are very few downsides to having a hugely popular show,” Bloys said. “One I can think of, when you try to end it, many people have opinions on how to end it. I think that comes with the territory. The petition shows a lot of enthusiasm and passion for the show, but it wasn’t something we seriously considered. I can’t imagine another network would.”

Bloys has been outspoken in the past about the Thrones backlash, and argued that the finale was always going to court controversy in some form or fashion.

“There’s no way for [co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss] to have landed this plane in a way that would have made everybody happy and they’re not out to make everybody happy,” Bloys shared shortly after the finale. “I think they did a beautiful job. You just have to accept that not everybody is going to agree with the choices. I’m paraphrasing Tim but basically for show this big, and this epic and this sprawling, they [Benioff and Weiss] have to make choices.”

“Not everyone will be happy,” Isaac Hempstead-Wright, who played Bran Stark, said after the finale. “It’s so difficult to finish a series as popular as this without pissing some people off. I don’t think anybody will think it’s predictable and that’s as much as you can hope for. People are going to be angry. There’s going to be a lot of broken hearts. It’s ‘bittersweet,’ exactly as [saga author] George R.R. Martin intended. It’s a fitting conclusion to this epic saga.”

What do you think of HBO’s response to the Game of Thrones petition? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!