To say the final season of Game of Thrones was divisive would be an understatement. Between fans not taking kindly to the story arcs of various characters to a rushed pace throughout the six episodes, nothing stood out more than a now infamous coffee cup and water bottle that were accidentally left on set as the show was filmed. Not only that, but both items made it throughout the entire post-production without being noticed and they ended up making it into the final cut of the series.
Speaking with Deadline about the record-breaking show, HBO programming head Casey Bloys chalked up the viral moments to the passionate fans of the show.
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“The fascination with that, the divisive reaction to the finale, all of it is a testament to how much people were invested and engaged with the show,” Bloys says. “Some people have very strong negative options and obviously some positive opinions. But I take all of this as a really great sign of what the show has been able to do to stay in the cultural conversation to have people passionately debate the characters and the storylines. That’s what you want a show to do.”
The Game of Thrones season finale, “The Iron Throne,” is one of the worst-reviewed episodes of the entire series, marking a 49 percent Rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The only episode lower than that was the show’s penultimate episode, “The Bells,” which ended up with a 47 percent Rotten rating. As a whole, Game of Thrones Season 8 has a 67% Fresh rating against a shocking 36 percent Audience Score on the review aggregating site.
Fans have also gathered to sign a now-viral petition urging HBO to reshoot the entire final season. As of this writing, over 1.4 million have signed the petition, begging the premium cable network to redo the final season with a new writer’s room in tow.
“David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have proven themselves to be woefully incompetent writers when they have no source material (i.e. the books) to fall back on,” the petition reads. “This series deserves a final season that makes sense. Subvert my expectations and make it happen, HBO!”
What have you thought about the final season of Game of Thrones? Where would you rank it compared to the other seven seasons? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
