Will Game of Thrones be crowned the worst television finale? That’s a debate now raging on social media following the HBO fantasy drama’s conclusion Sunday night.
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“The Iron Throne,” directed and scripted by show runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, was poorly received by critics on Rotten Tomatoes. There the finale now stands at 57% “rotten,” a punch ahead of the series’ penultimate episode, “The Bells,” the worst-received episode in series history at 48%.
But Benioff and Weiss may have not yet witnessed viewers’ reactions to the finale, both good and bad: the showrunners previously admitted to EW they planned to avoid social media entirely.
“We’ll in an undisclosed location, turning off our phones and opening various bottles,” Weiss said. “At some point, if and when it’s safe to come out again, somebody like [HBO’s Game of Thrones publicist Mara Mikialian] will give us a breakdown of what was out there without us having to actually experience it.”
Added Benioff, “I plan to be very drunk and very far from the internet.”
Still, “We want people to love it,” Weiss added of the finale, a conclusion the series has headed towards since its third season, according to Benioff and Weiss.
“It matters a lot to us. We’ve spent 11 years doing this. We also know no matter what we do, even if it’s the optimal version, that a certain number of people will hate the best of all possible versions,” Weiss said.
“There is no version where everybody says, ‘I have to admit, I agree with every other person on the planet that this is the perfect way to do this’ โ that’s an impossible reality that doesn’t exist. You hope you’re doing the best job you can, that this version works better than any other version, but you know somebody is not going to like it. I’ve been that person with other things, where people are loving something and I’m going, ‘Yeah, that’s okay. I was hoping for more.’”
Slide 1
How can the greatest show have the worst ending?!?! I am beyond disappointed #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/jCZ6xzTuMg
โ lowรซlla (@lowellasegovia) May 20, 2019
Today’s the series finale of Game of Thrones and it might go down as the worst series finale in history pic.twitter.com/hbbYIFFndr
โ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ hugged Niall (@phenomenaIflash) May 19, 2019
Slide 2
If you think that season was good. You need to reassess your reasons because clearly you are doing it for reasons and not because you loved Game of Thrones.
โ SH (@ShehzadHassam) May 20, 2019
Worst ending ever. Worse then lost. Infact losts final season and game of thrones final season are so bad I canโt choose.
Has there ever been a TV show that reached “cultural icon” status that also delivered a universally satisfying series finale? I… can’t think of one? Seinfeld, Sopranos were divisive at best.
โ Alex Weprin (@alexweprin) May 20, 2019
Slide 3
Oh my god. How did they manage to not only do a worst finale than Dexter but also simultaneously do the same fucking ending? #GameOfThronesFinale pic.twitter.com/wk3zqggcde
โ Devyn (@guccidropout) May 20, 2019
How I Met Your Mother fandom: we had the worst series finale ever!
โ cumbercam โ got spoilers (@rainingcaffeine) May 11, 2019
Game Of Thronesโ writers: pic.twitter.com/kmB3VKEGIy
Not to be dramatic but the Game of Thrones finale was probably one of the worst finales I have seen in my 25 years of life.
โ Siyanda (@zan__m) May 20, 2019
Slide 4
Not the best ending ever, but “Lost” is still the worst by far. #GoT
โ Pablo (@pablogl) May 20, 2019
I have literally seen worst endings…. yโall remember True Bloods ending? #GamefThrones
โ Phe (@Dash_of_Melanin) May 20, 2019
The worst part of the #GameofThrones finale is it turned me into my parents…
โ Dana Winter WKRG (@DanaWinterTV) May 20, 2019
Iโm not mad, Iโm just disappointed ๐ pic.twitter.com/kZzIADTQKu
Slide 5
Most disappointing series finale (for a show you faithfully watched):
โ Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) May 20, 2019
How I Met Your Mother. No contest.
โ Jane Fairall (@FairallJane) May 20, 2019
Dexter had, by far, thee worst ending ever. EVER!!!! LOL.
โ JacquelineB (@Pebbiss2000) May 20, 2019
Sonโs of Anarchy
โ I-resist-for-our-future๐บ๐ธ (@moondancephotos) May 20, 2019
Seinfeld, anyone?
โ Joey (@geojohwee) May 20, 2019
Slide 6
HIMYM still the worst ending for me. After HIMYM I felt anger, disappointment, embarrassment, rage. With GOT I just feel disappointment and laughing at all this nonsense and in my mind I’m already moving on
โ Nej (@delenafatalist) May 20, 2019
Someone needs to make an alternative ending for GoT like they did for HIMYM
โ Amira Sultan (@Amira_Valli) May 20, 2019
Slide 7
I was disappointed with the ending of Dexter but in some way it was the only thing he could have done was go away where there was little temptation to kill & if he did there was no one there to catch him although they could have done a better job with it
โ mareefeb (@mareefeb) May 20, 2019
Imagine waiting 2 years then we get a shitty season, the worst finale, 2 water bottles and a coffee cup left on scene wow. The fans don’t deserve this type of disrespect #GameofThrones #GameOfThonesFinale pic.twitter.com/Jr0ett4fhk
โ Mrs Kaplan (@AllthingzTV) May 20, 2019
All these years people thought that game of thrones is a fictional tv series and it turned out to be a shitty comedy.. this was the worst season and finale was the worst episode of the entire series..fuck david benioff and D B weiss#GameOfThrones #GameOfThronesFinale pic.twitter.com/tqp8lwyJh1
โ saad bin nizakat (@SaadNizakat) May 20, 2019
