For eight years, the fantasy show Game of Thrones was all anyone could ever talk about. The show had a cultural impact like no other as there were instances of fans naming their children after beloved characters from the show such as Emilia Clarke’s Khaleesi and Maisie Williams’ Arya.
The anticipation of which one of the show’s beloved characters would ascend the Iron Throne was at its peak during the final season. However, fans were left angry with the last season due to its rushed storytelling and contradictory plot twists. The disappointment was expressed by not just fans, but also actors in the show such as Conleth Hill, who plays Lord Varys.
Criticisms On The Final Season Of Game Of Thrones
The final two seasons of the acclaimed show Game of Thrones were different from other seasons as there was no source material for them. The show was based on the series of novels A Song of Ice and Fire and writer George R. R. Martin was yet to complete the final two books of the series. Hence, the creators of the show only had an outline of the sixth book Winds of Winter and they had to create original content for the remainder of the show.
Most of the criticisms for the final season were centered on the drastic and jarring turn of Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen. After the death of Missandei and Rhaegal the dragon, the Khaleesi goes ballistic as she wreaks havoc on the citizens of King’s Landing. She burns innocent civilians and destroys the capital city.
The character shift was divisive, with many criticizing it, making it a disappointing end to one of the most beloved shows. Actor Emilia Clarke too had some issues with the sudden turn and said that while she still stood by the decisions, she did not want it to happen. She said,
“All I wanted to scream was ‘Please, please still like me even though my character turns into a mass-killing dictator! Please still think that I’m representing women in a really fabulous way.'”
Not just Clarke, but many of the other cast members seemed to have issues with the final seasons of the show.
Conleth Hill’s Disappointment With The Final Seasons
Ever since its end, many former cast members of the series have come out to express their disappointment with the finale. Actors Nathalie Emmanuel and Gwendoline Christie all spoke about the sudden turn in their characters.
Actor Conleth Hill, who plays Lord Varys, the Master of Whisperers in the show also expressed that he was not too happy with the way the story unfolded in the later seasons,
“I just felt frustrated with the last couple of [seasons] because Varys wasn’t the all-knowing character he had been. I think the writers wanted to do one thing to end it and the studio HBO wanted to do another. I felt that last [season] was a bit rushed. I was inconsolable, but now I’m fine about it.”
He also said that he felt there needed to be a scene with his rival Petyr Baelish a.k.a Littlefinger. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he said,
“I was very bummed to not have a final scene with him. I was bummed not to have any reaction to him dying if he was my nemesis. That’s been my feeling the last couple of seasons, that my character became more peripheral, that they concentrated on others more. That’s fine. It’s the nature of a multi-character show. It was kind of frustrating.”
While the show had less than a stellar ending, there might be redemption for the franchise as its spin-off series House of the Dragon received rave reviews upon release and has even been renewed for a second season.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
