Game of Thrones Writers Speak Out About The Fan's Backlash For The Show's Bad Ending! 

It wasn't divisive. It was a catastrophe and everyone knows it.

They got offered Star Wars and so ditched GoT. Then on top of that, they received so much hate for how they screwed GoT, that they didn't even get the project in the end so they basically rushed for nothing. I never got over it. You my friend, wrote an impeccable season 8 and i thank you for the worthy head canon.

Honestly I feel that Dan and Dave didn't really care about how it ended as long as it ended. Fans be damned.

Let's be honest here, if Dan and Dave were as invested in the series as the rest of us they would have taken the time to end it the way they started it. They were ready to get done with it I don't care what they say they were moving on.

I would be fine if they just stayed silent.

4 years on, it still feels like reopening an old painful wound when i think about the final season of GOT, particularly the last 4 episodes which felt like being put through a mincer, legs first, enduring all the pain as it grinds up your body until your head is finally crushed at the end as you watch Bran the broken become King as he apparently has the best story, the Dothraki being fine with the death of their queen & leader just bugger off back across the sea and Jon Snow go off up north on a holiday beyond the wall.....finishing on a shuffling of chairs around a table with a few jokes. Ugh!, i feel sick.

Of course they distanced themselves because they knew that last season was TRASH!!

Sorry, it's 2024 and we are still many (not haters, but regular people) who think the end has been rushed. If Benioff/Weiss were too exhausted, bored or whatever to give a proper ending they could have handed it to someone else, like Ryan Condal & Miguel Sapochnik, or anyone else that have already worked on GOT. They could have stayed as advisors. Storylines would have been properly completed and this could have been the greatest show from start to finish. But no, despite GRRM whishes they stubbornly decided to end it that way. Their call, their fault. What a waste...

It's not shocker fans reacted that way, People lived and breathed that show

The fact that they did not want to watch their own show says it all… 😂what a joke of an ending. They were so ashamed they couldn’t even watch something they made. If it was anyone else and they made a great ending to a series, they would be so proud and would want to watch it over and over again

I liked how Seth Rogen called out these two for canceling their appearance at Comic Con 2019 after all the backlash. He said what we all felt.

I still grieve for the show all these years later and so wish the ending hadn’t been rushed and gone on at least another two seasons

They had checked out long before the end of the show. They were done. They didn't care. They just wanted it over and move on to other things. Ironically by not finishing what they started, they destroyed the very opportunities they wanted so badly. They screwed the fans, cast, and everyone who worked on the show and even themselves.

No matter what they say it is not good enough! They rushed it, they should be honest and stand with their decisions. Smh all this did was made me angry all over again lol

Their egotistical over entitled and arrogant ways annihilated a very rich story created by a supremely talented author. I’ll never watch anything by them again. The ending was not just bad it was disgusting repulsive and sickening. They should be ashamed of themselves.

I don't care what they say, I will never watch any show they create again. They destroyed what should have been an epic show. I don't think they should have been given the chance to do anything else and they should have been thrown out if Hollywood.

They rushed that interview just like they rushed season 8 we need the new book to drop and a new season 8💯

"Dan and Dave, do you intend to murder 3 Body as badly as you did Game of Thrones?"

They ruined the story. They ruined the prince that was promised, son of Raygar Tygarian and Ned starks sister...they ruined all of it. They ruined the Night Kings threat and made his defeat be a result of girl power. They just threw a lot of characters under the bus, Danny being a chief offender, going mad with power and death with no development leading into such a change. So no, they don't deserve to be welcome among GOT fans.

"We always cared about our fans" Over, and over, until we forget that it’s a lie

Its actually very sad that the ending was so bad, I can’t even go back to rewatch the show because I just remember how bad the ending is and don’t want to waste my time.

Are they blaming fans for their high expectations? No. It was lazy writing, characters' murdering, and just plain hopelessness. Everything aside, I just couldn't understand how the Night King, mystified and glorified from season one episode one , could end up by a simple stab. It was a built-up through years and years - then it plunges off a cliff. How could the showrunners excuse themselves?

Unfortunately, George Martin wanted 13+ Seasons, and David and Dan kept their desire to finish in 7 Seasons secret from George when they got him to support them and from HBO until after the show was a runaway hit and they had the power. That’s when they revealed they wanted a show half as long as the actual author and much shorter than HBO! The fact that they now say they always wanted a show half as long as the book author wanted really shows what liars and frauds they have always been, from the outset of this project they wrecked.

It wasn't the actual outcomes that I disliked, it was the story(or lack there of) that got us there in such a short time while literally shitting on some prominent character arcs. Plot armor was their best friend to make season 7 and 8 happen. Some could even argue it started earlier. And they're not missing anything with HotD.

I'm still convinced that they had other writers, or ghost writers, write the show, because nothing else they've ever done has been good.

The fact that they did not want to watch their own show says it all. The ending was not just bad it was disgusting repulsive and sickening. I would be fine if they just stayed silent.

Even if they only wanted to make around 70 episodes they could have handed it over to someone else. Bad excuse.

Those first Five seasons were legendary, It only went downhill from there

For me it's like watching an oil painting come to life while the painter is working. Just nearing the finish the artist just starts splatting paint on canvas and shows signs of boredom, neglect and disrespect. Those two are well capable of producing something decent. In that last season, they decided to write a fanfic instead that played with the emotions of the audience and actors in a disgusting way. Subversion is useful but they over used it to the point it became an excuse for laziness and cruelty.

They do not care about it . They are done with it . I am surprised they are working on something after the mess of the last season of game of thrones.

Nothing they say addresses their disrespect for the fans, the talent and crew, and the story itself. If they were confident that they had done the best they could, they would have met with the fans and taken their lumps.

I didn’t know they’d said at the start they’d only do 7 series. Knowing that, I’d say HBO should have begun plans for replacing them, around the 4th season, so others could give their series time to develop the characters to reach the end in a more believable fashion.

No fuckin way am i going to waste even one second watching anything they ever do.

I completely agree with you on the first 4 seasons!

could you imagine how absolutely PEAK the show would be if they had a cliffhanger when they ran out of material and picked it back up only when they had enough material they were really confident in

Nope, they are still hiding. If Everyone loved what they did , they would not hide. I am not planning on watching Anything that they are attached to.

As a hardcore book fan, they really started out great. The minute George was not in the mix the story fell flat. They know it and we know it. They blew it. Very disappointing. The latter half very much felt rushed and I wish they would’ve just let other people step in to finish the series out. They were clearly over it.

Hot take but George STILL hasnt finished Winds so there was absolutely no way they would have successfully ended that show. It was only good when they were adapting George's books and they were initially under the impression George was going to catch back up to them in season 5.

They should just keep their mouth shut , they ruined the best series ever for me!

it is pretty bunk to take all the accolades and take none of the hits... but I agree with you that the last season has not diminished my love for the show over all, not at all. There were just so many great moments. Even the last season had that one amazing episode where everyone got together before the battle of winterfell, it felt like a "goodbye" episode to characters we loved for years.. and then poof, no one really dies ... yech....

I'll never forgive them for the last two seasons. To get to work on anything else that has to be interpreted is a major mistake.

I find incredible how they got another chance with Netflix. It's unforgivable.

The last seasons DO have an impact when watching the first 4 seasons. Watching characters like Bran and Jaime have a very different feeling when knowing how bad things will end, watching Tyrion as his peak has a sort of nostalgic feeling now, the White Walkers now feel so unintimidating for some reason... That's my experience rewatching it

I do blame hbo partially because of they said they didn’t want to do it anymore, then they should’ve hired different writers or let George make decision and take the blame. But either way they still fucked up everybody 2 year wait expectations with things that should’ve have happened.

My heart dropped when i realized they were behind the three body problem. I was already skeptical of a live action series of the books because they are pretty crazy but i was super excited to see it but now I'm just and worried they will ruin another awesome story.

Couldn't agree more. First 4 seasons were absolutely insane. No contest.

They fail to realize this was their lifetime achievement. They brought the world together throw years of character investments. Hell, half of us still talked about Ned all the way through even though he was in one season. They failed themselves and the world.

Completely disappointed. The end wasn’t worth the journey.

The only thing worse than Season 8 was this interview 😂😂😂 They rushed through it faster than Gendry ran to Winterfell. They knew they put out a hot mass of steaming garbage.

The oversimplification of that article illustrates the purpose. They are mitigating the damage and the extremely lazy writing in season five through eight, and reducing the fans concerns to just season eight. This is done in advance of promoting the new show. They’re hoping that this will serve as an apology when it isn’t one. The moment Dan and Dave were left to their own devices without any source material their egos Did the writing for them. They need to apologize to the fan base and need to acknowledge that they got lazy and bored. That’s the simple truth of it. If they don’t come out and apologize prior to this new show coming out, they’re in for a big surprise and likely, this will be the last show they ever write. Another thing that needs to be pointed out is while this was the most celebrated TV show in history, it is also a phenomenal reversal to the laziest and poorly written (arguably last 4 seasons) of any popular show in history.

They knew it was not good. The cast hated it and weren't afraid to say it.

It still stings. That absolute dumpster fire of a final season still hurts.

Silence is golden. Should have stayed silent

The "Brave Sir Robin" strategy. Run away!!!!! LOL

I have a 60lb English Bulldog named Spartacus. Every time he takes a dump and I grab his giant turds up with a poop bag it makes me think of seasons 5-8 of GOT.

I have no interest in watching their new show. They cannot face the fans or the guilt and shame because they knew what they did was wrong when they wrote that ending then I have no business giving my investment in energy to their new show.

You don't put your artillery outside the castle walls. Once I saw that, I pretty much checked out.

If D&D had taken time to wrap GoT up with 2 or even one more season, with 8 episodes to each season, they could have made the greatest show of all time have the greatest ending of all time too.

How could they expect us to love that ending??? It was the worst last episode and ending, absolutely catastrophic 😢

What bothers me more is GRRM not having finished the series. Like is Season 8 the last book then ? And some people say he was the next Tolkien. No Tolkien finished his series.

I’m gonna be diplomatic and allow them the opportunity to demonstrate they’ve learned from their mistakes. Many ppl were angry after Lost, then Damon Lindeloff returned with The Leftovers, clearly taking fan feedback onboard and becoming a better showrunner as a result.

Part of me wants to give them a pass because we wouldn’t have even had a show if it weren’t for them... but damn. There really just is no excuse for how bad the final season was. I don’t even care what reasons they might have. Unforgivable.

It’s bizarre to think they got to where they are by pure talent when they can’t take constructive criticism.

I genuinely feel worse than before.

There's no doubt that these two have forever changed our lives. I am not satisfied with this interview. Eventually, they will need to explain their selves. Will that day ever come? I don't think so. GOT fans will be like the north... The North remembers. We won't forget what was done, but we won't get answers either.

I still have not read the books, but the last 2 seasons felt pitiful, even to me. I rewatch it all a couple of times a year & still come away thinking what a tragedy to not do justice to the build-up of the previous seasons. It's like watching & appreciating the majesty of a beautiful, gushing waterfall suddenly begin to slow & become a drip until there's nothing. You just feel thristy all the time. I will eventually read the books, I do have them. Just not yet.

If I ever saw them in real life, I would ring a bell and cry shame.

Season one where Robert and Cersei talk about how long hate could keep a kingdom together. That was so well written, I consider it canon even though George did not write it.

I'm actually stunned an author would trust these fools with another book series.. lol

Didn't D&D pitch to HBO that part of the final season of GoT be brought to theatres as a two-part movie finale? puke.

It's tragic that they can't celebrate such a feat of television. I agree with you that the first four seasons are absolute gold and the ending did not cause me to view the entire series negatively. They could rectify some of this if they got on board with other writers to do a sequel, which I thought SNOW was going to be.

I think most fans feel they could have written a better ending after 8 pints and scribbling it down on the back of a beer mat

That was a rough year, GoT season 8 and Star Wars Episode IX TRoS. Disappointing beyond what we thought was possible, and yes they do taint the whole of those franchises. It's like trying to reminisce and appreciate the good old times you had with your ex before they left you for your best friend.

I understand burnout, but they had a huge responsibility. Storytelling has the power to bring people together, shape how we view the world, affect people’s emotions, employ people, and more. Got was the biggest story for a decade. They should’ve transitioned the show to do the story justice, especially if they knew they only wanted to do 75 episodes.

It's been years and it still makes me so mad! To screw up the ending to such a series and then go around telling people that you cared. And they should've watched House of the Dragon, to know how things should be done!

It's a shame they rushed the ending to get started on the Star Wars series that never happened.

They have to address it. They know it, and more importantly, Netflix knows it, which happens to be the company that is producing D and D’s next project :Three Body Problem. It would be powerful If they owned-up to screwing up. It would help begin the process of re-gaining credibility with fans. But it’s looking like their egos wont let them do that.

Wait, they are doing 3 Body Problem? Damn I was really looking forward to that...

Using gymnastics as a metaphor - at the end of the routine, the athlete still has to "stick the landing". (And the audience did not think Game of Thrones' ending did not "stick the landing".)

It wasn’t just the final season it was on a fast downhill slide after season 4

D&D were good at adapting and in a few instances actually improving upon the source material from the novels. the two weren’t up to the task of filling in the blank when they had nothing but outlines to work with for the final seasons. D&D did not make things easy for themselves, they could’ve hired a writing staff and they could’ve given themselves more time to do it right. they built up TV Daenerys to much as a heroine and feminist symbol for viewers to accept her “heel” turn as a natural progression, allot of the more glaring red flags and atrocities Daenerys committed in the novels were lost in adaptation.

Jesus.. Didn't realize they distanced themselves this much from the show and the community. They must be pretty embarrassed by how bad the ending was. If im being honest, I think they had a big responsibility to end the show properly that they obviously didn't fulfill and they know it. Between the massive success the show had and theyre relativley young age I dont know why they didnt just put in a few extra years to give it a proper ending. Honestly it really was just unprofessional and lazy.

the problem with game of thrones started with season 5, but too many people didn't care because most people's favourite character was dany and that was one of the only characters who actually had effort put into them. as soon as dany was "ruined" everyone went in an uproar but imo if they had dragged out the arc they wanted with her it could have made sense and been good to watch. the dialogue from the first 4 seasons had elegance and immersive beauty to it. season 5s was ok but fast forward to season 6, 7, 8 they all start sounding like they are from the 21st century with the modernised dialogue. a quick google search will show each season had a decline of dialogue from the books and this is 100% a big factor as to why the show had declined so fast, stick to the bloody source material why do people never understand this. in the later seasons they also focused too much on dany jon and tyrion which i know george himself has said are his "main characters" but again looking at the older seasons, there was so many times minor characters got massive parts and it really helped to sell how big the world of westeros was. i dont want type too much more as most people arent going to even bother to read this but, the fast travelling was ridiculous, it took ned and robert three episodes to get from winterfell to kingslanding and during those episodes we had amazing worldbuilding whereas in season 7 we get a 5 minute clip of jon and dany on a boat going back to winterfell from the wall... i could go on about so many more things but i'm just gonna leave it as i look like a crybaby moaning over Game of Thrones but when you are as passionate as i was, its annoying to see it wasted, now we just got to pray George will finish his books (he deffo wont).

I feel like the physiological affects on the actors was a factor.

Seasons 7 and 8 definitely looked and felt rushed and disconnected from earlier seasons. It really doesn’t matter what Dan and Dave say, they rushed it and wanted move on. It doesn’t matter what I think if they should be welcomed back into the Fandom. I’m just the fan and viewer. To me it’s just disappointing how two guys with little to no experience in writing, directing and even producing a Fantasy Epic such as this raze it to the ground.

To quote Stannis, "The good doesn't wash away the bad, nor the bad the good". The final 2 seasons don't cancel out the 6 great seasons before them. Nor do the 6 good seasons absolve the 2 horrid ones. We can enjoy the good times and critique the bad. GoT is still my favorite show of all time and that's unlikely to change anytime soon.

The funniest thing for me is I bought some Game of Thrones Oreos for the last season like 8 of them because I love the show so much, I threw them all away as soon as the show ended and if I could I would of lit it on fire

Dan and Dave did absolutely brilliant work when they had someone else’s outline of the story and has someone else write the dialogue. As soon as those 2 items fell upon their plate it was all down hill from there. They’re good at bringing other peoples ideas and words to life. Just not their own.

Did they actually write any of it during the first 4 seasons?

I think they should continue the journey. I’d think they owe us that, especially after House of Dragons. George needs to take the reins of something new, if these two can’t handle it!

One rushed thing I think could’ve worked out, is killing the Night King early. Imagine this: Everything plays out nearly the same, and the NK dies… the Whites explode too or whatever and the wights all stop and collapse. Everyone takes a sigh of relief and starts to cheer and relax mentally and as everyone celebrates a blood curdling scream cuts through the celebration. Everyone stops as the sound of screaming grows and they look around… the Wights are all getting back up! Bodies rise with their eyes no longer glowing and they start attacking again… more feral and aimlessly. The horrific reality sets in… all they did was take out the command and now they have a massive feral army of undead with no direction or guidance. The Night King at least kept them in line, he had plans that could be understood… now it’s just chaos as the magic lingers keeping the army undead. The fight is far from over as people continue to die and they’re forced to retreat south and flee from the army of frozen undead. The magic now out of control and making those that die turn and come back, and random bursts of cold, small snow storms and cold death follow this wave of death. It’s as if the concept of death in winter has been given form and Winter is Coming. Perhaps the Night King drew his strength from the Wights and not the other way around?! Maybe they had it wrong… maybe the Night King was keeping this chaos under control and now it’s just indiscriminate frozen death. A small time jump ahead shows Westeros a few months later, most of the north is completely lost and Winter is moving south at a steady pace and the only thing holding the line are dragons and wildfire… Both sides have political machinations and motivations while Jon just tries to keep the world from falling apart, leading the defense from the back of a dragon while the surviving population continues to move south. It could’ve been epic… a true long night… but no. We got one literal night… maybe half a night. Ughhh.

I’m surprised and also not that they barely talked about the series finale in depth. I think they know, that they dropped the ball but don’t want to own up to it. Which is fine because I don’t think most fans would accept there explanation. I got into this show late but to watch the last season and see along with others each character go farther from the development they’d had was crazy. I don’t think I’ll watch that new show. I’ll just read the books. I honestly don’t want to watch anything this has their names attached to it.

I wasn't offended by the end of GoT. Then again, I wasn't offended by the last three Star Wars films. I wasn't a superfan of either series, so I was cool with it. On the other hand, I came unglued with how they ended Dexter and The Black List. (I can't talk about the latter) So, I get you. ❤

What’s the name of the new show? I personally want to avoid it like the plague.

They went into hiding thinking or hoping the fans will forget but didn't understand just how patient the fans were for them to get their heads back out so the roasting can begin again because a catastrophe like that can't. be. forgotten.

TLDR: They were like "not everyone liked it". The end.

I’m glad you acknowledged how good the first four seasons were. It was amazing TV. Many of thise commenting will never get to live out our dreams with the success these two saw. Flowers for that alone.

They had no source material... the root cause is GRRM never finished the story

Makes me feel worse about how it ended. How did these Hollywood tools get to ruin the ending on the greatest tv show ever. And then disappear like cowards.

There is a perfectly good Three-Body 30 episode Chinese series to watch. No need to wait for Dan and Dave's version.