Peter Dinklage Defends Controversial Game of Thrones Ending

Everyone has their opinons on the way Game of Thrones ended, and series star Peter Dinklage is not as critical as others. For the majority of the show’s life, Game of Thrones was one of the most popular programs on television, consistently garnering widespread acclaim and major awards. Things took a turn when season 8 aired on HBO, and the way the series ended sparked backlash from fans feeling like they’d been let down.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Dinklage touched on the way the series ended. The actor, who played the fan favorite Tyrion Lannister throughout all eight seasons, praised the ending for not giving the fans what they were expecting. He also suggests that the critics were moreso upset that the series didn’t give all of its characters a happy, fairy tale ending.

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“They wanted the pretty white people to ride off into the sunset together. By the way, it’s fiction. There’s dragons in it. Move on… The show subverts what you think, and that’s what I love about it. Yeah, it was called Game of Thrones, but at the end, the whole dialogue when people would approach me on the street was, ‘Who’s going to be on the throne?’ I don’t know why that was their takeaway because the show really was more than that.”

Indeed, during the show’s run, there had been a constant discussion with fans about who would be the person we’d be seated on the Iron Throne at the finale. Because of this, he especially enjoyed when the throne was completely destroyed, preventing anyone from taking it.

“One of my favorite moments was when the dragon burned the throne because it sort of just killed that whole conversation, which is really irreverent and kind of brilliant on behalf of the show’s creators: ‘Shut up, it’s not about that.’ They constantly did that, where you thought one thing and they delivered another. Everybody had their own stories going on while watching that show, but nobody’s was as good as what the show delivered, I think.”

Ultimately, Dinklage feels that the Game of Thrones team ended the series as best as they possibly could. He also suggests that the critical fans were just so unhappy that the show had to end that there wasn’t going to be any ending that satisfied them. While franchise creator George R. R. Martin wanted the show to go to ten seasons, Dinklage says that it ended at just the right time, though admits it probably could have stuck around for a while.

“We were going off the air and they didn’t know what to do with their Sunday nights anymore. They wanted more, so they backlashed about that. We had to end when we did, because what the show was really good at was breaking preconceived notions: Villains became heroes, and heroes became villains… It was the right time (to end the show). No less, no more. You don’t want to wear out your welcome, although I’m not sure that show could have.”

Regardless of how the ending was received, Game of Thrones was a tremendous hit for HBO for years. The cabler is looking to repeat that success with the upcoming spinoff series House of the Dragon, but time will tell if lightning can be captured in a bottle once again.

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Jeremy Dick
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Jeremy Dick has been writing for MovieWeb and Horror Geek Life for years, is the self-proclaimed biggest fan of Bob Saget, and doesn’t particularly like talking about himself in the third person.

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