HBO has had many beloved series that have conquered the world, but few have tripped as hard as its fantasy epic. Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have broken their silence on the finale and the overall poor reception of the final season. It went from them being on top of the world with their adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s incomplete epic to them leaving the fantasy world behind when they were offered — and rejected — to tackle House of the Dragon.
The collaborators spoke about the final season and its finale, passing on House of the Dragon, and the interactions with fans online versus real life. For them, the last few years have been a lot to take in.
Game of Thrones Creators Give Their Reaction to the Finale and Overall Reception of the Final Season
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Benioff and Weiss talked about the reactions to the final season. For Benoiff, he talked about how creators always “hope everyone’s going to love anything you do.” When it turned out that many fans were left disappointed by the conclusion, he mentioned how “you can get so bogged down in public opinion that you spend your whole life googling things.” This is what the two have tried not to do since the plethora of negative articles and videos about the end of the fantasy series.
You always hope everyone’s going to love anything you do and it would’ve been great if 100 percent of people loved it, but they didn’t. You can get so bogged down in public opinion that you spend your whole life googling things and trying to find people who felt one way or the other way.
David Benioff on the Game of Thrones receptions
Being online and following Game of Thrones in 2019, it became impossible not to see hate toward the show’s direction and its creators. Weiss said that meeting fans on the street makes for interactions that have “an underlying decency when people acknowledge you as a person and vice versa.” Regarding the aggression seen online, he said, “something […] happens in the transition from human interaction to online that pushes things in a specifically aggro direction.”
No Amount of Money Offered Could Convince Them to Do House of the Dragon
While reviews from fans and critics panned the Game of Thrones creators’ final season, particularly the finale, HBO still wanted them to do the prequel. Benioff said that HBO’s lawyer was “confused” when they passed. They were told, “But it’s just money, we’re just going to pay you.” Still, the money that most people would not see in their lifetime brought them on board.
I don’t think there is such a thing as free money. For us, if our name is on it, especially that, while being completely detached and uninvolved, it felt like the strain that would come with that hands-off approach — with its success or failure or anything in between — was not worth it.
D.B. Weiss on the money offered for House of the Dragon
Although they passed on House of the Dragon, the series ended up as a major success. It landed a second season quickly after a positive reception as people found themselves happy to revisit Westeros. Season 2 is set for later this summer.
