As you’ve no doubt gathered, Game of Thrones reached its crescendo late yesterday evening with “The Iron Throne.”
It was an emotional, gut-wrenching finale so beautifully shot, there were a number of moments that genuinely took our breath away – Drogon’s wings emerging from behind Daenerys comes to mind. And then, there was the controversy.
Truth be told, Game of Thrones season 8 has struggled to win over the four corners of the Internet, and while that’s too be expected for a fictitious drama during its last hurrah, there are those who took it upon themselves to launch a petition, demanding that HBO wipe the slate clean and start from scratch. Which is to say that a very vocal minority wanted a totally new version of season 8, totally ignoring the logistics and money involved in such an outlandish feat.
Then again, the petition itself has since amassed more than one million signatures online, and has now attracted the attention of Queen Dany herself. Here’s what Emilia Clarke told The New Yorker:
Oh, my goodness. Well, I can only speak to my own character, and the people that I interact with on the show. But I would’ve loved some more scenes with me and Missandei. I would’ve loved some more scenes with me and Cersei.
She continued by raising some points of her own – chief among them being that she initially hoped for more scenes between Dany and Cersei, as the jump from righteous liberator to full-blown genocidal tyrant was too much, too soon.
I would’ve loved some more scenes between Grey Worm and Missandei. I would’ve loved to see a bit more between Cersei . . . I feel like there was . . . The genocide was there. That was always going to happen. And I just think more dissection and those beautifully written scenes that the boys have between characters—that we are more than happy to contently sit there and watch ten minutes of two people talking, because it’s beautiful. I just wanted to see a bit more of that. But I’m in no position to critique the geniuses that have written eight seasons’ worth of wonderful stuff.
What’s next? Well, the core Game of Thrones saga (read: A Song of Ice and Fire) has officially concluded, with HBO expected to release the first of many prequel series sometime next year. Because let’s face it; this is a fantasy-fueled cash cow for the network, and Westeros will likely be on our screens for many more years to come.