How Game of Thrones fans and stars reacted to the final episode

Kate Halfpenny
May 20, 2019, updated May 20, 2019

Their watch is over. The final play in the game of Game of Thrones has been done and won, with the world’s biggest TV show finishing on Monday after eight seasons.

When it was done, star Kit Harington (Jon Snow) posted to Instagram to ask fans what they thought of the finale. Their answers – more than 3400 in the first two hours – mostly weren’t kind.

“Disappointed,” was a common refrain. “Horrible,” said one viewer. “The worst possible finale ever,” decreed another.

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A post shared by Kit Harington (@kitharingtonn)

Twitter also lit up with unhappy fans giving their verdict.

“I do kind of regret ever watching this show,” typed one disgruntled fan. “This is dismal. Eight years wait for this,” wrote another.

“Anyone but [the winner],” tweeted a third. And, “Worst episode ever … what a disappointment. All these years watching such an amazing show to end like this? I give up.”

Others – although they were thin on the ground – were more grateful for the whole rollercoaster adventure.

“I thought it was perfect,” said one fan. “Everyone ended up where they belonged.”

That drew a stinging reply from another viewer: “The only lesson I learned was never to waste my time with an HBO series. Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire and now Game of Thrones. Simply just lazy.”

In the final episode, one pivotal scene showed a character pleading the eventual winner’s case by asking, “And who has a better story?”

Well. According to fans, plenty of others.

One viewer reacted to the ‘better story’ question by posting photos of 20 other characters ranging from the hated King Joffrey to Khal Drogo and Littlefinger.

Another suggested it would have been preferable to see the undead Night King on the Iron Throne:

https://twitter.com/PhantasmsFX/status/1130306702874750978

The suggestion was met with varied responses from other viewers:

Much of the blame for viewer dissatisfaction was laid at the feet of showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. “Shame! Shame! Shame!” wrote one unhappy fan, calling them out.

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss the true villians of season 8 pic.twitter.com/kEwWKeNxVH

— Miguel Mata (@josemaqui) May 20, 2019

But others thought author George RR Martin, whose A Song of Fire and Ice books inspired Game of Thrones has something to answer for.

According to Business Insider, Martin sat down with the show’s writers in 2013 after it was realised Game of Thrones might soon outpace the original material. At the meeting, he revealed the “broad strokes” for his planned ending.

Certainly, he was held to account by the Twittersphere:

https://twitter.com/taylor_colunga/status/1130302903334236160

George rr Martin watching twitter after the finale so he knows what not to do in the books. #GameOfThrones #GOTFinale pic.twitter.com/Y7m0dAIAVb

— ~Sam~ (@ThereAnd_Square) May 20, 2019

Regardless of the fan disappointment which has dogged the final series, Game of Thrones’ stars took to social media to farewell the show and thank audiences for their loyalty.

Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) said her Mother of Dragons character “has taken up the whole of my heart. Game of Thrones has shaped me as a woman, as an actor and as a human being.”

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A post shared by @emilia_clarke

Gwendoline Christie (Ser Brienne of Tarth) shared an on-set photo with Harington and made a joke about the last episode:

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A post shared by Gwendoline Christie (@gwendolineuniverse)

Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) posted a similar photo to cast mate Clarke, thanking her fictional alter ego “for teaching me resilience, bravery and what true strength is.”

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A post shared by S O P H I E T U R N E R (@sophiet)

John Bradley West (Samwell Tarley) said goodbye with a photo of his first ever Game of Thrones rehearsal schedule from 2010: “I met so many people that week who have come to mean so much to me.”

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A post shared by John Bradley (@johnbradleywest)

And Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm) noted that his character “went from a robot to a real boy” during Game of Thrones, and thanked fans for supporting the Unsullied leader’s arc: “You made him feel loved. He appreciates it. I asked him.”