How George R.R. Martin Feels About Game Of Thrones Season 8

There was a time when the HBO series "Game of Thrones" seemed like an unstoppable juggernaut and a universally beloved adaptation of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels by author George R. R. Martin. Then came the final season, which was a disappointment at best and a truly frustrating fumble at worst, pushing the cast to their limits and infuriating fans with a rushed, unsatisfying ending. The reaction to season 8 of "Game of Thrones" was so bad that it seemed uncertain if the franchise could ever recover, though the creators of prequel series "House of the Dragon" ignored the backlash and have been successful in bringing Martin's storytelling to the small screen in their own way. Martin has never been particularly shy with sharing his feelings about the original HBO show, and he's been pretty open about how people's reactions to the ending impacted him as the franchise's creator. 

While the author still has not finished writing the eighth book in the series, "The Winds of Winter," he did express disappointment that fans were so upset with the ending crafted by series showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. He laid some of that blame at the feet of the fandom and fan culture and some at the feet of Benioff and Weiss, noting that he was relatively hands-off with the final few seasons.

In an interview with Fast Company (via DigitalSpy), Martin shared his frustrations with the HBO team and tried to distance himself from the adaptation, saying:

"It can be ... traumatic. Because sometimes their creative vision and your creative vision don't match, and you get the famous creative differences thing – that leads to a lot of conflict. You get totally extraneous things like the studio or the network weighing in, and they have some particular thing that has nothing to do with story, but relates to 'Well this character has a very high Q Rating so let's give him a lot more stuff to do'. [...] The [final] series has been ... not completely faithful. Otherwise, it would have to run another five seasons."

While he definitely has a point about the end of the series being far too truncated, shoving what Martin planned on being several novels into a single season of chaos and bizarre decisions, he also would need to actually write those novels for someone to have a proper guide. He has also been extremely critical of "House of the Dragon" as well, despite that series being adapted from a very different kind of book with more narrative wiggle room, so maybe some of the blame is Martin's, and not just the showrunners'. And it appears that Martin's ire doesn't end with Benioff and Weiss, as he also has some choice words for the fandom itself. 

While Martin admits that the show deviated from his plans for the story and wasn't totally faithful, he also seemed to feel as if fans overreacted to the way the adaptation turned out. In an interview with the Independent, he said, "I don't understand how people can come to hate so much something that they once loved. If you don't like a show, don't watch it! How has everything become so toxic?" While there are aspects of the fandom that absolutely can be toxic, there's nothing toxic about being wildly disappointed with a change in quality over the course of show or an unsatisfying ending! Some of the show's stars have even admitted that there were issues with the final season, including Kit Harington, who played the tragic hero Jon Snow and said there were "some interesting choices that didn't quite work." He also admits that things were a bit rushed, but noted that it was in large part because everyone was exhausted. (After spending over a decade bringing Westeros to life, it's hard to imagine not being a bit burned out.)

It's a shame that "Game of Thrones" had such a frustrating finale after a wild ride over the course of eight seasons, but at least "House of the Dragon" is around to give fans all of the small council plotting, low fantasy lewdness, and dragons their hearts could possibly desire. Thank the old gods and the new.