Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the Game of Thrones finale!
When HBO launched Game of Thrones almost 10 years ago, not even the higher-ups could imagine that the series would have become the most-viewed show in the television network’s history. Nor that viewers would be so vocal about its ending. Now that the show is over, HBO programming president Casey Bloys has revealed to Deadline that fans’ backlash about Game of Thrones finale didn’t come much as a surprise.
“To tell you the truth, for a show this big and this sprawling and for a show that has this passionate a fan base, I don’t think there is any way that all fans would’ve been happy,” he said. “I think based on online reaction, which you do have to take with a grain of salt, it does seem split and I think that’s about right — some people are going to love it, some people are going to hate it. But the point is, everybody is feeling really passionate about it.“
RELATED – Game of Thrones Writer Joins Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Series
According to Bloys, the fact that several people have spotted the plastic water bottle during the finale (and that infamous coffee cup before) is just a sign of the fans’ engagement with the show.
“The fascination with that, the divisive reaction to the finale, all of it is a testament to how much people were invested and engaged with the show,“Bloys added. “Some people have very strong negative options and obviously some have positive opinions. But I take all of this as a really great sign of what the show has been able to do to stay in the cultural conversation to have people passionately debate the characters and the storylines. That’s what you want a show to do.“
Do you agree with the HBO President about Game of Thrones finale backlash? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
