Missandei weighs in! Nathalie Emmanuel took an interesting approach to the backlash to Game of Thrones’ final season.
“Listen, I think it’s totally fine if you don’t like something. That’s perfectly acceptable. What I didn’t like was that people were signing a petition,” the actress, 30, told TVLine in an interview published on Friday, July 26. “You can’t ask for receipts on art. You just can’t. The art has been created for you, and you can either choose to like it or not.”
Emmanuel referred to the show as “a hard plane to land,” adding that she was “blown away” by the ending. “I don’t think people quite realize the undertaking and the amount of manpower it took to do that,” she explained.
An online petition to “remake Game of Thrones season 8 with competent writers” has thus far earned 1.6 million signatures on Change.org. Fans continue to sign the document despite the fact that the series finale aired in May.
Earlier this week, HBO president Casey Bloys informed reporters at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that the network never “seriously considered” reshooting the final episodes. “There are very, very few downsides to having a hugely popular show, but one I can think of is when you try to end it, many people have big opinions on how these characters’ stories should come to an end,” he noted.
The cast attempted to defend the conclusion of the show at San Diego Comic-Con after Nikolaj Coster-Waldau received boos from the crowd for calling Jamie Lannister’s ending “perfect.” The actor, 48, reasoned that fans’ disappointment was inevitable. “It comes to an end, it’s gonna piss you off no matter what because it’s the end,” he said. “If you hated the ending, if you loved the ending, that’s great. Just don’t call people names.”
Sophie Turner, for her part, denounced the petition, telling The New York Times in a May interview: “So many people worked so, so hard on [the final season], and for people to just rubbish it because it’s not what they want to see is just disrespectful.”
