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An HBO executive and George R.R. Martin himself have commented on the backlash to Game of Thrones’ final season. The eighth and final season of the acclaimed fantasy show was a ratings juggernaut, but many commented that its storylines felt rushed and the ending, overall, was unsatisfying.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Martin said he’s lost faith in reading commentary about the show on the internet and podcasts where many of the negative opinions were shared.
“The f**king toxic internet and these podcasts out there saying that Season 8 left such a bad impression that people say, ‘Oh, I’m never going to watch them again,'” Martin said. “I don’t trust them anymore.”
Casey Bloys, HBO’s head of content, shared his opinion, too. He said HBO expected some backlash because it’s impossible to please everyone, but he believes the negative commentary primarily came from social media.
“It was a social media backlash,” Bloys said. “I think in multiple parts of our society, we are reminding ourselves that Twitter is not real life. We knew it was going to be divisive and, of course, you want all fans to be happy, but that’s never going to happen. There weren’t a lot of people walking around despondent or upset. It’s a take that reads well but probably doesn’t fully reflect viewer feelings.”
Despite the backlash, Game of Thrones as a franchise remains very popular, and the next series, House of the Dragon, premieres on August 21. The original Game of Thrones reached 2.2 million viewers in the US for its premiere season, rising to 19.3 million for the final season.
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HBO executive Francesca Orsi told THR that no one expects House of the Dragon will be as popular as Game of Thrones in total viewers. The report said HBO will greenlight a second season “very quickly” if the ratings are good enough, but what that number is remains to be seen.
In addition to House of the Dragon, HBO is developing a Jon Snow TV series with Kit Harington set to return, but whether or not it actually enters production and gets made is unknown.
