HBO announced via Twitter which actors and production team members were showing up to support Game of Thrones in Hall H on Friday. Among them were Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark), and Conleth Hill (Varys). Although most fans are thrilled at the prospect of hearing Isaac's opinion on his new crown, or Maise's predictions about Arya's mysterious departure, many will likely be disappointed. No longer slated to appear are writer/producers/showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, director Miguel Sapochnik, along with Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei of Naath) and Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont).
Game of Thrones took the world by storm immediately after it premiered in 2011. Rampant deaths, subverted tropes, and meticulously drawn-out storylines set GOT apart from its competitors. Based on the book series "Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R Martin, GOT was a fantasy show that drew you in whether you enjoyed the genre or not. That is until season 8. After Martin slid past his expected timeline without completing the books, the showrunners were tasked with finishing a story that had been over two decades in the making. Reportedly armed with an outline by the author, Benioff and Weiss squeezed a few more seasons out of the HBO show.
Overall, Game of Thrones boasts a 9.4 rating on IMDB, but each episode of the final season pulled in a score ranging from 7.9 to 4.2. Although the creators have yet to do a public interview since the release of the divisive final season, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau had a few choice words for their critics recently.
"For anyone to imagine or to think that the two creators of the show are not the most passionate, the greatest, the most invested of all, and to for a second think that they didn't spend the last 10 years thinking about how they were going to end it is kind of silly...And also know that they too read the comments. And it is, even though you sit on your own and go, '[stupid writers.]' They really ― like everyone on 'Game of Thrones,' every single person and there are thousands ― we worked...to make the best show we could for the ending."
Despite what the online petitions and Tweets may say, Benioff and Weiss' hard work seems to have paid off. It was announced Tuesday that Thrones pulled in 32 Emmy nominations for season 8, the most ever given to a show in a single year. The nominations include ones for Benioff, Weiss and Sapochnik. As the creators move on to other projects, details spill out about the GOT prequels and HBO Max prepares to launch, the premier cable channel is gearing up for major changes to come. Meanwhile every streaming service is scrambling to find their "next Game of Thrones."
Stay with us as we watch the cast of Game of Thrones say goodbye to the monolithic show at Comic-Con.