Game of Thrones showrunners explain why they directed the series finale themselves

The eighth and final season of Game of Thrones premieres on April 14, which means the last-ever episode (*sob*) will air May 19. Unsurprisingly, HBO isn’t letting out any details on that particular hour of television — only crew members with a special Episode 6 badge were allowed on set to shoot it — but we do know it will be directed by showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss. The pair have directed only two episodes in the history of the show: season 3’s “Walk of Punishment” and season 4’s “Two Swords.” They usually leave the directing duties up to others, but as Weiss explained to Entertainment Weekly, they made an exception in this case:

"When something has been sitting with you for so long, you have such a specific sense of the way each moment should play and feel. Not just in terms of ‘this shot or that shot,’ though sometimes it’s that as well. So it’s not really fair to ask somebody else to get that right. We’d be lurking over their shoulder every take driving them crazy making it hard for them to do their job. If we’re going to drive anybody crazy it might as well be ourselves."

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The series finale is sure to elicit all sorts of different reactions from fans. Remember, this isn’t just the ending to a show that’s been on the air since 2011, but it also represents an ending to a book series that’s been in print since 1996, although the ending of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series will surely be a little different. The point is that expectations are high. How do the showrunners want fans to feel after watching it? “We want people to love it,” Weiss said. “It matters a lot to us.”

"We’ve spent 11 years doing this. We also know no matter what we do, even if it’s the optimal version, that a certain number of people will hate the best of all possible versions. There is no version where everybody says, ‘I have to admit, I agree with every other person on the planet that this is the perfect way to do this’ — that’s an impossible reality that doesn’t exist. I’m hoping for the Breaking Bad [finale] argument where it’s like, ‘Is that an A or an A+?’"

That’s a high bar, but if anyone can clear it, it’s these two. They have, after all, been thinking about this moment for a long time. “From the beginning, we’ve talked about how the show would end,” said Benioff. “A good story isn’t a good story if you have a bad ending. Of course, we worry.”

They’re not the only ones worried. Several cast members have hinted that the last episode will surprise people, and maybe not in a good way. At the least, it’s clear that Game of Thrones isn’t taking the easy way out.

So how will Benioff and Weiss spend their time during the final episode? “I plan to be very drunk,” Benioff said, “and very far from the internet.” That’s probably smart.

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