Game of Thrones stars tease a “divisive” ending—“Not everyone’s going to be pleased”

Last month, the Game of Thrones cast sat down for a battery of press interviews in London. Those interviews are starting to come out, with everyone sharing juicy tidbits about season 8, their characters, and more. Let’s pick up what they’re putting down.

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As reported by Chatelaine, one journalist asked Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) a sensitive question: how did she feel being upstaged by Kit Harrington’s tush during their love scene in the season 7 finale? Clarke deflected with a comment about how the obsession with nudity is more reflective of society in general than anything specific to Thrones, and seemed to be done with the subject. “Kit’s ass, someone else’s ass, my ass…doesn’t matter—d’you know what I mean? He’s one of my best mates, so it was weird. Put us in a room together and we just giggle and giggle.”

Clarke added that Danaerys and Jon are “each other’s most important relationship.” (Daario, Ygritte and Drogo seem like a long time ago now, don’t they?) Finally, Clarke was asked about the time superstar singer Madonna borrowed one of her Khaleesi costumes to wear on the Jewish holiday of Purim. “[The costume] came back and we all just stroked it.” Naturally, Madonna had it dry-cleaned first.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) had some thoughts on how Game of Thrones is a kind of counterbalance to the hollowness of social media. “I think people want characters who are real.” We have no doubt that season 8 is gonna get really real for Jaime.

And what of Jaime’s relationship with Brienne? Will these two kids finally get together in season 8? If you’re a Jaime/Brienne shipper, Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth) seems more than happy to burst your balloon. “Personally I’d like to see Brienne with Dany,” she said. Ouch, Jaime. Ouch.

Game of Thrones faces a conundrum that many long-running dramatic shows must grapple with: will the ending be safe and predictable (most programs) or controversial with the potential to alienate the audience (see HBO’s own The Sopranos)? Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth) isn’t spilling any beans, but does anybody else sense the darkness lurking behind his statement: “They nailed their colours with the killing of Ned Stark in the first season. There’s a bit of a rule that the guy in the white hat is going to win. And then we saw Sean Bean have his white hat chopped off.”

Speaking to the Independent, Cunningham talked a bit about the relationship between Game of Thrones and the film industry, where it’s had a big impact:

"I think, for me, the long-form storytelling, which is what we have here – with a movie, that’s wonderful, but this long-form thing which people really love, because you get to see the transition. You couldn’t do Game Of Thrones in movie form, it would just be battles and bodices being wrapped up, whereas what we have is multi-layered."

We’re fully on board with that. And Cunningham is happy to have been part of something so transformative.  “We were all aware that it was unique, and we will never ever do anything like this again,” he said. “We might be lucky to get success from something else, but on my f****** headstone it’s going to be, ‘Liam f****** Game Of Thrones Cunningham.”

If we can shift harshly into politics for a moment, the ever-opinionated Cunningham also gave his opinion on President Donald Trump on the press junket, saying he has the “imagination of a small soap dish.” Conleth Hill (Varys) voiced his own personal displeasure over the times Trump has “borrowed” Game of Thrones lettering and slogans to promote his policy ideas. “He probably hasn’t even seen two episodes.”

Speaking to RadioTimes, Hill weighed in on the equally controversial subject of whether fans will be pleased with the ending of the show. “Oh, f*** the fans,” he said, resulting in what we imagine were several spit takes. “That was a joke! But I don’t know, I don’t know if you can please everyone…I’m sure people will be moaning about something.”

Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark) also had a few things to say about the ending. “Not everyone’s going to be pleased, because it’s such a big show, and it’s divisive,” he said.

"I think everyone would agree in terms of saying they think their character endings are just and are the best way to wrap the characters up. Even if, God forbid, some of them might die."

But surely that won’t happen. Character deaths on Game of Thrones? Absurd.

Carice van Houten (Melisandre) backed Wright up. “Everyone has a certain expectation, I guess,” she said. “It’s been building up so much. But [the ending]’s great, as well, it’s going to surprise you.”

This is far from the first time cast members have teased a potentially divisive ending. And we have to take the actors behind Bran and Melisandre more seriously. They can see into the future, after all.

Richard Dormer (Beric Dondarrion) was a little less qualified with his praise for the final season. “Personally speaking I love my journey,” he said. “I love what [showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff] have done. The arc, the journey, every character.”

Talking about the benefits and drawbacks of celebrity, Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) wondered why it’s her lot in life to be beloved of the paparazzi. [Why doesn’t Gary Oldman] get photographed every time he walks out the door,” she wondered, we think rhetorically. “Maybe it’s because he doesn’t have Instagram. Maybe we should get off of Instagram.”

Of course, Gary Oldman isn’t currently starring on one of the hottest shows on TV and engaged to one of the Jonas Brothers (yet). But the Instagram point is a good one, too.

Ever heard of “The Brotherhood Without Banjos?” Enter Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane) and Rory McCann (the Hound), who formed the band along with Dormer, Paul Kaye (Thoros of Myr) and Kit Harrington (on the maracas!). The songsters appear to be long on burly enthusiasm and perhaps short on original tunes, but McCann says to perhaps expect a concert tour in the near future.

We would buy that ticket.

We’ll give the last word to McCann, talking about his impression of the ending. “Well we come out with the same thing every year – ‘it’s going to be bigger and better,’” he said. “But of course HBO are going to throw everything at it in the last year, so. That’s what it’s going to be.

"I remember reading [the ending] going, ‘Wow, thank you David and Dan. Thank you George. What a gift.’"

Game of Thrones season 8 premieres on HBO on Sunday, April 14.

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