Joe Dempsie (Gendry) was expecting Game of Thrones ending backlash

It’s no secret that the final season of Game of Thrones was met with a lot of criticism. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, star Joe Dempsie (Gendry) said that he saw the backlash coming to some degree. Watch below:

“I remember saying at the time, I don’t know how well this is going to go down.”@joedempsie who played Gendry in @GameOfThrones, told @TherealNihal how he felt about the #GOT Season 8 finale. pic.twitter.com/V7P2pI4zuv
— BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live) May 29, 2019

“When I read the finale, I remember saying at the time, ‘I don’t know how well this is going to go down,'” he remembers. “It might be the kind of ending that might need to percolate and that maybe, with the passing of time, people might appreciate it a little more.”

I resonate with that statement, because as time passes I find myself warming up to parts I wasn’t too fond of during my first watch. I think this is something fans need some time to process and think about, or at least that was the case fore me.

According to Dempsie, the thing that threw him the most was that the fight between the living and the dead wasn’t the climax of the series, as many thought it would be. Instead, it ended with characters we’d come to know over the years tearing each other apart.

Moving on, Dempsie talked about how the working experience of a Game of Thrones cast member, and how his differed from that of a more prominently featured actor, like Kit Harington or Emilia Clarke. “One of the things that struck me when I returned in season seven, was how life had profoundly changed for quite a few people in that cast, in terms of fame and recognition,” he said. “And it made me really thankful that I wasn’t one of the core group of actors, that really has to carry the weight of this show on their shoulders, and whose faces sell it because it is a hell of a lot of pressure.”

One can only imagine the scrutiny you’re under if you’re the face of the popular show in the world, so we see Dempsie’s point.