Okay, so let’s just get this out of the way before we start: Not everyone liked the final season of Game of Thrones. Some people did; others didn’t. There, that’s something we can all agree on. Now, for those who did enjoy season 8, the creators of Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty are with you.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland shared their thoughts on the topic, and those thoughts took a refreshingly positive spin. “I was afraid to watch it for a while because I didn’t want it to end,” said Harmon. “I wanted to keep this soap opera in my life. But I knew it had to end, and I was as satisfied as I possibly could be watching a staple in my life wrap up and all of the characters taking each other out.”
“As a showrunner, I was amazed at the amount they were able to accomplish — especially given the meta-reality of having run out of books to adapt,” he continued. “Watching The Hound fight The Mountain on the stairs, I was like, ‘This is all great, man.’”
"I was aware of the disappointment factor with [Daenerys Targaryen’s] dark turn. I’m not going to say fans are too cynical and ungrateful, but I guess I did just say that."
I’m just going to say it: Harmon is 100% on the mark; there are some ridiculously over-the-top cynical remarks being made about the final season, and yes, it makes some fans sound ungrateful. We all get it, you think Jon had a better story than Bran…maybe a few hundred more memes will make you feel better?
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Roiland felt the same way as his partner, but did share once concern I believe we can all get behind. “I echo all of Dan’s sentiments about the show,” he said. “Structurally, I think it was great. I just selfishly wanted more episodes. I wanted to get to those plot points at a slower pace. I didn’t want it to end either. I wished it was stepped out over three more seasons, or three or four more episodes.”
Justin Roiland just hit the nail on the head. My biggest negative reaction to season 8 was not Daenerys’ heel turn in “The Bells,” but rather that it came out of nowhere and was completely undersold. Having an extra three episodes in season 7 and an extra four episodes in season 8 would have allowed for storylines that unfolded way too rapidly in the final season time to breathe; to come to fruition and actually stick the landing.
Anyway, Roiland did comment on the hunt for the “next Game of Thrones.” “There’s not going to be another show that big,” he said. “I shouldn’t say that because there’s always something potentially looming around the corner. But that show was a phenomenon. It was insanely big. Everybody was watching it. And I love , they’re f—ing awesome guys.”
As EW notes, Benioff and Weiss have a connection with Harmon and Roiland, as they recently recorded an audio commentary for Rick and Morty season 3’s excellent “Pickle Rick” episode. Heck, Benioff’s wife Amanda Peet even said he plans on dressing up as Pick Rick for Halloween. Dude knows a good cartoon when he sees one, apparently.
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