The final season of Game of Thrones was greatly controversial, as the hit series ended in a way that was heavily criticized by fans. Looking back at the polarizing ending of the show five years later, series star Kristian Nairn feels that the backlash was unwarranted, as he was, for the most part, satisfied with how the final season panned out.
Nairn, known for his role as Hodor in the series, addressed the final season of Game of Thrones in a new interview with Screen Rant. He admitted that he felt “disappointed” by the fans criticizing the finale, particularly with the complaints about the dark turn takenw ith the Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) character leading up to the end. Nairn says that the warning signs had always been there for years, so he wasn’t as surprised as many fans were when that was the direction taken with Daenerys. With that said, Nairn also shared how his one qualm was that the final season should have been a bit longer, but he doesn’t hold that against the creative team.
“It’s not perfect, no. But also keep in mind I’m not a scriptwriter, neither are 99.99% of people,” Nairn said. “There are some who think they are, but I do know I’m not, so I have that. So [the response] disappointed me really. I don’t feel responsible for it obviously, because I was long since dead. But it disappointed me because the show had been held in such high regard, and I don’t think it deserved it. I don’t think there was a way they could have ended it to keep people happy. There’s never been a show in the history of television, I believe – maybe Breaking Bad, maybe – where people had been so invested in their characters and I think everyone had their own final fantasy of what was going to happen at the end with Daenerys, and any deviation from that, especially such an extreme one, it’s going to piss them off.”
I don’t think there was a way they could have ended it to keep people happy.
The actor continued, “Although people say that Daenerys acted out of character and stuff and so quickly, but I just don’t understand how they didn’t see that throughout the show. I was waiting for it to happen the whole way. The signs were there guys. She actually said at one stage that as soon as Drogon’s big enough, she’s going to burn the ass out of King’s Landing. And what happened? She did exactly what she said. The only criticism I have, and it’s not really criticism, because I understand budgetary issues and stuff, but I just wish it was longer.”
“I don’t think those longer episodes worked. I think it would’ve been better to have more episodes,” Nairn further explained. “The Michael Bay thing, that’s how I explain it. There was a little of a sprinkling of Michael Bay put over the last season with the explosions and lots of dragons. They’d given us some of that, which had given us a hunger for them, and then all of a sudden, they were ‘you’re dinner’s here, maybe it’s not as appetizing as you thought.’ Sometimes the thought of dinner is better than dinner.”
The actor concluded, “I just wish people were happier with it, because I really enjoyed it. The scenes with Peter [Dinklage] walking through the rubble and people said, ‘oh God, I really wanted Cersei to get a really horrible death.’ And what about their death? It was like a Renaissance painting. It was art. So much beautiful work, the music and stuff, and people are going ‘that’s s**t.’ What are you talking about?”
Kristian Nairn’s Hodor Had a Very Memorable Death Scene
Nairn was a major part of Game of Thrones, as Hodor was featured in the first four seasons along with Season 6. Serving as a protector for Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright), Hodor perished in the Season 6 episode “The Door,” which was one of the most moving and memorable death scenes of the show. He was not featured at all in the controversial final season.
Game of Thrones is streaming on Max.
