Game of Thrones was beloved for much of its run—winning awards, topping “best” lists—before it famously went off the rails in its eighth and final season. Time hasn’t softened the blow one bit, even with the subsequent success of the prequel series House of the Dragon. Fans will likely never forgive the show’s disappointing downturn, and that’s something one Game of Thrones star in particular hasn’t quite come to terms with: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who played Jaime Lannister.
Of course, Coster-Waldau and his co-stars weren’t writing the scripts and shouldn’t be taken to task for the odd choices their characters may have made in season eight. But in a new interview with the Independent, though, you can tell Coster-Waldau is weary of the subject, something he’s no doubt been asked about since the show’s 2019 end.
“It was expected,” he said of the backlash. “How are you ever gonna make an end that’s gonna satisfy everyone? That’s a very difficult thing. I absolutely think people are entitled to whatever opinion they have, but it’s a television show. Someone told you a story and you didn’t like the ending. It’s really annoying, but…”
The article also notes that Coster-Waldau was reportedly being paid over $1 million per episode as Game of Thrones ended its run, so perhaps that helped make the criticism easier to take.
Last year, his fellow Lannister, Peter Dinklage, boldly declared that he liked the finale, noting that if the show got people talking, that was all part of the fun—a bit more of an upbeat takeaway. Are you still frustrated by the end of Game of Thrones?
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