There’s no denying it. The eighth and final season of HBO’s Game of Thrones has been chock-full of disappointment. Aside from numerous pacing issues – the consensus is that things feel rushed and hurried – both fans and critics complained about the current run’s plot, dialogue, and character motivations. Last week’s episode, “The Bells,” drew widespread criticism from the community, especially in regards to Dany burning Red Keep to the ground, and the underwhelming deaths of Jamie and Cersei Lannister.
In response to this season’s drop in quality, dedicated fans recently took it upon themselves to make things right. As reported by ComicBook.com, this past Sunday’s episode, “The Bells,” angered viewers so much that someone actually hopped on Change.org in order to start a petition.
Their demands? The campaign’s creator, who goes by “Dylan D,” argues that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are not competent enough to give the series the ending it deserves, especially since they have no source material to rely on.
“David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have proven themselves to be woefully incompetent writers when they have no source material (i.e. the books) to fall back on,” reads the petition. “This series deserves a final season that makes sense. Subvert my expectations and make it happen, HBO!”
Longtime fans and viewers will already be familiar with the show’s adaptation schedule. Starting in season 5, the writing team ran out of published works to draw from, as A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin has yet to release the sixth and seventh books in the series. As a result, staff writers turned to outlines provided by Martin, while injecting original content of their own. As a result, some have criticized narrative threads in recent seasons.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that a “passionate” fanbase has turned to petitions to voice their complaints. A few months back, Mortal Kombat 11 devotees campaigned to have Shaggy included in the game, and Captain Marvel fans similarly appealed to replace Brie Larson with an actress of color.
In all likelihood, the Game of Thrones petition will go largely ignored by HBO, though a few of us here at We Got This Covered would have liked to see a version based purely on George R. R. Martin’s complete series – assuming he ever gets around to writing the final two books, that is.
