Peter Dinklage Defends ‘Game of Thrones’ Finale: ‘It’s Fiction. There’s Dragons In It. Move On.’
Many George R.R. Martin fans were not exactly delighted with the way HBO‘s sprawling fantasy series “Game of Thrones” signed off in 2019. The final episode, “The Iron Throne,” pulled more than 13.61 million viewers in May 2019, though not all were happy as indicated by the social media firestorm that night and into the following week. (Author George R.R. Martin even said his ending would be “different” from the upcoming series once he finished the “Song of Ice and Fire” books.)
Actor Peter Dinklage, who played Tyrion Lannister in HBO’s beloved George R.R. Martin series, in a recent New York Times interview about his new film “Cyrano” fielded the inevitable “Game of Thrones” finale question. The actor, who won four Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for “Game of Thrones” and is now up for a Critics Choice Award and a Golden Globe for his “Cyrano” performance, had this to say about the finale.
“They wanted the pretty white people to ride off into the sunset together,” he said regarding any fan fracas over the finale, in which Bran Stark becomes King of Westeros (a turn that came directly from Martin himself).
Dinklage continued, “By the way, it’s fiction. There’s dragons in it. Move on,” adding after a laugh, “No, but the show subverts what you think, and that’s what I love about it. Yeah, it was called ‘Game of Thrones,’ but at the end, the whole dialogue when people would approach me on the street was, ‘Who’s going to be on the throne?’ I don’t know why that was their takeaway because the show really was more than that.”
Dinklage also opened up about one of his favorite moments in the finale, which served as the 73rd episode at the end of the show’s eighth season.
“One of my favorite moments was when the dragon burned the throne because it sort of just killed that whole conversation, which is really irreverent and kind of brilliant on behalf of the show’s creators: ‘Shut up, it’s not about that,’ he said. “They constantly did that, where you thought one thing and they delivered another. Everybody had their own stories going on while watching that show, but nobody’s was as good as what the show delivered, I think.”
“Cyrano” will be released on January 21 in select theaters, with a qualifying awards run already in play in some markets.
