Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Game of Thrones
Sophie Turner hits back at critics of Game of Thrones, particularly those who signed the petition to have season 8 to be rewritten by new writers. One of the oldest characters in the show, Sansa Stark had been in the series' first episode and survived the whole show to finally become the queen of the North. This was after a slew of heartbreaks and mishaps that she personally experienced throughout the show. Turner started in Game of Thrones at the age 14 years old and so a significant amount of her life was devoted playing the character, no wonder she's extra protective of the work they did in the series.
Game of Thrones' final season only had 6 episodes compared to the standard 10 outings, but it made up for it with four extended 80-minute runtimes. Despite that, it went by quickly with the series finale airing over the weekend resolving majority of the show's lingering questions including who ultimately sits on the Iron Throne - Bran the Broken (Isaac Hempstead-Wriggt). Daenerys' (Emilia Clarke) pursuit for power ended, sadly, with Jon Snow (Kit Harington) killing her following her ruthless burning of King's Landing last week. But even before the show's final episode ran, a chunk of the fan community already checked out of the show because they didn't like where the narrative was heading, hence the launch of the said online petition which has accumulated more than a million signatures thus far.
When asked by The New York Times about her thoughts on the ongoing fan campaign, Turner got candid, describing the petition to be "disrespectful to the crew, and the writers, and the filmmakers who have worked tirelessly over 10 years." While she's obviously against this type of appeal, she has come to terms with the idea that not everyone will be pleased with what they did in the Game of Thrones final season simply because every fan has their own personal preference on how they want the show's finale to shake out. But that doesn't make the petition okay.
Honestly, I’m not surprised. People always have an idea in their heads of how they want a show to finish, and so when it doesn’t go to their liking, they start to speak up about it and rebel.
The thing about “Game of Thrones” that’s always been amazing is the fact that there’s always been crazy twists and turns, right from Season 1 with Ned’s beheading. So Daenerys becoming something of the Mad Queen — it shouldn’t be such a negative thing for fans. It’s a shock for sure, but I think it’s just because it hasn’t gone their way.
All of these petitions and things like that — I think it’s disrespectful to the crew, and the writers, and the filmmakers who have worked tirelessly over 10 years, and for 11 months shooting the last season. Like 50-something night shoots. So many people worked so, so hard on it, and for people to just rubbish it because it’s not what they want to see is just disrespectful.
Sansa and the Starks arguably had the better individual endings in the show - each one of them given somewhat good fates. Arya (Maisie Williams) continues to be an adventurer as she sails west of Westeros, and Bran, despite not really doing much in the last couple of episodes, gets to become the king of the country. Jon was sent to the Wall, but it's really only the place he found true peace and happiness in. Considering that he murdered the queen, he's lucky that he's not just set free, let alone kept alive by the Unsullied following Dany's death. And finally, Sansa gets to become the queen as the North remains independent. Her final Game of Thrones destiny is arguably the best received since it's a great pay-off to the tremendous journey she had getting to that point.
Fans are allowed to feel dissatisfaction in any show or film, especially long-running ones like Game of Thrones where they've invested in a lot in the last eight seasons. But to claim ownership to the story and slam creators for supposedly butchering the narrative doesn't make sense considering that it's the story they chose to tell in the first place. That doesn't mean that criticisms are bad, it's just that it shouldn't reach a point where creatives who actually worked on the project are discredited and disregarded for the work they did.
Source: The New York Times