5 Years Later, Peter Dinklage Still Feels The Same About the Game Of Thrones Finale

While the overwhelming majority of Game of Thrones‘ fan base hated the 8th and final season, Peter Dinklage, who played Tyrion Lannister in the hit show, stands by his opinion that Season 8 worked. After six incredible seasons, Game of Thrones began its descent with its mixed seventh season, which contrasted many boring, questionable decisions with some of the greatest scenes in the entire series. However, according to most of the fans, Season 8 was a complete disaster, and undid years of established storytelling with nonsensical narrative choices. Dinklage’s viewpoint on the finale greatly opposes the consensus, but the actor welcomes the discourse, saying that getting people talking about his work is the whole point of making art.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Peter Dinklage explained why he hasn’t changed his positive opinion on Game of Thrones‘ 8th Season, 5 years after it initially aired. “Again, just my opinion. I like the finale!” the actor re-iterated during the interview. Tyrion Lannister was a mainstay of the series since its first episode, using his drinking skills and knowledge to survive the countless wars and the hordes of undead soldiers Westeros was faced with during the show’s run on HBO. The actor said that he’ll probably never change his opinion, stating that it would be wrong to alter his feelings just to appease the fans. He explained:

“You don’t have to agree with me. How about if I said like, ‘Yeah, I agree. I hated the finale. The whole last season was horrible’? I mean, that would sit much worse than if I said I loved it, which I did. I can’t speak for anybody else’s opinion, and that’s what makes what we do fun, because everybody does have a difference of opinion and everybody gets to write about it and chat about it and drink over it and argue about it. It’s great. I mean, I think it means you’re doing something right. It’s like an old Irish way of looking at the world. There’s something wrong if everything’s OK.”

Game of Thrones Fans Misunderstood a Pivotal Season 8 Scene

Which character would end up sitting on the Iron Throne was the biggest question on GoT fans’ minds throughout the shows run on HBO. In the end, Bran “The Broken” Stark, a.k.a. The Three Eyed Raven, claimed the throne because he “has the best story.” Even gambling websites had gotten in on the action, taking bets on who would claim the throne, and the fan base changed its opinion every other day. But few expected Bran.

During the decision-making scene, Samwell Tarley (John Bradley) proposed the idea of democracy in Westeros. In true Game of Thrones fashion, it was literally laughed at by the rest of the characters. Loosely based on the War of the Roses (1455-1487), Game of Thrones‘ hierarchy is based on the English monarchy. The characters’ reactions in the scene reflect what would have been the nobles’ consensus at the time about democracy. But some fans assumed it meant George R.R. Martin, and showrunners Dan Bennioff and D.B. Weiss, were anti-democracy. Dinklage explained:

“Yeah, no. By the way, that was all filmed after Trump was elected. We were on set in Spain when Trump was elected. We were saying those lines, and I was like, ‘Holy smokes. Yikes.'”