Brave soul Peter Dinklage is still happy to defend the ‘Game of Thrones’ finale

The final season of Game of Thrones is … not popular; let’s put it that way. The very last episode, “The Iron Throne” drew little but derision. Fans hated it so much that for a while it looked like the entire franchise was done—awkward, since there were more books still to come out.

According to the show’s most devoted haters, the finale was a nonsensical mess. Why did Bran get to be king, when he’d done so little compared to certain other characters? Why did Jaime choose to die with his sister when that part of his character arc was supposed to be over and done with? Why did Jon Snow’s story finish in such a lackluster way? And so on. There’s debates about it on Reddit forums happening probably right at this very moment.

After Game of Thrones, the prequel show House of the Dragon came along and managed to gain its own fanbase—for now, anyway—and the world of Westeros has been slowly plodding along ever since. But for a long time now, “The Iron Throne” has had one fierce defender: Peter Dinklage.

Dinklage played Tyrion in the show, one of the most beloved characters. In fact, Dinklage was a revelation: He won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor a whopping four times, more than any other person to date. So it’s probably not surprising that he’ll always go to bat for the series that elevated him to new levels of stardom.

Recently, during an interview with Rolling Stone magazine to promote his new film The Thicket, Dinklage said:

I like the finale! 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 okay.

This isn’t the first time Dinklage has defended the finale. Back in 2021, he told the New York Times that fans were disappointed because they “wanted the pretty white people to ride off into the sunset together,” before continuing, “By the way, it’s fiction. There’s dragons in it. Move on.”

Other members of the Game of Thrones cast have expressed disappointment over the finale, however. Kit Harington, who played Jon Snow, blamed it on the cast and crew being “f***ing tired” after eight years. Charles Dance, who played Tyrion’s terrible father Tywin, went even further. After a fan petition went around asking HBO to remake the final season of Game of Thrones (rather a big ask …), Dance went on record saying he would sign it.

One thing’s for sure: There’s enough drama behind the scenes of the Song of Ice and Fire franchise to make a whole other TV show. Without the dragons.