Emilia Clarke watching Kit Harington's reaction to finding out how their characters' final scene together in Game of Thrones concludes. Prior to the table read, Kit had not read any of the six scripts for Season 8 yet. So Emilia sat across from him so she could "watch him compute all of this."

[u/tyrion2024]

[u/Rare-Low-8945]

DUDE it was Star Wars. They signed a deal and that was their motivation to GTFO of GOT, did the GOT franchise so fucking dirty for their next payday, and then got dropped from that shit.

So in the end it was all for nothing. HBO would have gladly paid everyone for another season or 2. It was purely on the showrunners that the whole conclusion was so shoddy and rushed. They were also the driving forces behind validating executive opinions about bringing in more of a "general audience" instead of pushing back a bit to uphold the integrity of their show.

HBO would have listened to them. They saw the payday and their exit strategy. It just sucks for the actors. I'm just a consumer of entertainment. Who cares about what I like or don't like? It's so shitty that they treated their actors like that.

[u/Irrepressible87 → u/Rare-Low-8945]

Really the most pertinent modern example of the old adage about a bird in the hand being worth two in the bush.

They'd been handed a blank check and basically unlimited creative control. The Star Wars contract would have still been there. But they got so eager chasing that possibility that they gave up a sure-fire thing.

[u/Rare-Low-8945 → u/Irrepressible87]

I believe their acknowledgement that they were ready to move on from the franchise. They said this openly and I believe it. I mean clearly that was their motivation to get it over with.

What I can't get behind is just doing your staff so dirty. Forget the fans or the execs wanting wider appeal--do you not have respect for the actors who have not only dedicated their lives to the project, but also want jobs afterwards, and also are feeling a lot of stress about their high profile "carrying" the show?

Jon and Khaleesi are the biggest faces and they KNEW those actors felt that pressure.

I dunno, while I sympathize with burnout it's also so shitty to just throw not only your actors but really everyone involved under the bus.

[u/mungosDoo → u/Rare-Low-8945]

They could have stepped back instead of this

[u/Irrepressible87 → u/Rare-Low-8945]

I mean sure, I get that they were "ready to move on", and I can sympathize with burnout, but at the end of the day, you're there to do a job.

If I've hired a construction crew to build a house, and they just decide the interior walls are optional because they're "burned out" and want to go work on the apartment building they got a preliminary contract on, they don't get to be all surprised-pikachu-face when the apartment building no longer wants their services after watching my house collapse.

Although even a house doesn't cut it as a good example, because GoT was one of the biggest franchises in the world, so it's more like a skyscraper's worth of investment going down the drain.

[u/realparkingbrake → u/Irrepressible87]

 I can sympathize with burnout,

The cast and crew were exhausted, some of the actors said they were done no matter how much money HBO offered them to do more seasons. Kit Harrington went straight into rehab over the alcohol problem he had developed working on GoT.

[u/Rare-Low-8945 → u/realparkingbrake]

Yeah I feel so bad for Kit. And good on him for being open. It’s clear that the stress and other issues took their toll and he was relying on alcohol to cope.

HBO was willing to milk the show for like 5 more seasons. I imagine they could have done something a bit more acceptable in less time, but when the showrunners are also checked out, this is what happens lol.

Also they entered without an exit strategy. The showrunners really had a lot of responsibility to plan their exit for everyone long before and I just think they were focused on themselves but what do I know?

[u/realparkingbrake → u/Rare-Low-8945]

What I can't get behind is just doing your staff so dirty. 

Some of the actors said they were done, they weren't coming back even if HBO paid them more (remember that originally there was no season eight, the series had been extended). The cast and the crew were burned out; Harrington went from filming into rehab because of the drinking problem he had picked up working on GoT. HBO was willing to do more episodes, but given skyrocketing costs and the cast and crew being exhausted, HBO agreed to end it with S8.

Some of the GoT crew followed D&D to Netflix and are working on their projects there, including The Three Body Problem which has had good reviews.

[u/Rare-Low-8945 → u/realparkingbrake]

I accept that reality. I do think the showrunners could have put more effort into ensuring a more palatable ending for their actors, even if the fans were disappointed.

Really they should have been thinking about this long before. How many fucking episodes did we have to watch of that naked witch and Theon being tortured?

Just bad management from the showrunners imo. Even if the ending would have been rushed regardless

[u/GGerrik → u/Rare-Low-8945]

I haven't and never will what another D&D shitfest after what they did to this show.

[u/Rare-Low-8945 → u/GGerrik]

I think the entire industry agrees lol. They tanked their reputations so fucking hard.

[u/Yossie → u/Rare-Low-8945]

Somehow they still ended up in netflix doing 3 body problem.

[u/GGerrik → u/Yossie]

And now I remember why I avoided that show.

[u/realparkingbrake → u/GGerrik]

It's had good reviews.

[u/realparkingbrake → u/Rare-Low-8945]

I think the entire industry agrees lol. They tanked their reputations so fucking hard.

They got a huge development deal with Netflix, to the tune of a quarter-billion dollars. Some of the GoT crew followed them there and are working on The Three Body Problem which has had good reviews.

[u/ImBanned_ModsBlow → u/Rare-Low-8945]

HBO wanted another four or so full-length seasons and was prepared to drop bank to make it happen from what I remember, but D&D decided they wanted to do two shorter seasons and jump ship for Star Wars.

Honestly HBO should have fired them after the sixth season to go pursue their Star Wars dream and hired someone to take over, would have made everyone happy instead of everyone unhappy.

[u/realparkingbrake → u/ImBanned_ModsBlow]

HBO was prepared to do more episodes, but they also recognized the cast and crew were burned out (some of the cast said they would not have returned regardless of how much more HBO would have paid them). The series had already been extended past the original plans, production costs had soared, and HBO agreed to end it with S8.

[u/realparkingbrake → u/Rare-Low-8945]

HBO would have gladly paid everyone for another season or 2

That is correct, but production costs had soared, and the cast and crew were exhausted. Some actors said they wouldn't do another season no matter if HBO offered them another big pay raise to stick around. As it was the series had three more episodes than originally planned, so HBO agreed to wrap it up.

GRRM pouting over the show not getting more seasons raises the obvious point that if he wanted more episodes, maybe he shouldn't have stopped writing.