Mild spoilers ahead from Game of Thrones Season 8, but not much. It certainly won't ruin anything that D&D haven't already ruined themselves.
Full disclosure: I am not a fan of the final season of Game of Thrones. To put it mildly. The past two shortened seasons have been a downward slide, in my opinion. I know I don't speak for everyone on that, but I also know I'm not alone -- especially after last night's penultimate episode of the series, Season 8, Episode 5, "The Bells." That shit made me nostalgic for last week's coffee cup fail.
The outcry from the fandom was pure fire and blood. Up to this point, I thought the Game of Thrones showrunners' plan to go into hiding for the finale was surprising. Why not celebrate with fans? But now I completely understand why they play to scurry away and go off the grid.
Before the season started, David Benioff and D.B. or just Dan Weiss answered a question on what they'll be doing when the final episode airs next Sunday, May 19.
D.B. Weiss: We’ll in an undisclosed location, turning off our phones and opening various bottles.
EW wondered if they wouldn't be a little bit tempted to look at Twitter to see how fans react.
D.B. Weiss: At some point, if and when it’s safe to come out again, somebody like [HBO’s GoT publicist Mara Mikialian] will give us a breakdown of what was out there without us having to actually experience it.David Benioff: I plan to be very drunk and very far from the internet.
When it's safe! That is some Joffrey level cowering. But I can picture them standing at a tower, wine in hand, just staring at the carnage, ala Cersei.
D&D said something similar during a later Jimmy Kimmel Live interview:
D.B. Weiss: We are going to take our wives to an undisclosed location -- the four of us, together. We're going to turn our phones off.David Benioff: Going offline, drinking tequila.D.B. Weiss: Drinking tequila and coming back when it's over.
Fun fact: David Benioff is married to actress Amanda Peet, so apparently she'll go into hiding with him.
It will never really be over for the fans, especially when author George R. R. Martin still has two books in his A Song Of Ice And Fire series to publish. (All hopes are on you to salvage character development and fix lazy plot conveniences, man.)
Before the season started airing, the showrunners said they were hoping for a fan reaction akin to Breaking Bad's finale. That is how you stick the landing. After Episode 5, though, some fans are worried we're looking at a Dexter situation.
D&D defended their story decisions again in another Inside the Episode video:
David Benioff & D. B. Weiss have written every episode this season and they are actually directing the series finale too. Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 6 has a lot of plot left to wrap up and it airs Sunday, May 19 from 9 to 10:20 p.m. on HBO. Expect fan reaction to be mixed -- which has been the case through the entire series -- but leaning toward disappointed. We were warned. Again and again.
