Three years on from the series finale of “Game Of Thrones” isn’t long enough for some of the show’s old fans. Some people still loathe the eighth and final season of HBO’s most popular show, especially its last episode. Daenerys may always be Jon Snow’s queen, but those last couple of episodes will also always live in infamy.
READ MORE: ‘House Of The Dragon’ Will Feature Multiple ‘Crown’-Like Time Jumps In Its First Season
And with a prequel to the series coming out next month, HBO has every right to be wary of further fan backlash. “House Of The Dragon” may take place thousands of years before Daenerys Targaryen breaks bad, but it still takes place in Westeros, and some viewers don’t want to return there. But in the lead-up to “Dragon,” HBO/HBO Max content chief Casey Bloys stands by how “Thrones” ended even if fans don’t. “I think in multiple parts of our society, we are reminding ourselves that Twitter is not real life,” Bloys told The Hollywood Reporter. “We knew [the final season] was going to be divisive and, of course, you want all fans to be happy, but that’s never going to happen. There weren’t a lot of people walking around despondent or upset. It’s a take that reads well but probably doesn’t fully reflect viewer feelings.”
Au contraire, Mr. Bloys: to say people weren’t walking around upset after “Game Of Thrones” ended is an understatement. Bloys may be muting how venomous backlash was three years ago for several reasons: to temper fans’ expectations of the new show; to guarantee a healthy viewership for the new series premiere; to articulate that, yes, maybe Twitter aggrandized the negative response to the end of “Thrones” a little. But Bloys also wants to establish “Dragon” as a fresh start with something to say about the contemporary world. “I liked the idea of focusing on one family, and obviously the Targaryens have a lot of drama to go around,” Bloys continued. “I also liked the echo of how empires can quickly fall — those are the types of conversations we are having in our own country, which I don’t think is anything I would’ve thought we’d be talking about 20 years ago.”
So, in other words, Bloys wants fans to give “House Of The Dragon” a chance, despite social media backlash. “Game Of Thrones” creator George R.R. Martin’s take on how fans turned on the original show isn’t as cordial. “The fucking toxic internet and these podcasts out there saying that season eight left such a bad impression that people say, ‘Oh, I’m never going to watch them again,'” Martin stated. “I don’t trust them anymore.” Whereas Bloys claims social media backlash exaggerated how people really felt about how “Game Of Thrones” ended, it appears that Martin simply doesn’t care if begrudging old fans don’t return for “Dragon.”
And as far as Martin is concerned, if those people never watch “Dragon,” they will miss out because he likens the new show to a “Shakespearean tragedy” with a dark tone and message than the original series. “There’s no Arya — a character everybody’s going to love. They’re all flawed,” Martin explained. “They’re all human. They do good things. They do bad things. They’re driven by lust for power, jealousy, old wounds — just like human beings. Just like I wrote them.” While it’s true that Martin wrote some memorable, even classic, characters in his original books, he’s also not the most unbiased opinion about the world he created. And he still hasn’t even finished the original book series, and many doubt he ever will. So, maybe he’s hyping up “House Of The Dragon” because, unlike his book series, the upcoming show is a finished product?
Whatever the case, “House Of The Dragon” already received backlash online before it even premiered. Steve Toussiant, who plays Corlys Velaryon in the new show, told The Hollywood Reporter that he dealt with racist messages from so-called fans after HBO announced his casting. “I didn’t realize [the casting] was a big deal until I was racially abused on social media,” Toussaint said. “Yeah, that shit happened. I was just like, ‘Oh wow,’ and then I thought, ‘OK, so this means a lot to some people, but I can’t allow that to bother me.’” Every show has its toxic fans, as “Obi-Wan Kenobi” star Moses Ingram will attest. Still, responses like this to mere casting choices are an alarming and scary look at how seriously fans take their narrative fiction series. Which is more dangerous, the dragon-ridden world of Westeros or the poisonous vitriol of online communities?
“House Of The Dragon” premieres on HBO and HBO Max on August 21.