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Game Of Thrones "Definitely Fell Off" At The End, Maisie Williams Says

The Arya Stark actress says the show started strong but didn't wrap up so well.

By Eddie Makuch on October 24, 2022 at 11:52AM PDT

Game of Thrones actor Maisie Williams, who played Arya Stark on the hit HBO fantasy show, has joined the chorus of those who believe the series didn't end on the strongest footing.

During a Twitch stream (via Variety), Williams said she recently re-watched the show and acknowledged that while the series started strong, it "definitely fell off at the end."

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That's all Williams had to say about the end of the show, but she isn't the first among the cast to broach the subject of how the series ended. Emilia Clarke, who played Daenerys, said she was "annoyed" at the ending because Jon Snow (Kit Harington) quite literally got away with murder.

Fans have said the final season of Game of Thrones felt rushed, with so much story condensed too quickly. Author George R.R. Martin pushed for 10 total seasons so the writers could wrap things up in a satisfying way. The show ended up getting eight seasons.

Going back to Williams, she reflected on the show now that time has passed since it wrapped up in 2019. "For the first time, it feels good to be proud of it. It was 10 years of my life," she said. Williams went on to say she was "heartbroken" when her character's father, Ned Stark (Sean Bean), was killed off in Season 1, even though she knew it was coming.

Game of Thrones is over, but the wider franchise continues with the prequel spin-off show, House of the Dragon. It just wrapped up its first 10-episode season in dramatic fashion. Season 2 will begin filming in early 2023.

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Haha, I'd love to know what the GoT S8 defenders would say now

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The ending to the tv show GoT will most likely be nothing like GRR Martins ending, from what he keeps suggesting, even though his ending is still a couple books away.

What I do not like about HBOs ending was the universally tired trend..... women in power, eventually go mad- ending. From Shakespeare, the Bible, Dune, Bell Jar, etc etc and now GoT ending. It is an easy cop out, and I feel an HBO executive decision in case of sequels. As the women in the story, have limited screen appeal (due to aging), while men do not.

Writing the mother of dragons off as she goes insane was pretty lazy. Meanwhile an actual insane crazy woman, Cersei, also a mother has a moment of clarity before succumbing to falling debris. So once again, the only outcome for women that achieve, is insanity. They could have done a lot more.

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@jenovaschilld said:

The ending to the tv show GoT will most likely be nothing like GRR Martins ending, from what he keeps suggesting, even though his ending is still a couple books away.

If he ever finishes those damn books. I don't know if that's ever gonna happen.

What I do not like about HBOs ending was the universally tired trend..... women in power, eventually go mad- ending. From Shakespeare, the Bible, Dune, Bell Jar, etc etc and now GoT ending. It is an easy cop out, and I feel an HBO executive decision in case of sequels. As the women in the story, have limited screen appeal (due to aging), while men do not.

I respectfully disagree here.

Her going mad is a good fit to the story. She is, in the end, the daughter of the mad king. The problem, in my opinion, is that they didn't set it up. They rushed content of 3 seasons into 1, so she went from tough to crazy in 1 episode.

Also, we're talking about HBO here. The "wokest" channel in America. The channel that allowed John Oliver to edit interviews to purposely take things out of context as to not appear to have lost a debate with Jordan Peterson. The idea that they made Daenerys the villain because she is a woman just doesn't make sense.

Writing the mother of dragons off as she goes insane was pretty lazy. Meanwhile an actual insane crazy woman, Cersei, also a mother has a moment of clarity before succumbing to falling debris. So once again, the only outcome for women that achieve, is insanity. They could have done a lot more.

Again, i think the lesson here is that narratives can be manipulated and sometimes, you have to make your bed with the enemy. The old "Better the Devil you know" adage.

We always saw Cersei as the enemy, from the beginning, but not one person is 100% evil all the time. The fact that you're bringing up the clarity moment is the exact reaction they seem to have intended you to have.

The way i see it, how they ended it is not the problem. It's the way they did it that p*ssed me off. GRR Martin was right. They needed 10 seasons to properly tell the story.

It was rushed, it skipped phases and it landed on a good fitting end, just didn't have the oomph it deserved.

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Edited By jenovaschilld

@dirtydyk: ....Her going mad is a good fit to the story. She is, in the end, the daughter of the mad king. The problem, in my opinion, is that they didn't set it up. They rushed content of 3 seasons into 1, so she went from tough to crazy in 1 episode.....

In the books and show, not all of the lineage, of the mad king go, ... mad. And through the books and seasons, Daenarys was contrasted heavily against her brother, and grandfather as any anything but. Her travels, love and loss, and love again. Her friends and comrades, all gave her- a very young Daenarys- her sense of self, strength, and leadership. Not every heroine becomes a Joan of Arc schizophrenia case in order to break her legacy down for the masses. In some fiction they go on to become a Lady Galadriel, who leads strong..., even in their twilight years. The 'women in power' trope goes mad, is a tired trope. I am not a betting man, but I bet that is not how it ends when, Martin releases the books.

I do absolutely agree that HBO really whiplashed its characters, there at the end. A heavy handed approach, considering they dragged along seasons 6 and 7 ala LOST episodes, by digging into side characters or one off characters -way too long only to be killed off.

I would like to clarify my comment about Cersei- I was not saying she was not bat shit crazy by all society and fictional GoT account, just that at the end, after she has lost everything, her children, her rule, and most importantly her constant struggle... she embraces brother/lover to face the end, she would have never left on the boat even if the way was not blocked. I mean, her clarity to give to the audience was understanding it all, not regret. If she would have been able to continue she would still be, just Cersei, - makes for a good bad guy.

They rushed it - the characters plot points along, way too fast.

I wonder sometimes if Martin has all of this pretty much done. It was not like he was not prolific in the past, or not able to finish his novels and tv episodes, before GoT. I wonder if Martin is just waiting till he dies and then releases the books, increasing his profile for history. Imagine if JK Rowling sat on the last HP book for a decade or two until the day she died. Martin is kinda weird, his favorite thing on Earth may just be having a billions fans asking him when the last book will come out.

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@jenovaschilld: if JK sat on the last book until she died, we'd still be without it and probably for a few more decades as she's only 57. That would definitely suck hahaha

And while I agree that Daenerys going mad is a beaten trope, I also think that is the way the books would have gone anyway. Just because I think it was too easy a happy ending, the good girl is good 'til the end, and that doesn't feel like GoT. What I do feel wronged about is 1) how this is (not) set up, as dyk mentioned, and 2) who and how they chose to "right her wrongs", a round table of basically only men allowing Snow to get away with it while her dragon also just said "fine, you do you, I do me"

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@MigGui: A more complicated and tougher ending, would be that after all that had happened to her, her potential to be 'insane', her huge loses at the end and overwhelming power gained, - a more intense ending would be for her to forgive the people of Westeros, specifically the south King's Landing and her grandfathers armies of westeros, to give up the power she crusaded so hard towards, and to go on and continue to free those in far off lands instead of subjugating them. Which would also destroy the relationship with Snow, who at this point still plans to continue North to reestablish the wild past the wall.

I really feel this will be Martins ending.

The ending of she, like all traditional fiction, portraying women who comes into power - then just goes mad at the end... again is a quick way to 'wrap it up'.

I do agree with you, the dragon ... "yeah that bitch crazy, peace out" sloppy.

-and to this day, you have those two guys at HBO and Martin and HBO execs, kinda all starting to blame the other for why it had to all quickly come to an end. While none are directly finger pointing, none are wanting any fingers towards them.

I also did not like how they ended it with the mountain and the dog, not only because it strayed from the book, but because it was so rushed. The north sisters story lines were great but also ended .. fast. And Cersei's ending along with her brother, which was anti-climactic both in narratively and cinematic. The slaves, the horsemen, the .... the frozen king, and undead army, was rushed ... not rushed, more like edited away in order to save production money, and not explained in enough detail, so as to leave it vague enough- per Martin's publisher wishes, so he has room to maneuver.

I will admit that the GoT ride was unlike anything on TV in the fantasy genre, before it. And such a welcome, but even a blind deaf person would argue.... it really feel off at the end.

2 • 2 years ago

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So, someone really needs to answer this for me. Is the show good or bad?

I've never seen a single episode.

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@illegal_peanut: The first 4 seasons were so good that I read the books and the last seasons, particularly 7 was so bad that I refuse to watch house of the dragon entirely regardless of how good it is.

You can’t build a franchise on a foundation as bad as GoT ended.

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Edited By jenovaschilld

@illegal_peanut: GoT is worth the ride. From characters to locations to fantasy, it is unlike any show.... when it came .... that had come before. But like any show it has its critics, but trying to give it a thumbs up or thumbs down is very hard since most of the seasons are huge thumbs up, and some parts at the end ... well.

For me, as a consumer, very worth it. An enjoyable romp, for what it is, with memorable scenes that will say with you.

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@illegal_peanut: Tough to answer. I'd say that the show is good enough in the first 75% of its run to recommend overall. But the show ends so poorly that it will very likely sour your opinion of the show by the time the final episode ends. I haven't even given the new show a chance yet, I felt so burned, and likely won't for a couple years.

I think you should give the show a shot, as it does help define the current generation of shows we are in, and has some tremendous entertainment for decent chunks.

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Edited By gatsbythepig

@illegal_peanut: overall, not really worth it

It's just my opinion, but I feel like the fervor and hype was totally unjustified. Nothing felt like it had any real consequence. Sure, people died, but I didn't feel invested in any character, so plot twists didn't mean anything.

If you simply enjoy the ride, and that's worth it to you, the end result doesn't matter. I found the ride to be ho-hum and the ending was terrible. If you've never seen an episode, you're not missing anything.

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HBO used to put out their series' on a regular, annual basis. Yea, there's a lot of post filming production, but they seem to take longer than a video game, with less episodes now. I mean Westworld was roughly 3 years between seasons. People lose a bit of interest after all that time. This one is only gonna start filming in 2023, which probably means at least a 2 year hiatus again.

And reading the other article about how the production team doesn't know how to properly make the brightness accurate for tv's kinda seems like they don't have much experience, at least outside of theater work. Wonder if this is contributing to much of the delay.

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I love Maisie Williams. Maisie was absolutely great as Arya Stark.

However, in my opinion. And, it's just my opinion. I think that Maisie Williams needs to do less talking and more acting. Kind of like her peers, such as Zendaya, Anya Taylor Joy and Julia Garner.

Why do I mention these great actresses? Because these actresses, do more ACTING and LESS talking. They work hard at their craft. And, it resulted in these actresses, winning tons of MAJOR ACTING AWARDS!!!

Zendaya - 2 Emmys for Best Lead Actress(Euphoria)

Julia Garner - 3 Emmys for Best Supporting Actress(Ozark)

Anya Taylor Joy - 1 Golden Globe Award and 1 SAG Award(The Queen's Gambit)

These young actresses, who are in the same age group as Maisie Williams, are reaping the rewards. All WITHOUT COMPLAINING ABOUT THINGS, PUBLICLY. While Maisie Williams is COMPLAINING ABOUT THINGS PUBLICLY. But, not receiving major awards.

Perhaps, Maisie Williams can learn a thing or two, from these young actresses. And, then Maybe. Just Maybe, she will begin reaping the rewards. Just like Zendaya, Julia Garner and Anya Taylor Joy.

Complaining about films and tv series, PUBLICLY, is NOT COOL. I challenge Maisie Williams, to do better. I believe in Maisie Williams. Just stop complaining.

2 • 2 years ago

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Edited By MigGui

@critical_eye: yes, of course. Maisie Williams is lacking Emmys because yesterday she made a one-line comment about how Game of Thrones didn't end well. There's a 1-1 correlation between the two facts.

Also, she's totally never doing that again because you challenged her!

4 • 2 years ago

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@critical_eye: All SHE said WAS THAT it fell off AT THE END. Don't CRUCIFY her for a minor COMMENT. And learn HOW to use the OBVIOUS bold and italics OPTIONS so that YOU don't HAVE to spam CAPS.

4 • 2 years ago

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@timthegem: BUT USING CAPS LOCK. SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE YELLING. WHICH IS FUN.

AND IF YOU USE BOTH BOLD AND CAPS. IT'S LIKE YOUR USING A MEGAPHONE!

2 • 2 years ago

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zyxe Moderator

@illegal_peanut: YOU ALL BETTER PLAY NICE YOU HEAR ????????

2 • 2 years ago

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@zyxe: Yes ma'am.

2 • 2 years ago

Use your keyboard!

ESC

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