Game of Thrones’ final season came to what was inarguably a divisive end. The controversy led a million people to sign a petition against Season 8 -- and the showrunners who wrote it -- and those feelings will still be pretty fresh by Friday, July 19. That is when Game of Thrones’ showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will join some of the cast at San Diego Comic-Con.
HBO's Comic-Con announcement was met with some strong reactions from Game of Thrones fans on the subreddit /r/freefolk. One user, shhphoenix, wrote that they wanted someone to “please dress up like Septa Unella and shame bell” the showrunners. That's a reference to Cersei Lannister’s “walk of shame” in Season 5, as Septa Unella rang a bell crying “shame!”
Others expressed a desire for such a scenario to play out. User AWildEnglishman said, “Maybe upon hearing the bells they'll flip out and burn down the convention for no reason. That'd be unexpected.” That comment is a reference to some fans’ frustration with Daenerys Targaryen's arc in the final season.
Game of Thrones will be bringing the following cast members to the show's Comic-Con panel in the storied Hall H:
Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei of Naath), Iain Glen (Ser Jorah Mormont), Conleth Hill (Varys), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark)
A few months ago, Conleth Hill, who will be at the Comic-Con panel, expressed his frustration over Varys being sidelined in the final seasons. Will he expand on those remarks while he is there? Time will tell. Hill has not been alone in sharing how he felt about the show. Lena Headey, who portrayed Cersei Lannister, said that she wanted a better death scene for Cersei.
Lena Headey will not be at the panel. Arya Stark actress Maisie Williams will be. Williams had shared that she wanted Arya to be the one to kill Cersei. She even thought that it would turn out that Arya was wearing Jaime's face as a mask in the Lannister siblings’ death scene. It was really Jaime, after all.
Game of Thrones director Miguel Sapochnik, who helmed "The Battle of the Bastards," will also be at Comic-Con. Sapochnik directed the final season’s penultimate episode and recently addressed the episode and Daenerys’ actions. He also directed the Battle of Winterfell episode, which was criticized for being difficult to see. The cinematographer subsequently defended the episode’s darkness. Will that issue come up again?
There is no shortage of things to discuss at the panel. From Jon Snow’s ending to that crushing Ghost scene and of course, the coffee cup and water bottle. It is a lot.
I would like to hear the showrunners weigh in on what happened with that pivotal deleted scene from Season 7 that Lena Headey revealed. Was it a part of canon or not? Why did they decide to go a different way? So many questions about that and lots more.
Iain Glen is also set to be at Game of Thrones’ Comic-Con panel. He expressed positive feelings on the way Ser Jorah Mormont went out. On that note, I just hope that fans will remember all of the good times that Game of Thrones gave them through the years. Without the people on the stage, none of that would have been possible. Just something to think about.
Game of Thrones’ eighth and final season is already available via digital. There are also a lot of summer premieres on television worth tuning in to see.
