The stars of the much talked about series, Game of Thrones (GoT), reunited for the first time following the show’s massive season finale [in May] at the recently concluded Comic Con 2019, which was held in San Diego, California.
Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Conleth Hill (Lord Varys), and Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm) came together to attend a panel about the hit HBO show at the convention.
The appearance came a few days after the show received 32 Emmy nominations.
GoT has always been one of the biggest panels at Comic Con, and no year has been bigger and more controversial than 2019. While showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were supposed to attend the convention, they pulled out two days prior to the event due to scheduling conflicts. This resulted in the cast clearing the air and addressing the fan backlash against the final season and viral petition going around that is asking for an alternative season 8 finale.
“Each member of the cast had a cheeky coffee cup waiting for them at their seats, a witty reference to the cup which was mistakenly left on set during the final season and was spotted by every single person who watched the show. Headlined by the hero of Winterfell herself Maisie Williams, the panel was an hour-long trip down memory lane, with the cast reminiscing about what they stole from the set, their favourite lines, what they’ll miss most about being on Thrones, and speculating as to what’s next for each character,” Variety reported.
According to Vanity Fair, the panel kicked off with an unprecedented call for civility from Comic Con director of programming Eddie Ibrahim. Mostly answering softball ‘what if?’ questions from their moderator, the cast did manage to clear up one or two lingering mysteries from the controversial last and final season.
“Maisie Williams provided the most valuable moment of clarity when she debunked, without hesitation, the notion that Arya Stark had any help whatsoever in defeating the Night King in episode 3. A flimsy (and frankly rather misogynistic) theory based on, I suppose, the fandom’s expectations that Jon Snow might do something more useful than just scream at an undead dragon, proposed that Arya’s brother (cousin) had intentionally distracted Viserion in order to let Arya by. ‘NO’, Williams said. We can, of course, consider the Battle of Winterfell a team effort. (After all, Melisandre did a hard night’s work.) But the ultimate kill, here, goes to Arya and Arya alone,” reported Vanity Fair.
Conleth Hill first joked that he was the one behind the viral petition that called for GoT to redo its entire eighth season. “I don’t regret starting the petition,” he quipped, according to Variety, but he soon thanked the fans and said the media was to blame for the ruckus. “We’re very grateful for your fandom over the years and I think this is the reality rather than a media-led hate campaign,” Hill added.
Later Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who brought Jaime Lannister to life, weighed in saying there was no way the show could please everyone with its ending. The recently Emmy nominated actor also joked about the online petition that some disgruntle fans posted advocating a rewriting of the eighth and final season that ended on May 19.
“Of course HBO is going to change the whole thing. That’s the power of the internet. When it comes to the end it’s going to piss you off not matter how it ends, because it’s the end. Just don’t call people names,” he said.
Towards the end, each cast member took turns to reveal their favourite line from the show. Coster-Waldau chose the iconic “Hold the door”; Williams opted for “Not today” and Jacob Anderson, perhaps predictably, went with “Valar Morghulis” as his favourite.
– With information from Vanity Fair and Variety.
