- Select members of the Game of Thrones cast appeared at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 this weekend for the show's final panel at the annual fan event.
- During the panel discussion, the cast members poked fun at the show's "Coffee Cup Gate" controversy and defended the divisive final season.
- At one point, when Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who played Jaime Lannister on the hit HBO series, defended his character's controversial death scene, the crowd actually booed. Cost-Waldau eventually called for civility from fans upset by Game of Thrones' final season.
The Game of Thrones cast took the stage in Hall H this weekend for their last San Diego Comic-Con panel for the show, which aired its series finale earlier this year.
Granted, the full Game of Thrones cast wasn't present, but Westeros still sent a solid showing to the annual fan convention. Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), and Conleth Hill (Varys) all spoke on the panel, poking fun at Coffee Cup Gate and answering questions about the final season.
The fans in the audience were not so pleased with their answers, however. The HBO hit's final season was infamously divisive, with many fans taking issue with everything from specific characters' arcs to the pacing of the episodes.
Coster-Waldau drew actual boos from the crowd when he defended his character's death (in the arms of his sister/lover, Cersei), which left a bad taste in many fans' mouths.
He called the scene "great" and "perfect for that character’s ending."
"It made sense to me," the actor said, defending Jaime's demise, as fans in the crowd literally booed.
Other members of the panel defended the final season on a larger scale, with Hill blaming the perceived negative reception on a "media-led hate campaign" and Coster-Waldau ultimately calling on fans for civility.
"It comes to an end, it’s gonna piss you off no matter what because it’s the end," he said of the final season and all its backlash. "If you hated the ending, if you loved the ending, that’s great. Just don’t call people names."
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