‘Game of Thrones’ Star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Reveals He ‘Almost Wanted’ to Sign Finale Remake Petition

Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau recently revealed that he was tempted to sign the petition to remake the series’ ending himself. The actor admitted he was amused by the backlash to the final season of the show, where he played Jaime Lannister and thought it would be interesting to see what it would take for HBO to act on the petition.

Coster-Waldau addressed the controversy around Game of Thrones Season 8 in an interview with Variety on Friday. He said he “didn’t follow it at all,” but added: “Obviously, I heard about it. I was aware of the petition for a new ending, which I thought was hilarious. I almost wanted to donate to that petition. HBO saying, ‘You’re right, so many people want it, we’re going to do it,’” he laughed.

Coster-Waldau was not the only one laughing at the idea of a petition forcing HBO to remake the massive series finale. Even fans who criticized the ending harshly on social media cast doubts on such efforts and suggested that they could only serve to hurt the feelings of the cast and crew who worked hard on the series. Coster-Waldau, at least, took the outcry in stride.

“I think everyone had their own opinion,” he said. “I find the world of fandom really interesting. Everyone wanted something specific and different from what they got. It’s a combination of — you imagine an ending; but also, I think if you’re a hardcore fan, it was really upsetting that it ended.”

“You lived with this for eight seasons. There is still a massive community dedicated to Game of Thrones. I think there was a real fear that was going to go away. It had to end,” he added.

As for his own feelings on the ending, Coster-Waldau was not very specific. Asked what he would change if he were in charge, he said: “Oh, how did it end? He was — no, it was fine. It was great. It was fine. How do you end that story? Let’s talk about this in 10 years, then you can talk about it. But now, I think it’s a little too recent.”

Fans’ feelings around the Game of Thrones finale were tied up in all kinds of factors, from the fact that the books themselves are still not done to the ripple effects of criticisms from other seasons. As media critic Lindsay Ellis pointed out, this backlash was a rare case where most of the anger was directed towards the writers and showrunners, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Benioff and Weiss confirmed that HBO would have gladly given the show more seasons to flesh out its various storylines and bring it to a close, but said that they themselves wanted it to end. Author George R.R. Martin also said that he would have preferred it to go on to 10 seasons or more. Martin has also hinted that the ending to his novels will be different, but also similar in some mysterious ways. He has been hard at work on the next book, The Winds of Winter, over the last few months.