Entertainment

Sophie Turner Has Some *Thoughts* About That 'Game Of Thrones' Petition

Helen Sloan/HBO

Game of Thrones may be one of the most popular TV shows in the world, but that doesn't mean it's immune to criticism. Season 8 in particular came under heavy fire by fans and critics alike who felt the character development and storylines had fallen by the wayside. In fact, that disappointment prompted the start of a petition to completely redo Season 8 with better writing. But while fans may feel justified in this demand, Sophie Turner's comments about the Game of Thrones petition makes it clear that she does not agree with this course of action and feels like it's a very "disrespectful" thing to do.

Turner spoke to The New York Times in a post-finale interview on Monday, where she discussed how she was feeling now that the series is over with for good. "This whole time I felt like I’ve been prepared for it, and now that it’s come to the day and it’s over, it feels horrible," she told the outlet. However, the conversation then shifted to all the backlash the show had received during its final season, though Turner admitted that she wasn't surprised by that part of it at all. "Honestly, I’m not surprised," she stated. "People always have an idea in their heads of how they want a show to finish, and so when it doesn’t go to their liking, they start to speak up about it and rebel."

As for the petition, which has now accumulated more than 1.3 million signatures, Turner is not so understanding, telling The New York Times:

"All of these petitions and things like that — I think it’s disrespectful to the crew, and the writers, and the filmmakers who have worked tirelessly over 10 years, and for 11 months shooting the last season. Like 50-something night shoots. So many people worked so, so hard on it, and for people to just rubbish it because it’s not what they want to see is just disrespectful."

Turner isn't alone in her criticism over the fan outcry for a redo, though. Kit Harington also addressed the fan backlash during an interview with Esquire, and let's just say that the former King in the North didn't hold back any punches. "How I feel about the show right now is quite defiant," Harington said, adding:

"I think no matter what anyone thinks about this season—and I don't mean to sound mean about critics here—but whatever critic spends half an hour writing about this season and makes their [negative] judgement on it, in my head they can go f*ck themselves. 'Cause I know how much work was put into this. I know how much people cared about this. I know how much pressure people put on themselves and I know how many sleepless nights working or otherwise people had on this show. Because they cared about it so much. Because they cared about the characters. Because they cared about the story. Because they cared about not letting people down."

Isaac Hempstead Wright, who played Bran Stark, echoed similar sentiments, telling The Hollywood Reporter that the petition is "just absurd." He went on to tell the outlet:

"I can't even fathom it. It's just ridiculous," he said. "It's ridiculous that people think they can just demand a different ending because they don't like it. I have stupidly taken it quite personally, which obviously I shouldn't. In my opinion, it's a great ending."

Meanwhile, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau took a more comical stance on the matter by not addressing the petition directly, but rather calling for another petition to get us an Arya Stark-centric spinoff series. "I know they're doing all these prequels, but what about a sequel with Arya?" he said in a video he posted on Instagram on Monday. "How about a petition? An online petition to HBO that they do a sequel with Arya Stark."

Needless to say, none of the actors really seem onboard with remaking Season 8. They're ready to move on and hopefully once the dust (or maybe it's ash?) settles a bit in the coming weeks, fans will be able to do the same.