‘I was inconsolable’: Game of Thrones star shares honest thoughts on last two seasons
Actor reveals disagreements between HBO and showrunners
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Game of Thrones star Conleth Hill, who played Lord Varys in Game of Thrones, has revealed he wasn’t very keen on the final two seasons of the HBO fantasy epic.
The series, based on George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, ended in 2019 with a finale that was infamously unpopular with many fans.
Speaking in an interview with The Times, Hill, 58, said the reason fans might not have liked the final season was because HBO and the series showrunners, David Benioff and DB Weiss, did not see eye to eye.
Hill explained that disagreements between the studio and the show’s creators in the final season, which went beyond the source material, led to baffling plotlines.
“Right up until the last two series, I had no complaints at all,” Hill told the publication. “I just felt frustrated with the last couple of [seasons] because Varys wasn’t the all-knowing character he had been.
“I think the writers wanted to do one thing to end it and the studio HBO wanted to do another. I felt that last [season] was a bit rushed. I was inconsolable, but now I’m fine about it.”
In the show, Lord Varys was executed by dragon fire for trying to ensure that Jon Snow (Kit Harington) asserted his claim to the Iron Throne over his aunt, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). He was also given no closure with his political rival, Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen).
Speaking in an interview about Game of Thrones ending in 2019, Benioff said: “HBO would have been happy for the show to keep going, to have more episodes in the final season.” Explaining that he and Weiss had refused, he added: “As much as they wanted more, they understood that this is where the story ends.”
Hill is currently starring in The Power of Parker, a Nineties-set BBC One sitcom about a middle-aged love triangle.
In a four-star review for The Independent, Sean O’Grady wrote: “The Power of Parker has some pleasingly sharp dialogue and the odd well-executed sight gag, but it’s more of a simmering sort of suspenseful drama than a comedy boiling over with laughs, and all the better for it – an engaging sort of romp (double entendre intended).
“It carries us along because the situation is intriguing and sufficiently tense for an audience to actually care about what will befall this weird middle-aged love triangle. It’s also replete with some warmly redolent period touches – this is a world of Breville sandwich toasters, cheese and pineapple snack “hedgehogs”, casual sexism, pink bathroom suites and smoking at your desk.
And the choice of incidental music is impeccable – Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Human League, Bananarama, Soft Cell and, an especially nice surprise, Toyah Wilcox.”
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