“Game of Thrones” Aims to Match “Breaking Bad” Finale

David Benioff and Dan Weiss whisper secrets to Entertainment Weekly ahead of final season premiere.

Producers D.B Weiss (l) and David Benioff (r) and Emilia Clarke attend the "Game Of Thrones" Season 8 NY Premiere.
Producers D.B Weiss (l) and David Benioff (r) and Emilia Clarke attend the "Game Of Thrones" Season 8 NY Premiere.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO

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On Sunday, fans will get closer to finding out who wins and who dies in the Game of Thrones when the HBO series returns for its final seven-episode season.

Even before the first major character of the season gets offed by a white walker or eaten by a dragon, the show is entrenched as one of the most award-winning and highest rated dramas in television history. But its legacy won’t be truly known until the end credits roll on the final episode. So it’s no surprise that showrunners  David Benioff and Dan Weiss are anxiously waiting to find out how the fans will react—and where it will rank in the all-time pantheon.

“I remember talking with [director] Alan Taylor, who worked on our show and The Sopranos, whether “Don’t Stop Believin’” was a song (that series creator) David Chase liked or whether it’s a song David Chase loathed but thought Tony Soprano would like. And there’s not even an answer to that,” Weiss told Entertainment Weekly. 

“I’m hoping we get the Breaking Bad [finale] argument where it’s like, “Is that an A or an A+?” I want that to be the argument.”

Actually there is a dissatisfied contingent of Sopranos fans who didn’t appreciate the ambiguous final shot. Benioff isn’t one of them.

“Once it cuts to black, the show’s over. Either way, it works for me,” he told the magazine. “Somebody put together that long detailed explanation of why Tony’s dead. It’s incredibly convincing. But at the same time, that’s not part of the show. Once it cuts to black nobody knows, and that’s what great about it.

“The only sad part is nobody can ever do that ending again.”

Which is probably good news for Game of Thrones fans looking for a resolution.

“We want people to love it. It matters a lot to us; we’ve spent 11 years doing this,” said Weiss. “We also know no matter what we do, even if it’s the optimal version, that a certain number of people will hate the best of all possible versions.

“There is no version where everybody says, ‘I have to admit, I agree with every other person on the planet that this is the perfect way to do this’ — that’s an impossible reality that doesn’t exist.”

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