Game of Thrones fans are calling on HBO to remake the show’s final season, circulating a petition that is fast approaching one million signatures. The petition cites the show’s “woefully incompetent” writers, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who they themselves admit to planning on being “very drunk” and “in an undisclosed location” when the final episode airs on Sunday night.
“David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have proven themselves to be woefully incompetent writers when they have no source material (i.e. the books) to fall back on,” states the petition, “This series deserves a final season that makes sense.”
The petition, entitled, “Remake Game of Thrones Season 8 with competent writers,” has garnered over 800,000 signatures as of Friday morning.
The popular series — which is an adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s best-selling book series, “A Song of Fire and Ice” — had ventured beyond the timeline of the published books by the start of Season 6, leaving the fate of the show’s plot line to writers Benioff and Weiss.
Martin did note, however, that he had advised Benioff and Weiss of the “major points” he envisioned for the series, adding that “there may also be changes” made by the showrunners. Well, according to frustrated fans, those anticipated “changes” seem to be most prevalent in Season 8, which is capped at just six episodes.
The last two Game of Thrones episodes aired thus far have tanked in ratings, according to the review-aggregating website, Rotten Tomatoes, which scores Episode 4, “The Last of the Starks,” at 57 percent, and Episode 5, “The Bells,” at 47 percent. The low ratings have dropped the average score for Season 8 down to 71 percent, with the show’s other seasons scoring at no lower than 91 percent.
“I don’t want these two anywhere near Star Wars, either. This was abysmal,” read the top-liked comment in the petition’s “reasons for signing” section. The comment is in reference to Benioff and Weiss having been recently slated to write and produce a new Star Wars trilogy.
Below are just a few more of the many “reasons for signing” expressed by Game of Thrones fans in the petition.
“Terrible terrible season. Makes no sense. All the build up was for nothing. We deserve a redo.”
“I feel very let down, the series has lacked depth and has felt unstructured. It feels like it is just something to be gotten over and done with and this season should have been the most intense, the most complex of them all.”
“The season was out of character.”
“This whole season feels rushed and underdeveloped. I’m so disappointed!”
“GOT is now like the best relationship you ever had… that ended with hating the person and regretting all those fun memories we once had.”
“Game of thrones is ruined!”
“Season 8 feels like an insult to everyone, from the cast and crew to the loyal fans. No one wanted GoT to end except Benioff and Weiss. HBO should have let them walk and given the reigns to other writers.”
“It’s very bad.”
Benioff and Weiss recently alluded to their concerns regarding backlash from outraged fans, telling Entertainment Weekly that they plan to be “very drunk” and “in an undisclosed location” for the big debut of the Game of Thrones series finale, which will air on Sunday night.
“We’ll be in an undisclosed location, turning off our phones and opening various bottles,” said Weiss, “At some point, if and when it’s safe to come out again, somebody like [HBO’s GoT publicist Mara Mikialian] will give us a breakdown of what was out there without us having to actually experience it.”
“I plan to be very drunk and very far from the internet,” added Benioff.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo and on Instagram.