What ‘Game of Thrones’ Fans Think About Record-Breaking Emmy Nominations

HBO and the creative minds behind “Game of Thrones” might be patting themselves on the back following the show’s record-breaking 32 Emmy nominations for its final season, but fans of the series are still expressing anger over how the show came to an end and the decision to reward what many felt was a sub-par effort.

The series, which ended after eight seasons in May, took 18 nominations in technical categories as well as 14 others, including the heavyweight awards like “Outstanding Drama Series” and several for the show’s cast. Still, fans aren’t happy about the news, specifically the fact that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who wrote and directed the series finale “The Iron Throne,” were up for awards in both categories for the episode.

However, some did feel that several of the nominations were earned, even if the pones for Benioff and Weiss were overwhelming panned.

“Hope the acting wins, [expletive] the showrunners and the horrible script and congrats to sound, costume and the others who worked hard night and day,” one fan wrote.

Overall, the final season’s nominations saw the first time several of the series’ stars even received recognition for their work. While Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Maisie Williams and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau have all been nominated for their roles in the series in the past (with Dinklage winning three Emmys in the past), the 2019 nominations mark the first ones for Sophie Turner, Gwendoline Christie, Alfie Allen and Carice van Houten.

The news of the nominations and backlash to some of them comes on the heels of George R.R. Martin speaking out about particular plot points in the final season that played out on screen which are expected to still be a part of his final novels for the series, revealing that even if fans didn’t like how the story ended, he has no plans on changing things just to avoid backlash of his own.

“Because you’ve been planning for a certain ending and if you suddenly change direction just because somebody figured it out, or because they didn’t like it, then it screws up the whole structure,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “So no, I don’t read the fan sites. I want to write the book I’ve always intended to write all along. And when it comes out they can like it or they can not like it.”