HBO President of Programming Breaks Silence on 'Game of Thrones' Fan Petition to Remake Season 8

When you think about the final season of HBO's smash hit Game of Thrones, you might remember Arya Stark's big kill, Daenerys Targaryen's shocking conclusion, or even Jon Snow reuniting with Ghost. But more than likely, your mind will first go to the fan reaction to the series' conclusion, which was...less than pleasant.

As many are very much aware, a Change.org petition was even created by angry fans prior to the extremely divisive finale, calling for the season to be remade with "competent writers." At the time of this story, it has over 1,694,500 signatures and counting. While the likelihood of the petition actually working is obviously very slim, multiple GoT stars have spoken about how upsetting it is nonetheless.

Now, HBO's President of Programming, Casey Bloys, is discussing the petition for the first time publicly, confirming that it has no chance of affecting the already finished final season. According to Variety, the network head explained at HBO’s summer TCA press tour:

“There are very, very few downsides to having a hugely popular show, but one I can think of is when you try to end it, many people have big opinions on how it should end. The petition shows a lot of enthusiasm and passion for the show, but it wasn’t something that we seriously considered.”

Bloys also touched upon the Game of Thrones prequel series in the works, revealing that shooting has wrapped, as well as sharing that the Season 8 backlash apparently hasn't influenced the process while making the new show.

It goes without saying that the final season of Thrones was completely ripped apart by fans, but considering how many Emmy nominations it just scored, along with the undoubtable excitement for the prequel, it looks like HBO will be alright.

This article also appears on Mental Floss.