Peter Dinklage Has A Major Criticism For The Game Of Thrones Prequel
Peter Dinklage isn't thrilled about the Game of Thrones prequel!
This article is more than 2 years old
Peter Dinklage has some thoughts on the highly anticipated upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series titled House of the Dragon, and they’re not necessarily favorable. Thanks to work like Cyrano and My Dinner with Herve, it’s possible to think of Peter Dinklage without thinking of Game of Thrones. However, after the show became one of the most culturally popular in recent memory, the actor’s Emmy Award-winning work as the character Tyrion Lannister made it so that one cannot think of Game of Thrones without thinking of Peter Dinklage.
The actor was nominated for nine Emmys for his role and brought home four of them. As a result, when he shares his thoughts on HBO’s decision to do a prequel series, most fans were all ears. The Hollywood Reporter notes he appeared with comedian Marc Maron during a recent episode of his WTF podcast. In it, Peter Dinklage shared that he’s fine with the new series being done and even believes it will be quite good. However, he notes that it has one thing counting against it that Game of Thrones will be forever able to boast.
Peter Dinklage pointed out that HBO executives in 2011 took a massive risk on the fantasy drama. At the time, names like George R.R. Martin and titles like A Song of Ice and Fire lived in relative obscurity until the network decided to give it prime placement. Peter Dinklage told the host that the network is currently under new management and is simply doing the artless task of betting on a tried-and-true property that will likely net it millions of dollars and thousands of viewers. However, is that commendable artistically?
Sadly, Peter Dinklage stops short of answering that question. That said, by posing it at all, one can draw some conclusions about his thoughts on the matter. It’s worth noting, though, that he does not condemn the show ahead of its premiere. He explains that the minds behind it are people he respects and worked with on Game of Thrones. Therefore, he has every confidence in them.
In fact, Peter Dinklage’s confidence in Game of Thrones has seemingly never wavered even as the most diehard fans turned their backs on the series following its less-than-stellar conclusion. It’s not exactly a controversial statement to simply note that the final season of the show did not live up to expectations of quality nor… well, frankly, good taste.
In a recent New York Times interview, Peter Dinklage blamed high expectations rather than creator execution for the poor reception to the final episodes. He praised the series for not giving people the happy ending they may have wanted in favor of an ending that makes just enough sense to not be laughable. He instead praised the conclusion for subverting expectations.
Although his statements were controversial, Peter Dinklage may be onto something when it comes to fan expectations. If Game of Thrones and How I Met Your Mother should have taught us anything, it’s that making your show payoff-based is a recipe for disaster. Fandom is an endless well of ideas that’s constantly churning out bookends to beloved stories before the actual creators are done. If that ending is based on something as simple as answering the question “who wins the game of thrones?” creators may not be able to beat the entirety of the Internet in coming up with the best answer, so they settle for the most subversive. That’s likely why the new show is titled House of Dragons and takes place in the world’s known history of the past and not Who Will Run The House of Dragons? or something payoff-based like that.
