Game of Thrones star John Bradley says the writers of the hit show “couldn’t win” when deciding how to end the series.
The actor, who plays bumbling Samwell Tarly, said the show had “almost meant too much” to some fans, meaning they would never be satisfied with the outcome.
The multi-award-winning HBO show, chronicling the bloody struggle for the Iron Throne, lasted for eight series, but its ending left some viewers disappointed.
“It was highly unlikely that we were ever going to please everybody,” Bradley told Variety.
“Chances are we were going to please a fraction of people.
“There are so many different permutations to it… and if we’d have gone with any one of these then everyone would have been unhappy about that one.
“We almost couldn’t win. It almost meant too much to people for them to really ever be satisfied.
Bradley, who appeared alongside Kit Harington’s Jon Snow for most of the series, said he hoped fans would be able to “re-evaluate” Game Of Thrones once “wounds have healed a little bit”.
“(The writers) did get a lot of criticism for it and people were putting their ability… into dispute.
“You feel like saying ‘they were still in charge (when) you loved it… and when you thought it was the best thing you’d ever seen’.
“All the way along and all the bits you remember, none of them would have happened if they hadn’t been in control. So maybe they’re due a bit of a break.”
It comes ahead of the opening of the only officially-licensed Game of Thrones Studio Tour attraction in Northern Ireland.
The £40 million venue in Co Down has been described by Stormont Economy Minister, Gordon Lyons, as “game-changing” for the region.
The series was mostly filmed on location and in studios across the area and has brought visitors from across the world even years after the finale aired in 2019.
A HBO spin-off series, House Of The Dragon, starring Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans has also begun production.
The series, based on George RR Martin’s Fire & Blood and set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, tells the story of House Targaryen.