The story of the Game of Thrones panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 continues to be so juicy we should probably just name it the king of Westeros for no reason. The Hall H event was set to be the first public appearance and interview from showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss following the highly divisive eighth and final season of HBO's fantasy mega-hit. However, an updated list of attendees from HBO notes that Benioff and Weiss had to pull out, along with director Miguel Sapochnik ("The Long Night", "The Bells") and cast members Nathalie Emmanuel and Iain Glen. [UPDATE: HBO chalked Benioff and Weiss' absence up to “production and scheduling conflicts”, according to io9.]
For the record, the list of people still participating is an A+ list of extremely charming human beings who probably don't deserve to get bombarded with questions about why Drogon burned the Iron Throne: John Bradley, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jacob Anderson, Liam Cunningham, Conleth Hill, Maisie Williams, Isaac Hempstead Wright.
But still, this is a huge bummer. I was dying to know what the atmosphere would be like in that room with Benioff and Weiss in attendance. Comic-Con is a characteristically positive crowd that's more about hype than criticism, but man...Game of Thrones season 8. What a thing. And the fact that this would've been the very first chance to ask the showrunners about their decisions? Would there have been boos sprinkled in, like when Johnny Depp showed up during the Crimes of Grindelwald panel in 2018? Would the notoriously strict HBO try and somehow make sure there wasn't?
Alas, now we'll never know. Meanwhile, no amount of low Rotten Tomatoes scores and possible Hall H boos could stop Game of Thrones from notching 32 Emmy nominations yesterday, a record for a single season of television. As for Benioff and Weiss, they're busy plotting their own trilogy in a galaxy far, far away. See you at D23, maybe?
For more on what you can expect at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, check out the links below:
- Exclusive: Here’s the Funko Button Being Given Away at the Russo Brothers Comic-Con Panel
- Exclusive: Mondo’s SDCC Posters Will Include ‘IT’, ‘Batman’, ‘The World’s End’ and More
- Netflix Bringing ‘The Witcher’ and ‘The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’ to San Diego Comic-Con
- Marvel Making a Return to Hall H for San Diego Comic-Con 2019
