Kristofer Hivju caused a bit of a stir at the Game of Thrones BFI event this week with a particular announcement. The actor, who played the redheaded wildling Tormund since season 3, claimed that the show shot another ending in addition to the controversial one shown in the series finale, “The Iron Throne.”
“Well, we shot an alternative ending,” he reportedly told Metro. “That was mostly for fun but I don’t know if I’m allowed to tell you about that.” The actor declined to provide details for the outlet such as outcomes or other performers involved in the alternative scenes.
Probably for the simple reason that the “alternative ending” does not exist. (Unfortunately for those who had their hearts set on a juicy Blu-ray extra!)
We checked in with a few sources at HBO today, and they all confirmed that Hivju must have been having a bit of fun with the press at the event. No alternative endings were filmed for season 8.
In a way, it’s too bad. While I’m mostly comfortable with the finale, I would have liked to see what else they whipped up just to throw us off the scent.
Oh, and speaking of the Game of Thrones Season 8 home release, we’ll be kicking off a huge giveaway next Monday, so be sure to stop by next week to enter!
#Season8IsBrilliant
”Oh, and speaking of the Game of Thrones Season 8 home release, we’ll be kicking off a huge giveaway next Monday, so be sure to stop by next week to enter!”
Yippee!!! Another giveaway! 🎁
There probably were several alternate endings, they were just done on cell phones and included singalongs and the coronation of the pasty queen. 😁 #longmayshereign
HBO would never disclose the truth about the other scenes filmed, so they are not a reliable source of information.
These scenes were designed to throw off the fans and confuse the leaks, but they were filmed, and they probably involved a script, i.e. Jon Snow kneeling before Cersei at the battlements of Dubrovnik. Full costumes, cast (KH, LH, ST at least, D&D, cameramen, lots of people were involved in it, it was far too public). From those scenes they filmed at Dubrovnik, they kept Jon Snow coming down from the walls and probably meeting Sansa on the quay. Part of that scene was perhaps filmed also in the studio, because fans reports from Dubrovnik didn’t have MW and IHR also on location. But ST was definitely sighted.
There’s more scenes, but I won’t talk about them. Lots of people were involved in them, so there was talk.
Whether these scenes added up to a whole different ending, however, it’s doubtful at this point. I’ll hold a small doubt just because Chr.H. would know better, since he was on the inside.
In general the ending, meaning especially ep. 8, seemed retconned to me, as if it was the ending to a different story. But this is a complex thought and I don’t know why it would stand as against attributing the weird finale to a simple failure.
Efi,
Deleted scenes do exist, but they’re generally from earlier in the season. There is no alternate ending though- as in, all the major storyline beats are where they’re supposed to be.
Metro isn’t the most reliable source. The article goes on to say:
“You’d struggle to find a Game of Thrones fan who wasn’t shipping Tormund and Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) until he dumped her and fled to King’s Landing to be with Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey)”
So we can draw our own conclusions as to the accuracy of their reporting.
Sue the Fury,
Thanks for replying Sue!
I’m not talking about deleted scenes, I’m talking about other scenes that were never meant to be included but were filmed anyway. I think they’re more related to the insane security measures this season, meaning they were filmed for confusing the leakers.
I don’t think that there was an alternative ending either.
😃🤦♂️
Grandmaester Flash,
Jaime: “And after all that, this fucker just comes south and takes her from me. Just takes her, like that. **camera slowly pans to Bran** I mean it, Stark. My heart is broken. **puts golden hand on shoulder**
Bran: “Don’t touch me.”
So it is confirmed, Hot Pie was meant to be on the throne.
House words: Never Give Up On The Gravy.
Well this article was pointless lol
*sigh* If only. I’d take Ned waking up and telling Cat that he’d just had the most horrible dream…xD Pointless “news,” but it would be nice to find some surprise bonus scenes on the Blu-rays (e.g., the Jon/Cersei and perhaps others that were seen or heard of last year but unused, or only filmed as red herrings…)
Would’ve made more sense than the scene we got in the Dragonpit 🙂
Hot Pie of House Pie, The First of His Name, Baker of Pies, The Unburnt, King of the Sous-chefs, the Sauciers, and the Bakers, Protector of the Kitchen, Breaker of Cherrys, and Father of Gravy
Yeah, they really missed a trick not having Hot Pie in at the end.
Mr Derp,
Long may be bake, I mean reign.
kevin1989,
I wonder what the House sigil would be or the House motto. A frying pan? A pie?
“What is dough may never rise, but rises again after you knead it”?
“Supper is Coming”?
Ya know, if it wasn’t for Hot Pie, Arya would’ve killed Cersei and the Seven Kingdoms would’ve united to fight the AOTD. Thanks Hot Pie!
He’ll probably end up being Bran’s personal chef. They orchestrated all of this together from day one!
Mr Derp,
A slice a pie with a spoon that spills Gravy on the pie.
“Better baked than fried”
But I hope that his family won’t become inbreads 😉
Damn what a dick, hope his gravy turns sour.
I have a lot of fun with the Dragonpit scene. What’s wrong with it?
Haha I love the idea of him trolling the trolls, almost in response to the troll fabricating the recent D&D interview to fit their agenda.
Too bad. Political!Jon is the hill many people still live on.
Why was it so easy for the lords at the Dragonpit meeting to agree on Bran being king? None of them know what a Three-Eyed Raven is nor do they have any connection to the Old Gods up North. Bran also has no claim to the throne.
Tyrion said they should ignore the line of succession because the sons of kings/queens are often terrible like Joffrey. Ending the line of succession is “breaking the wheel”. It’s stopping a bad system. However, this could also lead to more conflict.
Tyrion said that each new king would be chosen by the lords of Westeros, meaning that every time a king dies, there would be a new uncertainty. At least with the old system there was some stability. Now anyone can be king, so it could turn into a free-for-all every time a king dies.
Right after this, Sansa stated that everyone would be ruled by Bran, but the North would be ruled by Sansa. It’s a total Stark coup. How is everyone just going along with this?
Sansa also set a precedent for kingdoms to secede, so there could easily be rebellions in the future.
Yara wanted the Ironborn to be granted independence in season 6, yet by the end of season 8 she kinda forgot about that and was completely cool with being ruled by Bran. This makes no sense.
Dorne also has a long and proud history of being independent, and they should be in a strong position at the end of season 8 since their armies went untouched in the recent wars, but this random unnamed prince just handed over Dorne to the Starks? This whole show was about ambitious noble families fighting and scheming for power, but now, in this one scene, all the great houses agree to give up their power to a strange psychic kid because he “has a good story”.
Why was the ending we got…”controversial”?! Does everything these days have to be controversial and divisive?
Whether people liked it or not is another matter. To each his own.