Sci-Fi Author Andy Weir Would Rewrite This Controversial TV Show Finale

Do you, like me, hate the "Game of Thrones" series finale? We're in great company, because best-selling author Andy Weir feels the same way.

The writer behind "The Martian" and "Project Hail Mary" did a Reddit "ask me anything," or AMA, back in 2021 when the latter book was released (and long before "Project Hail Mary" got adapted into a hit 2026 movie starring Ryan Gosling). Obviously, Weir addressed a lot of topics in his AMA, but what we're talking about is a question from u/homerj35: "Hi Andy! If you could rewrite the ending to any book/movie which book/movie would you choose?"

Weir was unequivocal in his answer, save for a small typo. "Can I pick TV shows instead? I'm going to say yes," Weir responded. "I would rewrite the entire final season of 'Gam [sic] of Thrones.' That's a given."

To be fair, Weir did continue this train of thought, saying, "But more importantly: I would have changed the ending of 'Breaking Bad' to have Walter [White, played by Bryan Cranston] get away, and I would have changed the end of 'Dexter' to reveal that Dexter [Morgan, played by Michael C. Hall] is at the logging camp because he's tracking Walter, who is hiding out there." 

I'm here to consider the "Game of Thrones" of it all, though (even though, frankly, that's a pretty funny crossover idea for "Breaking Bad" and "Dexter"). I'll admit, right now, that I am not personally an enormous fan of Weir's prose — it skews a little more towards mathematical equations than I'd honestly like — but maybe he should take a crack at rewriting that last season of "Game of Thrones." He does know how to craft a good story.

While I know there are defenders of the "Game of Thrones" finale right here at /Film, I want to say, to my esteemed colleagues: They are wrong, and Andy Weir and I are right. In fact, I firmly believe that "Game of Thrones" lost its way in the show's seventh season. 

If you binge-watch the entire series, the drop-off in quality of dialogue and storytelling between the Season 6 finale and the Season 7 premiere is absolutely astonishing, and not in a good way. Starting in Season 7, beloved characters like Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) become weird, sad caricatures of their former selves, distilled down to their most shallow essences. (Tyrion is "sassy," Daenerys is a "girl boss," Jon is "honorable." After Season 7 kicks off, not one of these characters ever steps outside of these binaries.) 

It's not just the dialogue and the bizarre character assassinations that makes the final stretch of "Game of Thrones" so tragically bad; it's also the breakneck pace of the shortened two final seasons. (Yes, I am going beyond Weir's critique here, and without any reason to believe this, I bet he'd agree with me.) Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss clearly wanted to exit the franchise as quickly as possible, so they could make their own "Star Wars" (which got canceled), and made the decision to abbreviate both Season 7 and the final Season 8, which just dragged the quality of the show down even further. It's funny to me, though, that Weir is one of the people sounding the alarm about how badly the end of "Game of Thrones" sucked, because he's a good ... storyteller. 

Again, I want to say this right now: My misgivings about Andy Weir's style of writing is not any sort of definitive statement. This is, obviously, very subjective. (Please don't email me mean stuff about this opinion! Spend your one wild and precious life doing literally anything else!) With that said, I am not going to sit here and pretend that Weir isn't a truly talented storyteller. Both "The Martian" and "Project Hail Mary" prove that quite handily. The latter is an especially gripping story as we watch a lone astronaut and recent middle school science teacher (Ryan Gosling's Dr. Ryland Grace) attempt to save the universe alongside a shockingly adorable alien.

The whole conceit of the "Game of Thrones" finale is, ironically, about which character has the "best story" at the end of the day. Tyrion, who gets stupid in Season 7 and never recovers, somehow argues, while actively incarcerated, that Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), a character who skipped an entire season of "Game of Thrones" because his story wasn't interesting enough to feature, has the "best story" and should be crowned as King of the Seven Kingdoms. (Sure. Whatever.)

Honestly, that's what makes Weir's assessment of the end of "Game of Thrones" particularly funny to me. Whatever this guy is lacking (for me!!!) as a writer is completely irrelevant when you consider that Weir is a one-of-a-kind storyteller. I said it before, and I'll say it again: if "the best story" is paramount, I think we should find out how Weir would structure the conclusion of "Game of Thrones." 

For now, you can watch the (bad) final season of "Game of Thrones" on HBO Max, and "Project Hail Mary" is available on VOD.