TV

Rick and Morty creators defend the final season of Game of Thrones

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Published on June 20, 2019 10:02AM EDT

The final season of Game of Thrones received a perhaps unprecedented level of fandom criticism for the otherwise acclaimed HBO fantasy sensation, but the minds behind another otherworldly hit have a rather positive take.

EW asked Rick and Morty series creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland to offer their assessment of GoT season 8, and the duo gave some detailed thoughts (spoilers follow).

“I was afraid to watch it for a while because I didn’t want it to end,” Harmon said. “I wanted to keep this soap opera in my life. But I knew it had to end, and I was as satisfied as I possibly could be watching a staple in my life wrap up and all of the characters taking each other out.”

Continued Harmon: “As a showrunner, I was amazed at the amount they were able to accomplish — especially given the meta-reality of having run out of books to adapt. Watching The Hound fight The Mountain on the stairs, I was like, ‘This is all great, man.’ I was aware of the disappointment factor with [Daenerys Targaryen’s] dark turn. I’m not going to say fans are too cynical and ungrateful, but I guess I did just say that.”

Then Roiland offered his thoughts. “I echo all of Dan’s sentiments about the show,” he said. “Structurally, I think it was great. I just selfishly wanted more episodes. I wanted to get to those plot points at a slower pace. I didn’t want it to end either. I wished it was stepped out over three more seasons, or three of four more episodes.

“There’s not going to be another show that big,” Roiland added. “I shouldn’t say that because there’s always something potentially looming around the corner. But that show was a phenomenon. It was insanely big. Everybody was watching it. And I love [GoT showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss], they’re f—ing awesome guys.”

Benioff and Weiss were among the first in the Hollywood creative community to publicly praise the Adult Swim animated comedy, and the show has made references to GoT in the past. The GoT showrunners also provided a DVD audio commentary track to the season 3 breakout episode “Pickle Rick.”

After a two-year hiatus, Rick and Morty returns to Adult Swim for its fourth season in November.