Every Game of Thrones Star Who Said the Finale Missed the Mark

Game of Thrones was supposed to go out like a legend. Instead, its last lap face-planted so hard it still echoes. Fans are still salty, and they are not alone. Some of the people who helped build the show felt burned by how fast and loose the endgame played out. Case in point: Conleth Hill, the Irish actor behind Lord Varys, did not mince words about how it all went down.

Conleth Hill on Varys: rushed, messy, and no real goodbye

In a 2023 chat with The Times (UK), Hill said learning that Varys would be killed off in the second-to-last episode wrecked him. He was devastated at the time and even wondered if he was somehow to blame. The bigger issue for him wasn’t just the timing of the death; it was how the character he’d been carefully playing for years suddenly felt dulled and pushed around by plot.

"I felt that the last series was a bit rushed. I was inconsolable, but now I'm fine about it. I thought I'd done something wrong," Hill said.

Hill was proud of the show’s early run, but he did not hide his frustration with how Varys was handled at the end. The master of whispers, the political mastermind of the series, saw his intricate arc clipped without a proper epilogue. What really stuck in his craw: there was never a true final note to his long, razor-edged rivalry with Littlefinger. Littlefinger exits earlier, Varys exits late, and the chess match that defined so much of the show’s scheming never gets that last move.

The bigger gripe

Hill’s take lines up with what plenty of cast and fans felt about the finale: the writing sprinted when it should have breathed. He believes Varys lost his trademark intelligence over the final two seasons, like the character was bent to serve the outline instead of the outline serving the character. That disconnect, he suggested, didn’t just land wrong with viewers; it stung for the people making the show too.

• Hill learned Varys would die in the penultimate episode and says he was inconsolable at first.
• He initially feared he had done something wrong before realizing it was the plan all along.
• He felt the final season was rushed and the ultimate narrative flawed.
• No real payoff to the Varys–Littlefinger rivalry added to his frustration.
• He believes Varys’s sharp intelligence was stripped away in the last two seasons.
• He credits the show’s earlier years but thinks late-stage plotting felt forced.
• He isn’t alone; more than a few cast members have voiced heartbreak over how hurried the writing felt.

Bottom line: Hill’s candor puts words to what a lot of viewers sensed. The show that once obsessed over the long game decided to speed-run the finale, and characters like Varys paid the price.