Why Game Of Thrones' Sophie Turner Never Finished Watching The Final Season

Game of Thrones Sophie Turner Sansa Stark Kit Harington Jon Snow HBO
(Image credit: Helen Sloan / HBO)

Sophie Turner, who played a key role on Game of Thrones from the very first episode, hasn't finished watched the eighth and final season of the series. The HBO hit thrust Turner and her costars into the spotlight, and millions of viewers watched her journey from the first season to the last. Turner just isn't one of them.

You read that right. Sophie Turner shared some finale spoilers before Game of Thrones’ last season, but she has not watched the divisive drama's final episodes yet. Turner spoke about about the final season ending to Elle, saying this:

I haven’t watched it. I started watching when the last season started, and I was planning to watch the rest. But then I fell behind. And then I started reading all these comments online… I feel like you are never going to have everybody be satisfied with the ending. Especially a show that’s been going on for almost 10 years at that point. People have so many ideas of how they want it to end. You can’t make every fan happy.

Sophie Turner acknowledges that she started watching when Game of Thrones’ final season began. She planned to continue before falling behind. That is when Turner saw the comments about Game of Thrones’ last act online. Turner did not specify if she saw the intense backlash, but the objections to the final season were all over the internet.

It was at that point Sophie Turner stopped watching, and she has not finished yet. Game of Thrones ended last May, and Turner has been super busy since. From leading the Dark Phoenix movie to returning to television for the Quibi series Survive, Turner has remained active in entertainment.

As for urgency, Sophie Turner knows how her Game of Thrones character’s story ends, so there is no need to watch to learn that. Turner previously weighed in with her feelings about Sansa Stark’s ending on Game of Thrones, which saw the beleaguered Stark become Queen in the North. She has even speculated about what Sansa has gotten up to since the finale.

It is fair to say that Sophie Turner’s take on Sansa’s status was quite upbeat. Especially when you compare it to what Kristofer Hivju jokingly suggested Tormund and Jon Snow have been up to since Game of Thrones ended! As for why she has not watched the final season, Turner’s response acknowledges that it would have been impossible to make everybody happy.

Sophie Turner’s answer echoes that of her co-star, Maisie Williams, who played Sansa Stark’s fiery younger sister Arya. Ahead of Game of Thrones’ final season, Williams remarked that she did not know if anyone would be satisfied by the ending. To me, Turner’s take sounds similar. To be honest, Season 8 turned out to be an even more divisive season than I ever thought possible.

Sophie Turner is not alone when it comes to not watching Game of Thrones’ ending as soon as it hit the airwaves. HBO’s president of programming Casey Bloys revealed that he did not watch the finale live. He also suggested the debate surrounding it will continue indefinitely. As for the future, Turner previously stated that it would take a lot of money to get her back for more Game of Thrones.

Someone, please bring in truckloads of cash! You can currently catch Sophie Turner’s last season as Sansa Stark via Game of Thrones Season 8. It is now available on digital and DVD. Winter (and spring) premieres are coming to television! In the meantime, stay tuned for developments on the upcoming Game of Thrones spinoff, House of the Dragon.

Britt Lawrence

Like a contented Hallmark movie character, Britt happily lives in the same city she grew up in. Along with movies and television, she is passionate about competitive figure skating. She has been writing about entertainment for 5 years, and as you may suspect, still finds it as entertaining to do as when she began.