It’s been a few weeks since we’ve relitigated the end of Game of Thrones, but the show’s home release is resurfacing some very raw feelings about its final season.
It started off, innocently enough, with a tweet from the official Game of Thrones account that stated “Winter is coming,” a phrase so ubiquitous that the Trump administration commandeered it for the memes. It’s also been tweeted out dozens of times by the Game of Thrones account itself as far back as 2010.
Winter is coming.
— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) November 25, 2019
Apart from congratulating series composer Ramin Djawadi, the account had been more or less dormant for nearly a month, something that’s not exactly out of the ordinary when it comes to the social media accounts for a property that’s long since aired. But that also means that the ability to meme and riff on Game of Thrones has been sparse since showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss left their Star Wars series, so fans and detractors alike will take any opportunity they can get, even if it’s only the words of House Stark.
Some folks didn’t want the reminder that Game of Thrones was still a thing.
https://twitter.com/_The_Bonez/status/1199236365537308673
Or, if they acknowledged it, they used the “Winter is coming” tweet as a jumping-off point to vocalize how they felt about the end of the series (both good and bad) or to call for that season 8 remake.
My most controversial opinion: I really enjoyed Season 8. https://t.co/RPHw5N55x5
— John Iadarola (@johniadarola) November 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/david_bhopaul/status/1199100766545469440
You’re releasing the real season 8? https://t.co/nkF5HLQa4i
— Tobi (@Leshy616) November 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/4G_PRESIDO/status/1199214997076881408
Unpopular opinion:
— Saad (@OverLord_Xd) November 26, 2019
Season 8 was not that bad but there had been so many fan theories and it took so long to come out that a lot of hype had been created and it simply could not live upto the expectations of people https://t.co/fWSlD4n0gc
Mostly, it was just a lot of cursing.
Fuck you dawg. On mommas. https://t.co/Bv2N1KuAKu
— Hielo (@OfficiallyIce) November 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/Official_Durk/status/1199120620417671168
Oh fuck off. https://t.co/ZgXayE6O8U
— Aimun (@bluemagicboxes) November 26, 2019
Then you have the Weather Channel, who used the tweet to highlight two different storms hitting the U.S. in the next few days. And technically winter is coming—in about three-and-a-half weeks, that is.
It really is! And we have two snowstorms to prove it. We’re covering #Dorothy and #Ezekiel during our LIVE coverage. https://t.co/xPOkGZepBq
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) November 25, 2019
.. well…. tell it to go back https://t.co/nFrBuWmz56
— indie (@INDIEWASHERE) November 25, 2019
I think they’re just trolling us by being super literal. https://t.co/YjCgn0QUBL
— Erik ‘daibo’ Kain (@erikkain) November 26, 2019
Whether it’s sparking joy or dread, there’s a greater purpose for it: marketing. The home release of Game of Thrones season 8 and the full series is upon us, and it even has a pretty cool series-ranging trailer to accompany it, reminding us just why we fell in love with the show all over again along with everything we might have hated about it along the way. So, all in all, it’s very fitting within the realm of Game of Thrones.
