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Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Game of Thrones' popularity forces pub quiz night change - but will people watch tonight?

Caroline Fleming
By Caroline Fleming
Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
19 May, 2019 11:32 PM3 mins to read

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Papa Mo's bar manager Aaron Barbour said they changed their quiz night to work with the popular show. Photo / George Novak

Papa Mo's bar manager Aaron Barbour said they changed their quiz night to work with the popular show. Photo / George Novak

Eight years since the first season aired, Games of Thrones characters will make their final acts of treachery, loyalty, violence, and selflessness on screen later today. Don't expect them to live happily ever after - diehard fans in Tauranga are among the millions around the who know all too well about the series' sudden twists and demises that have kept them hooked year after year. However, a poor reception to the final series has seen Tauranga costume shops reporting a winter-like chill coming over celebrations.

Game of Thrones is so popular a Pāpāmoa pub blamed it for a sudden drop in team numbers for its Monday night quiz when the eighth and final season started screening in April.

Fans around the world are preparing to see how the series wraps up in the final episode tonight, however, Tauranga costume shops have reported a winter-like chill coming over celebrations.

Unlike previous season finales costume and party supply stores across the city have not heard a peep from fans seeking fur-lined coats and swords for final episode watch parties.

Some pointed to the poor reception the final season has received from fans as part of reason for the departure from the usual festivities.

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Season 8 episode 3 of Game of Thrones. Photo / Supplied
Season 8 episode 3 of Game of Thrones. Photo / Supplied

Bay Costume Hire owner Andrea Booth said she had not had a single inquiry for Game of Thrones costumes and was really surprised about the lack of demand this season.

"I had medieval ones [costumes] that I was adding fur too to prepare for the expected demand."

As a new costume shop owner, she had heard of "die-hard" fans throwing viewing parties and dressing up for previous seasons but was let down surprisingly for the final season.

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Fans who loved Daenerys Targaryen's righteous rise in Game of Thrones have questioned her path in Season 8.  Photo / Supplied
Fans who loved Daenerys Targaryen's righteous rise in Game of Thrones have questioned her path in Season 8. Photo / Supplied

She said the younger crowd might be buying cheap costumes online but also felt fan disappointment in the "rushed" last season of the series might have something to do with it.

There was a worldwide petition going around requesting for the show's final season to be remade.

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The petition, posted to change.org, stated that: "David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have proven themselves to be woefully incompetent writers when they have no source material [i.e. the books] to fall back on."

"This series deserves a final season that makes sense. Subvert my expectations and make it happen, HBO!"

Game of Thrones | Season 8 Episode 6 - Preview (HBO)

The Final Episode. This Sunday at 9PM.

Posted by Game of Thrones on Sunday, 12 May 2019

The petition had only been up for a matter of days and already had close to one million signatures.

Booth was not alone, with many other Tauranga costume and party supply stores hearing no word of Game of Throne's final viewing parties.

Arun Kaushish from popular party and costume hire store Look Sharp Tauranga said they had not had any demand for their Game of Thrones supplies this season.

He said it was most common that people would come and collect supplies for viewing parties the weekend before, but they had not experienced that this time around.

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A spokeswoman from 16th Ave theatre costume hire had not even heard a single customer mention the finale.

Bay Costume Hire owner Andrea Booth.  Photo / File
Bay Costume Hire owner Andrea Booth. Photo / File

Meanwhile, although some people weren't dressing up for the series, people were definitely still watching with a Tauranga bar noticing a drop in the numbers on Monday nights when the show aired.

Bar manager at Papa Mo's in Pāpāmoa, Aaron Barbour, said they had noticed smaller numbers at their Monday night quiz night when Game of Thrones was on.

He said they had decided to change it to Tuesday night with the hope that it would bring those Game of Thrones fans to the event.

Sky's Soho channel will air the final show twice on Monday at 1pm and 8.30pm.

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