It may already feel like ages ago that we were tuning in for the final season of Game of Thrones, and subsequently seeing all the hot takes, the memes, the debates and (sigh) the petitions, but it was literally only a month and a bit ago. Despite how obsessively everyone talked about the show, we've moved on already.

The intense conversation surrounding the show is something the books' creator George RR Martin has discussed in his latest appearance on Leonard Maltin's 'Maltin on Movies' podcast, and he's not a fan of how enraged everyone gets.

"The Internet is toxic in a way that the old fanzine culture and fandoms — comics fans, science fiction fans in those days – was not," he explained.

HBO

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"There were disagreements. There were feuds, but nothing like the madness that you see on the internet."

Hear, hear, George. Next time you see (or think of writing) an essay-length Game of Thrones hot take on Twitter or in the YouTube comments, remember that even George RR Martin thinks everyone should just simmer down.

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The author also spoke about HBO's planned spin-offs set in the world of Thrones, and Martin admitted that he doubts that any of them will reach the same levels of popularity the main series did.

"The scale of Game of Thrones' success has — reaching all over the world and invading the culture — it's not something anyone could ever anticipate, not something I expect to ever experience again," he said.

Game of Thrones aired on HBO in the US, and you can also catch up on the show via Hulu. Viewers in the UK can catch up via Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.

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