Ah, Game of Thrones. Remember the good times? The wine, the weddings… the beheadings. For years, it was appointment viewing, a genuine cultural phenomenon that had us all glued to the screen, theorizing with our friends, and wondering who would finally sit on that spiky throne.
And then… well, you know what happened. That final season. The one that felt less like a carefully crafted ending and more like a checklist being furiously scribbled on at the last minute. We've heard plenty from the fans, the internet forums, the think-pieces. But what about the people who were actually there?
Turns out, you can add another name to the club of finale-haters, and it's a familiar one. Natalia Tena, who played the wildling warrior Osha for six seasons, apparently couldn't hold her tongue when it came to the show's conclusion. And honestly? I get it.
The Wildling's Verdict
Tena, a fantastic actor who you might also recognize as Nymphadora Tonks from the Harry Potter franchise, didn't just dislike the ending—she went on a full-blown, wine-fueled rant about it. On Kate Thornton's podcast, “White Wine Question Time,” back in 2019, Tena and her friend Faye Marsay (the Waif) discussed the finale. And man, did Tena go off.
According to her, she was on board right up until the halfway point of the final season, specifically the episode where Arya Stark takes out the Night King. After that? The whole thing just unraveled for her.
“I was a few glasses of wine in when I watched [the finale],” she admitted. “I'd binge-watched the whole thing, but I ended up… my boyfriend had to leave… because I was ranting for an hour at him about how much I didn't like it. Then I rang my friend to rant to him.”
That feeling of frustration, of being so invested in a story only to have it collapse in on itself, is something a lot of us can relate to. The sentiment that the final season felt “written by different people” is a popular one, and it's a damning critique from someone who lived and breathed that world for years.
Osha's Journey and a Tragic End
It's easy to forget how instrumental Osha was in the early seasons. We first meet her in Season 1, a wildling captured by the Starks. She's a survivor, a protector. Over time, she becomes a fierce and loyal guardian to Bran and Rickon, helping them escape Winterfell after Theon's betrayal. She's smart, resourceful, and in a show full of grand schemes, she's a reminder of the raw, brutal reality of survival beyond the Wall.
Her journey ends in a particularly grim fashion in Season 6. After leaving Bran to continue his quest north, she takes Rickon to a place she believes is safe, but they're eventually captured by the sadistic Ramsay Bolton. In a final, desperate act, she tries to seduce and kill him, using a knife hidden in her boot—a move that worked on Theon. But Ramsay, being Ramsay, is far quicker. It's a shocking, violent death that felt like a sad end for such a compelling character.
Looking back, maybe it was a blessing in disguise for Tena. She got out before the quality took that steep dive. She's since gone on to appear in some other killer projects, from John Wick: Chapter 4 to an episode of The Mandalorian. Even a supersized Black Mirror special that some say influenced Severance. Her career, thankfully, did not fall off a cliff like the show's narrative.
A Shared Disappointment
It's almost comforting to know that the actors, the people who were on the front lines of this thing, felt the same way many of us did. It's not just a fandom being overly critical. It's a shared sense of disappointment. A feeling that a story we loved, a world we were invested in, was sold short.
I've seen so many shows stumble at the finish line. It's the hardest part of storytelling, sure. But Game of Thrones felt different. It felt like a betrayal. And hearing an actor from the show confirm that feeling… well, it just makes you shake your head. Again.
Could it have been different? Of course. It's a shame. A real shame. And hey, at least we'll always have the earlier seasons. And all the memes.
What do you all think? Were you with Tena and the rest of the finale-haters, or did you actually dig how it all wrapped up? Let us know in the comments.
