Emmys: ‘Game of Thrones’ Takes One Last Bow With Final Awards Haul

Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) and the forces of the living achieved the impossible and defeated the White Walkers in “The Long Night,” the action-packed (if questionably visible) midpoint of Game of Thrones‘ final season. Given what was at stake in the show’s universe for Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) and the rest of their allies then, what’s one more long night for the denizens of Westeros?

David Benioff and Dan Weiss’ HBO adaptation of author George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series entered the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards as the odds-on favorite for a number of categories, up for outstanding drama series, directing, writing and a slew of acting nods — 32 nominations, all told, the most for a single season of television in history. With 10 Creative Arts Emmy victories already under its belt (including awards for visual effects, editing and more), Game of Thrones’ final season was ready to break its own record for most wins in a single season. (It earned 12 awards in 2015 for season five.) 

So, how did it play out? To riff on a familiar Thrones refrain: “You win or you tie.”

Over the course of the evening, Game of Thrones earned two awards: outstanding drama series, and yet another statue for Peter Dinklage for supporting actor, his fourth victory for the role of Tyrion Lannister. “David and Dan, we literally walked through fire and ice for you,” he noted in his speech. “I would do it all again in a heartbeat.” Speaking alongside co-creator Dan Weiss, David Benioff noted: “I can’t believe we finished it. We did it all together. It’s over. We’ll never see its like again.”

The two awards leave Game of Thrones‘ final season tied with its own season five record for 12 wins for a single season, rather than breaking it.

Benioff and Weiss were nominated for outstanding writing for the series finale “The Iron Throne,” but the award went elsewhere in the HBO universe: Jesse Armstrong for “Nobody Is Ever Missing,” the first season finale of Succession. Benioff and Weiss were also nominated for directing, alongside fellow Thrones directors Miguel Sapochnik and David Nutter; the award went to Jason Bateman for Netflix’s Ozark. Kit Harington was nominated for outstanding lead actor for the role of Jon Snow; the award went to Billy Porter for FX’s Pose. Emilia Clarke was nominated for outstanding lead actress for the role of Daenerys Targaryen; the award went to Jodie Comer for BBC America’s Killing Eve. Gwendoline Christie, Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams were nominated for outstanding supporting actress; the award went to Julia Garner for Netflix’s Ozark.

Beyond the wins for outstanding drama and Dinklage, the greater Game of Thrones ensemble earned time in the spotlight, thanks to a series-ranging highlight reel. Afterward, the aforementioned Emmy-nominated series regulars took the stage for a final ovation, including supporting actor nominees Alfie Allen (“Theon Greyjoy”) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (“Jaime Lannister”). Actors who did not receive Emmy nominations were left offstage for the ovation, including Isaac Hempstead Wright, despite ending Thrones as the reigning king of Westeros; those actors, and other crewmembers, were accounted for on stage when the series earned the final award of the evening, outstanding drama.

In addition to the awards and the tribute, the Emmys sent Thrones up with some light ribbing throughout the night. In the opening sequence, Anthony Anderson mockingly reamed out a stage manager for holding a Starbucks cup — “This isn’t Game of Thrones!” — a jab at the final season’s now infamous coffee cameo. Later, Anderson walked out with Randall Park to present an award, with Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi’s Emmy-winning score playing under their appearance; Park noted that the Thrones theme goes with everything.

Here’s the full list of awards the Thrones team earned, including Creative Arts Emmy wins:

• Outstanding Drama Series

• Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Peter Dinklage)

• Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series (Nina Gold, Robert Sterne and Carla Stronge)

• Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes (Michele Clapton, Emma O’Loughlin and Kate O’Farrell)

• Outstanding Main Title Design (Angus Wall, Kirk Shintani, Shahana Khan, Ian Ruhfass and Rustam Hasanov)

• Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series, Non-Prosthetic (Jane Walker, Kay Bilk, Marianna Kyriacou, Nicola Mathews and Pamela Smyth)

• Outstanding Music Composition for a Series, Original Dramatic Score (Ramin Djawadi for “The Long Night”)

• Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series (Tim Porter for “The Long Night”)

• Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series, One Hour (Tim Kimmel, Tim Hands, Paula Fairfield, Bradley C. Katona, Paul Bercovitch, John Matter, David Klotz, Brett Voss, Jeffrey Wilhoit and Dylan T. Wilhoit)

• Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series, One Hour (Onnalee Blank, Mathew Waters, Simon Kerr, Danny Crowley and Ronan Hill)

• Outstanding Special Visual Effects (Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Adam Chazen, Sam Conway, Mohsen Mousavi, Martin Hill, Ted Rae, Patrick Tiberius Gehlen and Thomas Schelesny)

• Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie (Rowley Irlam).