SAN DIEGO Perhaps the least surprising twist of Game of Thrones Season 8 is that the showrunners dropped out of San Diego Comic-Con.

Despite a deluge of Emmy nominations this week, the final season of the show was its most divisive, leading to a viral fan petition to redo the season and a backlash that has threatened to explode at Comic-Con ever since HBO initially announced showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss were attending.

With the showrunners (as well as cast members Iain Glen, Nathalie Emmanuel and director Miguel Sapochnik) dropping out days before Fridays event, actors Maisie Williams, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jacob Anderson, John Bradley, Conleth Hill, Isaac Hempstead Wright and Liam Cunningham were left to guard the wall protecting Season 8 from the realms of disappointed men and women.

Ahead of the panel, programming director of Comic-Con Eddie Ibrahim delivered a message to the audience that Comic-Con is a place of inclusivity and respect.

Well, all the worry was for naught.