As they knew, there was no scenario where everybody would say “I have to admit, I agree with every other person on the planet that this is the perfect way to do this.”
The showrunners had previously said they did care what fans thought and they wanted fans to love the final season.
But I do wonder if they knew the final season as a whole would be so divisive (and have so many coffee cup and water bottle gaffes).
They were hoping for a finale reaction close to what Breaking Bad got at the end of its run.