Kit Harington Admits the Final Season of ‘Game of Thrones’ ‘Didn’t Quite Work’: Lots of Plot ‘Mistakes’
Kit Harington is admitting that the final season of “Game of Thrones” made some “mistakes” when it came to the storyline.
The actor told GQ UK that some swings “didn’t quite work” for the plot. There was viral fan backlash to the controversial series finale that saw fan favorites like Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys die, while other beloved characters such as Harington’s Jon Snow were met with lackluster fates. The series ran for eight seasons, from 2011 and 2019.
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“I think if there was any fault with the end of ‘Thrones,’ is that we were all so fucking tired, we couldn’t have gone on longer,” Harington said. “And so I understand some people thought it was rushed, and I might agree with them. But I’m not sure there was any alternative. I look at pictures of me in that final season, and I look exhausted. I look spent. I didn’t have another season in me.”
He added of the fan uproar to the final episode, “Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I think there were mistakes made, story-wise, towards the end maybe. I think there were some interesting choices that didn’t quite work.”
And contrary to initial reports that credited Harington for pitching his now-shelved Jon Snow spinoff, the star explained how HBO actually asked him to return to the world of “Game of Thrones” for another series. In fact, Harington first turned HBO down.
“What I can tell you is it was HBO that came to me and said, ‘Would you consider this?’ My first reaction was ‘no,'” Harington said. “And then I thought there could be an interesting and important story about the soldier after the war. I felt that there might be something left to say and a story left to tell in a pretty limited way. We spent a couple of years back and forth developing it. And it just didn’t…nothing got us excited enough. In the end, I kind of backed out and said, ‘I think if we push this any further and keep developing it we could end up with something that’s not good. And that’s the last thing we all want.'”
Harington, who recently revealed that playing Jon Snow was “difficult” at times, continued that he didn’t want to be pigeonholed just as that one character forever.
“It’s kind of essential to do my job, for people to come and see me and not see Jon Snow,” Harington, who stars in Season 3 of “Industry,” said.
Harington also isn’t looking to return to “Game of Thrones” even as a viewer. He told the Associated Press that he won’t be watching prequel series “House of the Dragon” ever.
“I just can’t watch it,” Harington said. “I think for me it’s just I’ve spent too long there. And I wish them all the best. I hear it’s wonderful and going really well. But I don’t think I’ll ever watch that show, and I don’t think I’ll watch ‘Game of Thrones’ again for a few years.”
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