Kit Harington reveals how the cast and crew’s fatigue affected the Game of Thrones finale and his thoughts on the storyline’s execution.

Game of Thrones was once the most-watched show in the world, but when the final season dropped, all the hype took a nosedive. Before, people couldn’t wait for Sundays to come around, and fans would talk about the show for a whole week. But when it ended, the negative reviews came pouring in.

Despite the mixed opinions, the show remains one of HBO’s most iconic, still getting talked about even nearly five years after its final episode. The cast, especially Kit Harington, felt the impact the most. Jon Snow was a key character in the story, so what does the actor have to say about the show’s ending and his role?

Game of Thrones Finale Was Already Doomed By The Entire Cast And Crew

Kit Harington as Jon Snow (HBO)

It’s undeniable that Game of Thrones was one of the most successful series globally, but its final season sparked a lot of debate. The last episodes are still talked about today, even though many fans criticized how the plot wrapped up. Kit Harington has weighed in on it too.

His character was one of the main heroes and caused tons of speculation online, especially when he died and came back to life. That episode was one of the most anticipated of the entire series. When his lineage was revealed in season 6, fans were excited to see what the final season would bring.

As it turned out, none of that was really used, and it became one of the most talked-about topics for a long time. So, what does the actor who played Jon Snow have to say about it? Did Harington like Jon Snow’s ending, or does he side with the fans?

In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, the actor looked back on his time on the show. What’s most surprising is that he feels the series’ ending was doomed from the start, mainly due to the fatigue of not just himself but the entire team. Eight seasons took a huge toll on all the actors, writers, and production crew:

I think if there was any fault with the end of Thrones, is that we were all so f*cking tired, we couldn’t have gone on longer. 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.

As for his personal take, he mentioned that the choices made for the entire last season weren’t very well thought out or executed:

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.

The script for Game of Thrones closely followed George R.R. Martin‘s books, with Martin also serving as a producer and consultant. However, he eventually handed the project over completely to showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who admitted that their goal was to make the story more accessible to a broader audience in the end.

This might have caused them to lose their grip on deciding the future of the characters. On top of that, running out of material because Martin’s books were delayed, also messed up what they had to work with. Fans also called out other issues like poor pacing, unoriginal ideas, and inconsistencies.

Game of Thrones Could Have Had A Spin-Off About Jon Snow

Kit Harington as Jon Snow (HBO)

Few people know, but because of the whole story about Jon Snow’s biological parents revealed in Game of Thrones, HBO was planning a spin-off. However, the project was eventually canceled.

In the GQ interview, Harington revealed that the spin-off story was actually being written. The issue was that fear took over, and the actor himself felt it wouldn’t be a good idea since they weren’t making much progress:

What I can tell you is it was HBO that came to me and said, ‘Would you consider this?’ My first reaction was no. 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.

Game of Thrones has made its mark in history, and despite ongoing criticism of its ending, it continues to thrive with new spin-offs in the works. Perhaps there’s still a chance to delve deeper into old character arcs. After all, everything is interconnected.

All seasons of Game of Thrones are available to stream on Max.