Kit Harington says he understands the 'Game of Thrones' finale hate: 'Mistakes were made, story-wise'
Five years after the series finale of "Game of Thrones," Kit Harington is reflecting on his time with the massively popular series — and he thinks that season eight could have gone a bit better.
The actor now stars in season three of the HBO drama "Industry," which focuses on a group of young investment bankers in London. The series is one of his more significant post-"Thrones" television projects, along with a four-episode appearance on Apple TV+'s "Extrapolations."
In a GQ profile tied to his role in "Industry," which returned on Sunday, Harington also reflected on his time with "Game of Thrones." That included the backlash to the series finale, which some fans found disappointing.
"Everyone is entitled to their opinion," Harington told GQ. "I think there were mistakes made, story-wise, towards the end maybe. I think there were some interesting choices that didn't quite work."
Harington starred in all eight seasons of "Game of Thrones" as Jon Snow. These days, the actor finds the Targaryen prequel series "House of the Dragon" hard to watch — but he, too, was set to potentially continue Jon Snow's character in a spinoff titled "Snow." In April 2024, however, Harington confirmed to Screen Rant that the series was no longer in the works.
Harington told GQ that HBO came to him about the prospect of a spinoff. Initially, he said no — but reconsidered when he considered the possibility of telling a novel story. Harington said that after several years of development, however, the team shelved the series.
"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,'" he told GQ.
But when it came to the final season of the flagship show, Harington told the publication that he and others were just plain exhausted. By that point, the series had been on the air for the better part of a decade.
"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. And so I understand some people thought it was rushed and I might agree with them," Harington told GQ.
"But I'm not sure there was any alternative," he continued. "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."