Kit Harington Criticizes ‘Game of Thrones’ Final Season as “Rushed”

Kit Harington Shares his Thoughts on the Final Season of ‘Game of Thrones’

The actor, who played Jon Snow in the iconic fantasy drama, says that there were “mistakes made, story-wise, towards the end,” and that he was exhausted while shooting.

Kit Harington as Jon Snow on HBO's 'Game of Thrones.' Photo: HBO.

Preview:

Kit Harington is opening up about ‘Game of Thrones’ final season.
He also talks about the stalled Jon Snow spin-off.
The actor is returning to HBO for the new season of corporate drama ‘Industry’.

Kit Harington may never completely shake off the career-making role of Jon Snow on HBO’s giant fantasy series ‘Game of Thrones’. He played the character for the entire run of the show, which became a huge success but also suffered criticism for what many thought was a lackluster wrap up.

Even now, with the show over for several years, Harington is asked about it, and he’s willing to share his honest opinions in a new interview with GQ.

Game of Thrones

"Winter is coming."

TV-MA8 SeasonsApril 17th, 2011

Watch Game of Thrones Online

What did Kit Harington say about ‘Game of Thrones’ final season?

Kit Harington as Jon Snow on HBO's 'Game of Thrones.' Photo: HBO.

There was plenty of backlash to the final season of ‘Thrones’, with fans unhappy with many of the creative team’s choices. It would appear Harington concurs:

“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. 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. 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.”

What has happened to the ‘Thrones’ spin-off ‘Snow’, which would have followed his character in the years after the climactic final season?

Kit Harington as Jon Snow on HBO's 'Game of Thrones.' Photo: HBO.

There was chatter back in 2022 when ‘Thrones’ novelist (and series consultant) George R.R. Martin mentioned in his blog that he was working on developing the show, which had Harington producing as well as starring.

But according to the actor himself, it seems unlikely to ever happen now:

“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.’”

Where else can we see Kit Harington?

Harington has return to the HBO fold of late, becoming part of the cast of corporate drama ‘Industry’ which started its third season recently. He plays the wealthy Sir Henry Muck, who claims to be leading a green revolution while ripping off his customers.