Kit Harington is revisiting the internet’s backlash over the “Game of Thrones” finale and said he “might agree with” the critics.
“I think if there was any fault with the end of Thrones, [it] is that we were all so fucking tired, we couldn’t have gone on longer,” Harington said in a new interview with GQ Hype that was published Monday.
“I understand some people thought it was rushed and I might agree with them. But I’m not sure there was any alternative,” Harington said. “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.”
HBO’s hit show ran for eight seasons, from 2011 to 2019, and is widely considered one of the greatest epic TV series of all time. However, the final season left many fans disappointed and questioning the show’s lackluster ending.
Harington conceded that “there were mistakes made” regarding the show’s trajectory.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I think there were mistakes made, story-wise, towards the end maybe,” the actor added. “I think there were some interesting choices that didn’t quite work.”
The “Eternals” star also addressed the spinoff series about his “Game of Thrones” character, Jon Snow, that was ultimately taken off the books.
Admitting he was a bit reluctant to chat about the spinoff “because it starts a whole thing,” Harington then shed some light on why the show was shelved.
“What I can tell you is it was HBO that came to me and said, ‘Would you consider this?’ My first reaction was no,” he recalled. “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.”
The Hollywood Reporter first reported about the sequel series being in early development in June 2022.
The actor said the spinoff’s creators “spent a couple of years back and forth developing [the spinoff]” but that “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,’” he added.