Summary
AGame of Thronesalumnus said he couldn’t bring to watch the prequelHouse of the Dragon. The actor who played one of the major characters in HBO’s hit series also said he wouldn’t watch the series he was once part of in the coming years.
David Benioff and D. B. Weiss' series,Games of Thrones,based on George R.R. Martin’s book was a hit. The epic HBO drama aired for eight seasons from 2011 to 2019. It also served as a platform for many celebrities to rise to fame due to thecharacters they played in the series. Among the favorites areEmilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Bella Ramsay (Lyanna Mormont), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Richard Madden (Robb Stark) and Kit Harington (Jon Snow) to name a few. One recently shared that he couldn’t bring himself to watchHouse of the Dragonor re-watchGame of Thrones.
Harington spoke with theAssociated Presswhile on the red carpet for his showIndustry. He admitted that he doesn’t think he will “ever watch"House of the Dragons. TheBeast Withinactor also shared that he would not watchGame of Thronesfor many years because he had spent too much time in the franchise. However, he wished everyone involved in the project well. Harington said, “I think for me, it’s just I’ve spent too long there. And I wish them all the best and I hear it’s wonderful and going really well. But I don’t think I’ll ever watch [House of the Dragon], and I don’t think I’ll watch Game of Thrones again for very many years.”
Harington’s response raised some eyebrows because it was in contrast to a previous statement he made about the show. WhenHouse of the Dragonpremiered in 2022, Harington claimed he watched and enjoyed it. “I’m really enjoying it,” Harington said. “My friend Miguel [Sapochnik] showruns it, so I’m really enjoying it. I think they’ve done a fantastic job. It’s a weird one to start a whole new show in the same kind of realm and to make it its own thing, and I think that they’ve really done that.” Sapochnik served as the showrunner in the first season but didn’t return for the same role in Season 2. However, he remains in the series as an executive producer.
Harington played Jon Snow, one of the iconic characters in the franchise, which earned him two Emmys, including Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2016 and Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2019. His statement seemed to suggest that he was distancing himself from the franchise. However, the decision must be somewhat recent because he was supposed to star in aJon Snow sequel series that was nixed in Aprilof this year. Additionally, if he really wants to move on from the franchise, it will be huge work because more projects related to the Westeros lore are coming. Aside from theHouse of the Dragon, a spinoff series titledA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knightis in the works and more spinoffs are on the cards.
However, Harington was not alone in distancing himself from the program he had been part of. His former co-star, Clarke, also said she hadn’t watched theprequel spinoff,House of the Dragon, because she found it weird to do so. While she was happy that it happened, she just couldn’t watch it. “I just can’t do it. It’s so weird. It’s so weird, it’s so strange,” Clarke said. She even likened it to being invited to a school reunion that’s not your year. Harington and Clarke probably had enough of the Westeros after being part of it for nearly a decade, and it’s understandable.
