Summary
Game of Thronesconcluded its run with a final season largely panned for rushing storylines and character arcs, resulting in an unsatisfying ending. Now, Jon Snow actor Kit Harington has offered an explanation for the hastily produced final season that fans may find understandable.
Game of Throneswas once applauded for its compelling writing, superb performances, and epic spectacle. However,Game of Thronesseasons 7 and 8 were shortened from the standard 10 episodes to 7 and 6, respectively. The results were decisions that felt out of character for certain fan favorites, like Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen, without the proper time to develop story arcs. Most fans believe the finalGame of Thronesseasons were rushed because showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss wanted to focus on theirnow-canceledStar Warsproject. While this may be correct, Harington says the cast also factored into the decision to end the series quickly.
During an interview withGQ, Harington reflected on theresponse to theGame of Thronesfinale, seemingly admitting he was perplexed by fan reactions. “I went in and everyone lovedThrones; I came out and everyone hated it,” Harington said. “I thought, What the fuck is going on?!” While Harington acknowledged that fans may be right to criticize the finalGame of Thronesseason for being rushed, he saidthere may been no other choice than to end the series as fast as they did because the cast was exhausted by that point:
“I think if there was any fault with the end ofThrones, 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.”
The finalGame of Thronesepisode is singled out for being amongthe worst TV series finales. Some creative decisions baffled or disappointed some fans, including Jon Snow killing Daenerys Targaryen and Bran Stark becoming the King of Westeros dispute being absent for the fifth season. Harington acknowledged the fan reactions to theGame of Thronesseries finale as valid, admitting mistakes may have been made:
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.
Harington is not the onlyGame of Thronesalum to acknowledge that the series may have failed to meet expectations. Arya Stark actressMaisie Williams revised herGame of Thronesending assessment. Roughly four years ago, Williams expressed that she was happy with Arya Stark’s ending and described theGame of Thronesfinale as “a beautiful end to a decade” of her life. Two years later, Williams said she rewatched the series and admitted that it “definitely fell off at the end” despite a strong start. Lord Varys actor Conleth Hill and Twyin Lannister actor Charles Dance also expressed disappointment with howGame of Thronesended.
Of course, not all cast members hated theGame of Thronesfinale. Grey Worm actorJacob Anderson defended theGame of Thronesfinale, saying, “I didn’t have strong feelings about the finale. I think everybody assumes that we all hated it. That’s not the case at all.” Of course, nothing these actors say will likely change fans' opinions and there’s no going back, despite some calling on HBO to remake theGame of Thronesending. So, all fans can do is hope lessons were learned when it comes time to conclude theGame of Thronesprequel,House of the Dragon.
Game of Thronesis available on Max.
Game of Thrones
Based on the Song of Ice and Fire book by George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones tells the sprawling story of warring families in Westeros. This includes the Starks, the Lannisters, the Baratheons, and the Targaryens. Along with human conflicts, the re-emergence of dragons and an undead enemy from beyond the Wall also threatens Westeros.
