Kit harington weighs in on 'game of thrones' final season critiques: 'i might agree'

Kit Harington is sharing his thoughts on the final season of _Game of Thrones._ In an interview with _GQ, _the actor, 37, addressed issues that fans had with the way the hit show ended. He

explained that while it may not have lived up to expectations, it was time for it to be over. “I think if there was any fault with the end of _Thrones_, is that we were all so f---ing tired,

we couldn’t have gone on longer,” Harington said. “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.” He added,

“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.” _GOT _came to a close with Isaac Hempstead Wright’s Bran Stark

becoming king, leaving fans confused why the title wasn’t given to Harrington’s Jon Snow or Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) — who Jon kills despite pledging his loyalty to her. When asked

about the finale episode, which was the lowest-rated of the entire series, Harington said he understood where viewers were coming from with their frustrations. “Everyone is entitled to

their opinion,” he said. “I think there were mistakes made, story-wise, towards the end maybe. I think there were some interesting choices that didn’t quite work.” After _GOT _came to a

close, an HBO spinoff called _Thrones _was picked up. Ultimately, fans never got to see the finished product, but Harrington wanted to make it clear he did give it a shot. “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 admitted. “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.” _Thrones _never made it through production despite spending “a

couple of years” developing it. Harrington said “nothing got us excited enough,” and he changed his mind about his involvement. “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 explained.  He also said he didn’t want his entire

identity as an actor to be tied to one character, and he feared reprising the role might lead to that. “It’s kind of essential to do my job, for people to come and see me, and not see Jon

Snow,” he said. At the time the finale aired, viewers were so outraged they started an online petition to have the season remade. Series co-creator David Benioff said he was surprised by the

extreme backlash on _Happy Sad Confused_ in March. “I think we knew it would be controversial. I think we hoped that it would be a little more 50/50,” said Benioff. “I think you hope for a

better proportion of [reactions] ... definitely didn’t want it to be quite so much hate. [We were] prepared for some of it.” NEVER MISS A STORY — SIGN UP FOR PEOPLE'S FREE DAILY

NEWSLETTER TO STAY UP-TO-DATE ON THE BEST OF WHAT PEOPLE HAS TO OFFER, FROM CELEBRITY NEWS TO COMPELLING HUMAN INTEREST STORIES. As for Harington, he told _The Hollywood Reporter _back in

2019 that he was satisfied with his final moments as Jon Snow. “Seeing him go beyond the Wall back to something true, something honest, something pure with these people, he was always told

he belongs with — the Free Folk — it felt to me like he was finally free,” he said. “It was a really sweet ending. As much as he had done a horrible thing [in killing Daenerys], as much as

he had felt that pain, the actual ending for him was finally being released.”