Kit Harington, aka Jon Snow, had a lot to say about the upcoming eighth and final season of Game of Thrones in a recent interview with TV & Satellite Week. Just like the fans, he’s excited for people to see the final episodes. “Hopefully it will change TV again, like Game of Thrones did originally, and break boundaries,” he said. “I think it might.” But of course, he has inside information.
Let’s turn the clock back to the beginning, when Game of Thrones was new and people didn’t know quite what to make of a high fantasy show that didn’t have much fantasy in it. Harington talked about the show’s long-term strategy:
In the first season, everyone said, ‘Game of Thrones is great, it’s a fantasy but there’s no magic. It’s really based in reality.’ Then, gradually, as we’ve gone along, the magic has started coming out of the woodwork as it does in the books and everything starts getting very strange. You’ve got the White Walkers and you’ve got witches and you’ve got dragons. I think that’s one of the most exciting things about it — it creeps up on you and, before you know it, you’re in a proper fantasy with dragons and ice zombies, but it’s done in a very, very clever way.
Seven years later, and a lot has changed. The White Walkers are pounding on the door to Westeros and we’re knee-deep in dragons, zombies and other fantasy tropes. But by now, people are hooked, because the characters have brought us here. “It’s what the series is really about for me — it is people’s worlds just falling apart,” Harington said. “They were in quite a secure place at the start of all this, but, by the time you get to where we are now, everyone’s lives have been blown apart.”
Harington also talked about which character he would have liked to play if he wasn’t Jon Snow. You might be surprised to learn that it’s Tyrion Lannister, although it’s hard to blame him:
I couldn’t play him, obviously, but I think Peter Dinklage does such a wonderful job with him. When I was reading the books ages ago, I always loved reading Jon Snow’s parts because that’s who I was going to play. But then I’d get excited when I got to the Tyrion sections as well. Their dynamic is intriguing because they like each other, so maybe that bled through somehow — they’re both outsiders.
When asked who he would bring back from the dead, Harington answered Robb and Catelyn, “just because I miss Richard Madden and Michelle Fairley, who played them.” And of course, he’d bring back Ygritte, played by his real-life wife Rose Leslie. Cue the awws. “I think Jon’s never been happier than when he was with her — and I don’t think he ever will be.” Interesting.
Okay, on to the real important topic: Jon’s hair. “It’s all real,” Harington assured a grateful nation. “I always had short hair before I did Thrones and then they said, ‘Could you grow your hair and can you grow a beard?’ I replied, ‘Well, I’ll certainly give it a go!’” And thank heaven for that.
The end of Game of Thrones is nigh, and most of us are not prepared to say goodbye. But all good things must come to an end, and it’s something Kit Harington has come to terms with. He’s not happy the show is over, but he is satisfied with how the series ends. And that gives all of us a sense of relief, doesn’t it?
It’s like when you finish a book you’ve really enjoyed — you’re not happy it’s over, are you? You have this grief that it’s finished, and that’s exactly the same with this situation after nine years of doing the show. No matter how it ends, there’s always going to be a bit of you that feels loss around it. So maybe not happy about the ending, but very satisfied.
The countdown to the final season is on, and thanks to Harington, we’re more excited than ever. Now if April 14 could just get here sooner, because we need to see if that beautiful hair will turn white and fall out when Jon learns the truth about his parents…and his aunt.
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