Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington has revealed his distaste for those who called for the HBO fantasy show's divisive final season to be remade.
"That genuinely angered me," Harington, who played Jon Snow across all eight seasons of Game of Thrones, told The New York Times. "Like, how dare you? Sorry, that's just how I feel. I think it was a level of idiocy that can only come about through social media."
Following the backlash to Game of Thrones season 8, almost 2 million people signed a change.com petition asking for the season to be remade as a final season that "makes sense."
"[Showrunners] David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have proven themselves to be woefully incompetent writers when they have no source material," the petition starter 'Dylan D.' wrote.
Game of Thrones season 8 quickly became shorthand for disappointing final seasons (even being echoed once more after the displeasure some fans felt towards the Stranger Things season 5 ending). Hard-to-see scenes, Starbucks coffee cup gaffes, and what some viewers felt were rushed, unsatisfying conclusions to years-long arcs ensured the final season would go down in television history – for all the wrong reasons.
The fallout clearly affected Harington so much that he told his agent that he wanted to put in a "no swords" rule for his career (though, curiously, his MCU character Dane Whitman was being set up as the Black Knight in the Eternals post-credits scene).
Incredibly, fans are still waiting to see how A Song of Fire and Ice will draw to a close on the pages of George R.R. Martin's book series. Work on The Winds of Winter remains ongoing, though the author described the process as "the curse of my life" in an April 2025 interview with Time.
Game of Thrones spin-offs continue to dominate our screens, however. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres on January 18, with House of the Dragon season 3 expected to release this summer.
For more on the year-in-entertainment, check out our guide to new TV shows and upcoming movie release dates.
