The fans may be sad but Kit Harington is somewhat relieved for Games of Thrones to come to an end. The popular HBO series will only consist of six episodes in season 8, which will be the last season. According to Screen Rant, Kit Harington explained in an interview with Digital Spy that he is ready to move on from the character of Jon Snow and take a break from the exhausting film schedule.
Harington explained, “Thrones is coming to the end at the right time for me, and everyone involved in it. I was exchanging emails with David [Benioff] Dan [Weiss] last night and we were all getting very soppy and emotional with each other. It will be liberating, just the thought of having a whole year free—you shoot for six months, but half of the projects you might want to do will have started shooting before that six months is over. There is a lot of things you can’t do. I’m looking forward to finishing, and eight years is the right amount of time. I wouldn’t want it to go on any longer than it has. I have other ideas I’d like to look at producing.”
It will be eight years since the world of Westeros was first presented to the people once the series officially ends. Game of Thrones started in 2011, which was based on George R.R. Martin’s best-selling novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and eventually became the most watched television series in history. Martin also told the fans to “expect something bittersweet in the end,” when talking about the ending of his own series according to Time.
Coincidentally, Martin explained, “I think you need to have some hope…we all yearn for happy endings in a sense. Myself, I’m attracted to the bittersweet ending. People ask me how Game of Thrones is gonna end, and I’m not gonna tell them…but I always say to expect something bittersweet in the end. You can’t just fulfill a quest and then pretend life is perfect.”
The eighth and last season of Game of Thrones will only consist of six episodes, which are reported to be feature-lengths, running over the hour airtime. It is also reported that this highly anticipated season will possibly be delayed into 2019 due to the filming schedule. Since the show is highly anticipated, HBO is working hard to keep leaks or spoilers from occurring to the extent of not giving the entire cast access to the scripts.
As for the future of Kit Harington, he is starring and producing a new drama series Gunpowder, which will premiere this Saturday, Oct. 21 on BBC One. Harington, who is also engaged to Game of Thrones’ co-star Rose Leslie, described to Digital Spy, “I found the producing side of Gunpowder fascinating, I would like to do more of it. I’ve found it’s opened up a different side of my creative brain, which I’ve really enjoyed.”
Game of Thrones fans need not to worry, because five spinoff shows are in the making at HBO. Until then, the farewell season of Game of Thrones will be airing in 2018 or 2019.