As the Seven Kingdoms' mopiest bastard, Jon Snow,Kit Haringtonhas been through a lot overGame of Thrones' seven seasons. He shipped off immediately to perform the most miserable job in Westeros at The Night’s Watch, learned raven-by-raven that his adopted family were being horrifically murdered one after the other, his first love was a Wildling who shot him in the ass with an arrow and then died at the hands of a tween, hedied, cameback to life, a bug-eyed Bolton goblin took shelter in his childhood home, and then, when Jon finally found romantic happiness and a boat bed partner in the form of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), whoops, that’s his aunt. So after all that emotional baggage, would Harington consider giving it another go-around for one of the manyGame of Thronesspinoffs being developed by HBO?
“Not on your life,” says the actor. Harington spoke to theBBCwhile promoting his role in the London production ofSam Shepard’sTrue Westand ended up ruling out a return trip to Winterfell.
“It was emotional to leave [Game of Thrones], definitely. But I wouldn’t say I was sad,” Harington said. “If like me you go all the way back to the pilot ofGame of Thronesthat’s almost 10 years of your life - that’s really unusual in an actor’s career. It was a huge emotional upheaval leaving that family. But would I want to go back and do more? Not on your life.”
Of course, we’ve been hoodwinked by this man and his wonderful hair before, back when Jon Snow was killed by his Night’s Watch brothers in the season five finale, only to be sponge-bathed back to life in season six’s “Home.” But you have to expect he means it this time, consideringGame of Thrones—well, the first era ofGame of Thrones—is actually coming to a close for good. The six-episode eighth season—which premieres in April 2019—will be the HBO series' last, pending some truly monumental fuckery.
Meanwhile, we’re definitely getting at leastonespinoff, aprequelset thousands of years before the main show starringNaomi Watts“a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret.”Jane Goldman(Kingsman: The Secret Service) wrote the pilot from a story developed alongsideA Song of Ice and FirecreatorGeorge R.R. Martin. Here’s the official logline:
“The series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know.”
And if that doesn’t get your Red Viper squirmin', despair not; buy the complete series box-set and you’ll geta reunion specialwith the entire ensemble cast.
