As we've seen recently with Stranger Things, any beloved TV series is going to struggle to make everyone happy during its final season. However, Game of Thrones' last batch of episodes was almost universally despised (many fans even campaigned for the whole thing to be remade).
The fates of several characters upset longtime fans, and Bran Stark being on the Iron Throne...well, that wasn't something it seemed anyone had hoped to see.
As for the fan-favourite Jon Snow, after killing his aunt and lover, Daenerys Targaryen, he returned to The Wall to live out his days in exile. Those were two of the most heavily criticised moments, and we've seen many Game of Thrones stars weigh in on the unhappiness expressed by fans over the years.
During a recent interview with The New York Times, Kit Harington was asked specifically about the Change.org petition demanding that Game of Thrones Season 8 be remade by "competent writers."
"That genuinely angered me," the Eternals star admitted. "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."
Defending showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Harington pointed out that they spent 55 nights shooting one battle sequence (likely the Battle of Winterfell in "The Long Night"), reminding fans that, even if they didn't like certain decisions, a lot of work still went into making Game of Thrones.
In 2024, Harington acknowledged that the final season wasn't without its fair share of issues. "I think there were mistakes made, story-wise, towards the end maybe," he said. "I think there were some interesting choices that didn’t quite work."
For a time, it looked like Jon Snow might be redeemed in a sequel series. That was ultimately scrapped, with Harington previously explaining, "We spent a couple of years back and forth developing it. And it just didn’t...nothing got us excited enough. 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.'"
Talking a little more bluntly last month, Harington stated, "No, god no. I don’t wanna go anywhere near it. I spent 10 years doing that. Thanks, I’m alright."
While we've yet to see any direct sequels to Game of Thrones, Westeros has continued to expand with prequels like House of the Dragon and the upcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.