Kit Harington Originally Thought Watching ‘House of the Dragon’ Would Be ‘Painful, Now the ‘Game of Thrones’ Star Claims They Have Done a ‘Brilliant Job’

Kit Harington starred as Jon Snow on Game of Thrones for eight seasons before the show ended in 2019. Even though the HBO fantasy series aired its finale years ago, it will forever be an important part of Harington’s life. The career-making role made Harington a star, and it introduced him to his wife Rose Leslie (Ygritte), with whom he shares a son.

But when it was revealed that HBO was expanding its Game of Thrones universe with the prequel House of the Dragon, Harington originally said it would be “painful” to watch. Now that season 1 has ended, the actor claims they did a ‘brilliant job.”

Kit Harington originally thought watching ‘House of the Dragon’ would be ‘painful’

In the summer of 2021 — a whole year before the House of the Dragon premiere — Harington told the Associated Press that it “might be painful” to watch the prequel because “there’s the emotion connected to that for me.”

“I think to see people get into outfits and costumes, that resemble what we wore for all those years [on Game of Thrones], and it [has] the same music and style and tone, but not be in it is always going to feel — there’s going to be a rawness there,” Harington said, per Insider.

Once Harington got the chance to see the first few episodes of House of the Dragon, though, the Brit changed his tune about that predicted pain. While promoting his film Baby Ruby at the Toronto International Film Festival, Harington told Entertainment Tonight Canada in September that he is “really enjoying” House of the Dragon.

The ‘Game of Thrones’ star says the prequel did a ‘brilliant job’

During a recent sit down with The Hollywood Reporter, the topic of House of the Dragon came up while Harington was discussing his new film project Blood For Lust. He admitted that he hasn’t seen all ten episodes of season 1 yet, but Harington noted that the prequel’s cast and crew had done a “brilliant job.”

“You know, I’ve fallen off a bit — not because I’m not enjoying it — but just been very busy. But I’m gonna catch up. I’m sort of halfway through the season. I need to watch the second half, so I’m gonna try and avoid any kind of spoilers. I mean, it’s great. They’ve done a brilliant job with it. I’m really impressed with that show and how they’ve continued it,” Harington said.

Kit Harington claims to have no knowledge of a Jon Snow sequel

This past summer it was reported that Harington had brought an idea for a Jon Snow-focused Game of Thrones sequel series to HBO. His co-star Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and author George R. R. Martin both claimed that the series was in early development.

“It’s been created by Kit as far as I can understand, so he’s in it from the ground up,” Clarke told the BBC. “So what you will be watching, hopefully, if it happens, is certified by Kit Harington.”

On his “Not a Blog,” Martin confirmed that the Jon Snow sequel was in development and revealed that the working title of the series was Snow. He refused to share any more details until he had permission. But, he did say that the “second and third drafts” of the script had been written, and the story takes place after the events of Game of Thrones. 

“Yes, it is true,” Martin wrote. “There’s not much more I can tell you, not until HBO gives me a green light. Our working title for the show is SNOW. Yes, it was Kit Harrington who brought the idea to us.”

But when THR asked Harington about the sequel, he completely avoided the question.

“I know nothing about that. I’m sorry,” Harington said.

All eight seasons of Game of Thrones and season 1 of House of the Dragon are now playing on HBO Max.