HBO/PAAs the eighth season of Game of Thrones gets underway, fans across the world can breathe a sigh of relief as – at long last – one of the most anticipated shows of all time counts down to its grande finale.
It’s been a long time in the works. Not only have we been waiting two years for the eighth season, but if you’ve been on board since season one, you’ll have been waiting since 2011 to find out what happen’s to Kit Harington’s Jon Snow and the gang, and just how these epic storylines are going to conclude once and for all.
With such a greatly anticipated show however, comes great responsibility – for the people involved in making it, anyway. You don’t have to be a hardcore fan to see the amazing level of detail which goes into every episode, particularly in the later seasons.
It’s understandable, therefore, the cast and crew will be proud yet protective of the body of work they’ve produced over the last few years.
One person who’ll undoubtedly have been feeling the pressure is Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow (or is it Aegon Targaryen?).
At the moment, all GoT roads point north – and he is King in the North. He’s been a key figure in the series pretty much since day one, but as we near the end, the stakes have never been higher.
In a recent interview with Esquire, Harington spoke about the pressure which came with not just filming the show, but the hype which has surrounded it for so long.
The actor said:
I think no matter what anyone thinks about this season — and I don’t mean to sound mean about critics here — but whatever critic spends half an hour writing about this season and makes their [negative] judgement on it, in my head they can go fuck themselves.
‘Cause I know how much work was put into this. I know how much people cared about this. I know how much pressure people put on themselves and I know how many sleepless nights working or otherwise people had on this show.
Because they cared about it so much. Because they cared about the characters. Because they cared about the story. Because they cared about not letting people down.
He goes on:
Now if people feel let down by it, I don’t give a fuck — because everyone tried their hardest. That’s how I feel.
In the end, no one’s bigger fans of the show than we are, and we’re kind of doing it for ourselves. That’s all we could do, really. And I was just happy we got to the end.
You tell ’em, Kit. Here’s to the next five episodes!
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.