New details on the cancelation of the Game of Thrones Jon Snow sequel have emerged, with HBO reported to have found Kit Harington’s idea for it too depressing to move forward with.
As part of a sweeping interview with Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin, The Hollywood Reporter said Harington worked with two writers from drama series Gunpowder to come up with the story, which would have seen Snow living alone as a broken man with PTSD following his exile to north of the Wall as a compromise after he killed Daenerys Targaryen.
The story would have also shown Snow having chased off Ghost, his much-loved direwolf, and ditched Longclaw, his Valyrian steel bastard sword. According to THR, in this story Snow would have spent his time building cabins and burning them back down again, with Harington calling for his character to die and avoid being a hero.
It’s worth noting that Harington has spoken about the personal difficulties he faced coming out of the end of Game of Thrones. According to a recently published New York Times profile, Harington had become a “dry drunk” and spent time in rehab after wrapping up work on the hit show. After he emerged, he “was also finding it hard to escape Jon Snow.” Harington took a year out and prepared to act again, but the pandemic hit, tearing up his plans.
When work became possible again, Harington told his agent he wanted a “no swords” rule for vetting potential jobs, but he took on the role of Black Knight in high-profile Marvel flop The Eternals, which was released in November 2021. After the movie's disastrous box office, Harington apparently “toyed” with the idea of reprising his role as Jon Snow for a spinoff, but eventually decided against it.
As part of the profile, Harington said he was “genuinely angered” by a fan-made petition that called for the final season of Game of Thrones to be remade with “competent writers.” In 2019, following the release of Game of Thrones Season 8 and its subsequent backlash, this fan petition went viral, securing nearly 2 million signatures.
Harington was said to have been “shocked” by the negative response to the final season. “That [petition] genuinely angered me,” Harington said, because he knew how much effort the show’s writers, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, had put in. “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.”
During a Game of Thrones fan convention in 2022, Harington hinted that his spinoff would focus on his character's struggle to overcome past traumas following the Season 8 finale. "He's gotta go back up to the place with all this history and live out his life thinking about how he killed Dany, and live out his life thinking about Ygritte dying in his arms, and live out his life thinking about how he hung Olly, and live out his life thinking about all of this trauma, and that, that's interesting," Harington said at the time.
As THR points out, Harington’s story idea for the Jon Snow sequel had echoes of his personal struggles, but it was too depressing even for HBO. According to the report, HBO found the “broken Jon Snow” idea “too much of a bummer” and “pushed it aside.”
Last month, Harington indicated he was done playing Jon Snow for good. "No, god no," Harington told Variety, when asked whether he'd reprise his old role again for an audiobook version. "I don't wanna go anywhere near it. I spent 10 years doing that. Thanks, I'm alright."
With Harington distancing himself from playing Jon Snow again, HBO is now said to be in "very early development" on a Game of Thrones spinoff starring Arya Stark. As part of the same interview, Martin opened up about his "abysmal" working relationship with House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal, and revealed his struggle to complete Winds of Winter.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
