There’s something to be said about finality in storytelling.
Whereas some TV shows tend to overstay their welcome (see: The Big Bang Theory, Dexter, et. al), the likes of Breaking Bad, Sopranos, and The Wire all achieved immortality by delivering a conclusive and overly satisfying ending. And Kit Harington believes Game of Thrones can follow suit.
Currently on the brink of its eighth and final season, Harington is confident that HBO’s fantasy flagship is ending at “the right time” so that the cast and crew can move on to pastures anew. After all, eight years is a lifetime in the film industry, and while Thrones has allowed the likes of Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner to make in-roads into Hollywood – the two actresses have upcoming roles in The New Mutants and X-Men: Dark Phoenix, respectively – Kit Harington recently admitted to Digital Spy that Game of Thrones is a huge timesink.
Per DS, Harington hinted at the emotional farewell to come, before confirming that he already has his eyes on a handful of other projects beyond Westeros.
Thrones is coming to the end at the right time for me, and everyone involved in it. I was exchanging emails with David [Benioff] Dan [Weiss] last night and we were all getting very soppy and emotional with each other. It will be liberating, just the thought of having a whole year free – you shoot for six months, but half of the projects you might want to do will have started shooting before that six months is over. There’s a lot of things you can’t do. I’m looking forward to finishing, and eight years is the right amount of time. I wouldn’t want it to go on any longer than it has. I have other ideas I’d like to look at producing.
HBO has officially fired up production of Game of Thrones season 8, though an official release window continues to elude the series finale. Word is it’ll be with us in the summer of 2019, before the Powers That Be begin to direct our attention toward a bona fide successor series.