Game of Thrones
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Source: Helen Sloan / Helen Sloan/HBO
It’s no secret that the final season of HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones left much to be desired as it led to it’s hardcore fans campaigning for a redo of the entire six-episode season.
Now years after that lackluster of a final season has aired, the show’s standout star Kit Harington (Jon Snow) addresses the backlash that the show caught from the fans and why his Jon Snow spinoff series never came to fruition. In a recent interview with GQ Hype, Harington explained that he was surprised at the fans reaction to the final episodes saying, “I went in and everyone loved Thrones; I came out and everyone hated it,” Harington says. “I thought, What the fuck is going on?!”
Looking back on how things unfolded during that final season of Game of Thrones, Kit explains how he understands why fans might’ve felt a ways about how the series ended and pointed to fatigue on the part of the cast of the series for why everything seemingly fell apart at the end.
Per GQ Hype:
“I think if there was any fault with the end of Thrones, is that we were all so fucking tired, we couldn’t have gone on longer. And so I understand some people thought it was rushed and I might agree with them. But I’m not sure there was any alternative. I look at pictures of me in that final season and I look exhausted. I look spent. I didn’t have another season in me.” And the backlash to the final episode specifically? “Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I think there were mistakes made, story-wise, towards the end maybe. I think there were some interesting choices that didn’t quite work.”
It wasn’t the acting at all, it was the writing. The writers didn’t pen a good enough ending to the saga. Just sayin.’
As for why his Jon Snow spinoff series is dead in the water, that subject is a bit more complicated. Without going into detail about what it would’ve been about and why it didn’t work out, Kit and HBO decided to play it “safe” and not give fans something else to complain about if the series turned out to be yet another struggle affair.
“I don’t really want to say,” says Harington, reticent for the first time in our conversation, “because it starts a whole thing.” Even now, the Thrones fandom can be vociferous. “What I can tell you is it was HBO that came to me and said, ‘Would you consider this?’ My first reaction was no. And then I thought there could be an interesting and important story about the soldier after the war. I felt that there might be something left to say and a story left to tell in a pretty limited way. 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.’”
We’re not gonna lie, we still would’ve tuned in regardless. We’re still lowkey holding out hope that HBO and it’s writers get their act together and revisit the world of Game of Thrones post-White Walkers. What other threat is out there? Could Daenerys Targaryen still be alive? So many questions that’ll probably never be answered. SMH.
What do y’all think? Should HBO still roll the dice on a Jon Snow spinoff? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Ollie Upton/HBO / House of the Dragon
Another Black star from Max’s Game of Thrones spinoff, House of the Dragon, has to waste their time to call out a racist troll.
Spotted on TMZ, Actress Bethany Antonia shared how she handled a racist wasting space in her Instagram DMs, sharing a screenshot of the troll’s message to her in her Instagram Stories while adding a clever joke for good measure.
In the screenshot shared by Antonia, who plays Lady Baela Targaryen in the Game of Thrones spinoff, the troll insults her, even wishing she died on set.
Showing her followers the hate she receives for playing a character that was originally white in the George R.R. Martin books, Antonia cleverly clapped back at the racist hater, adding, “Wait till they find out I’m gay too.”
In another post, Anotonia shared a photo of herself smiling with crystal hair art with the message, “Y’all won’t ruin this first glimmer of dragon joy for us negroes.”
To drown out the racist hate Antonia was receiving, fans have taken to her posts’ comment sections to shower her with support.
Per Blavity:
Fans have rushed to Antonia’s side, running to her comments to share some much deserved love.
“Hi coming on here to counteract the hate you’re getting in your dms!! hope you’re well + you’re the prettiest
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Source: Helen Sloan / Helen Sloan/HBO
The anticipated Game of Thrones spinoff featuring Jon Snow is not going to happen, according to the actor playing the beloved character.
A Game of Thrones spinoff show project featuring Jon Snow is no longer in development by HBO, according to Kit Harrington, who played the role during the show’s entirety. The British actor revealed the news during an interview promoting the crime thriller Blood For Dust, which he has a starring role in.
“I hadn’t really ever spoken about it, because it was in development,” Harrington began. “I didn’t want it leaked out that it was being developed, and I didn’t want the thing to happen where people kind of start theorizing, getting either excited about it or hating the idea of it, when it may never happen. Because in development, you look at every angle, and you see whether it’s worth it.” The show was slated to begin airing in 2028 according to projections.
He continued: “And currently, it’s not. Currently, it’s off the table, because we all couldn’t find the right story to tell that we were all excited about enough. So, we decided to lay down tools with it for the time being. There may be a time in the future where we return to it, but at the moment, no. It’s firmly on the shelf.” The news comes as House of the Dragon returns for its second season and another prequel series, A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms, has reportedly begun casting with an air date in 2025.
The Jon Snow-centered spinoff first got traction in 2022, when a leak compelled series creator and author George R.R. Martin to confirm that HBO had begun work on the show with writers and showrunners on board who were brought in by Harrington. The show, tentatively titled Snow, would begin after the events ending Game of Thrones where Jon Snow killed Daenerys, his lover (and aunt).
“I think if you asked him, he would’ve felt he got off lightly,” Harrington said while at a Game of Thrones convention in December 2022 when asked about the warrior’s fate. “At the end of the show when we find him in that cell, he’s preparing to be beheaded and he wants to be. He’s done. The fact he goes to the Wall is the greatest gift and also the greatest curse.”
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Source: HBO / HBO
When Game of Thrones ended their riveting 8-year run with a lackluster and disappointing final season in 2019, many fans were skeptical of HBO’s planned prequel series, House of the Dragon as we were still salty about how things played out in the original adaptation to George R.R. Martin’s brainchild.
Interestingly enough the series not only surprised critics with an enticing and exciting storyline, but left fans wanting more after it’s debut in 2022, and more we shall get as HBO released it’s first teaser trailer for the second season to their newest hit show.
Picking up where season one left off, the new teaser trailer to House of the Dragon which asks fans to choose a side in the upcoming war between King Aegon’s Green Council and the Black Council which is that of Queen Rhaenyra. Though we have an idea of how this will end given that Game of Thrones takes place hundreds of years later and basically spelled out the events of this feud, we still can’t wait to see it play out before our very eyes as we’ve learned that drama and dragons go pretty well together.
To amp up the upcoming season, HBO dropped a few dueling trailers to get fans to choose a side (black or green) and we just know that if Wesley Snipes was here he’d say “Always bet on Black” but in this case, it’s kind of a tossup.
With that being said, when the hell is HBO gonna give us an update on that Jon Snow spinoff series that we were promised two years ago?? We desperately want to see what the OG King of The North is up to after killing his queen/lover/aunt, Daenerys Targaryen. Just sayin.’
Check out the trailers for House of the Dragon and let us know if you’re as amped as we are about the second season in the comments section below.
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Snoop Dogg, rapper of dragons? On Friday (March 24), the superstar came face to face with Game of Thrones actor Emilia Clarke and shared his love of the hit HBO fantasy series.
“SNOOP. DOGGY. DOGG.” Clarke posted alongside a sweet photo of the pair on social media, backstage at the rapper’s show at The O2 in London. “The man, the myth, the legend. When he calls, you (I) come running.” She even geeked out with her hashtags, writing, “#my16yearoldselfishavingalifealteringmomenthere #soismy36yearoldself.” Meanwhile, Snoop commented under the post, “I’ love me some you” with the requisite dragon, flame, paw prints, TV camera and smiling heart emojis.
In a sweet video in the slideshow, Snoop proved the love was nothing but mutual. He can be heard telling the actress, “I would protect your eggs any day…I’m here for you, baby, I’m here! You know I’m a fan of the show, right?” referring to Clarke’s famous role as Daenerys Targaryen. Visibly blown away, Clarke quips, “Can I get that in writing?” before responding, “You know I’m a fan of you since forever and ever and ever?”
Earlier this month, the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show performer made major business moves by starting Shiller, his very own Web3 livestreaming platform with British tech entrepreneur Sam Jones and returning the entire catalog of releases on Death Row Records — including classics like 1993’s Doggystyle and 1996’s The Doggfather — to streaming services. Other albums in the deal included Tupac’s All Eyez on Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory as well as Lady of Rage’s Necessary Roughness and Kurupt’s Against the Grain.
Check out Snoop’s adorable meet-up with Clarke below.
Westeros isn’t so different from the world of pop. The top slot on the Billboard charts is just as sought-after as the Iron Throne — though artists use their music as weapons instead of, well, actual weapons.
Back in 2016, ahead of the season 6 premiere of Game of Thrones on HBO, we decided to see if we could draw a direct line between the citizens of the Seven Kingdoms and our very own pop royalty. These people are playing very different games, but often using similar strategies. We published animated illustrations reimagining six of the biggest musicians in the world as six of the biggest characters on the wildly popular show, which came to an end in 2019 after eight seasons.
This week (Dec. 7), our gallery of GIFs became relevant once again, when Taylor Swift told The Hollywood Reporter for their Women in Entertainment Power 100 issue which Thrones character she most identifies with: Arya Stark. “I realize I don’t know how to use a sword and I’ve never had to rise up from near death to go on an epic revenge mission,” the pop star quipped. “But I have been in the music industry for over 15 years, so …”
When we published the original gallery, we had Swift pegged as the Mother of Dragons, Daenerys Targaryen — of course, that was before (spoiler alert) Dany burned it all down in the final season. Also since the gallery was posted, Swift has spoken of her kinship with the Stark daughters (Sansa too) and how they partially inspired her 2017 album reputation. “So much of my imagination was spent on Game of Thrones,” Swift told Entertainment Weekly in 2019. “At the time, I was making reputation and I didn’t talk about it in interviews, so I didn’t reveal that a lot of the songs were influenced by the show.”
But Swift isn’t our only pop star featured in the gallery. Below, find animated illustrations of pop stars as their kindred Game of Thrones characters. (And maybe for our next round, we’ll include musicians as House of the Dragon standouts.)
This gallery was originally published in 2016.
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