Kit Harington: Game of Thrones season 7 will be “much bigger in scale”

Yesterday, HBO unveiled the premiere date for Game of Thrones season 7 (July 16) by making fans watch a block of ice melt for over an hour on Facebook Live. During the feed, various actors popped up to encourage fans to type “Fire” so the process would move along faster. A roll call:

Kit Harington wasn’t among the actors who showed up, but he is doing his part to promote the season. While the rest of us were watching us melt, he was speaking to The Huffington Post, which asked him if season 7 would be worth the wait.

"Yes, I’m gonna say, ‘Yes.’ I mean I hope it is. I certainly did more this season than I’ve ever done. I think every actor on it did more action, had more action, had more scenes. They really focused it because less characters are coming in, and they’re focusing in on the existing ones, and there are lots of people who cross paths, and that’s something that I think the audience has been waiting for for a long time."

I’m not sure I love the hesitancy at the beginning, but I am looking forward to seeing more characters cross paths. I can think of two in particular who have been separated by distance for a long time, and who fans are eager to see in the same room.

Harington continued, saying that this season is more ambitious than in years past. “They spent an increasing amount of money on less episodes, so it’s gonna be much bigger in scale, the CGI … we’re trying new things, experimenting with new camera techniques. I think we’re trying to break boundaries and push past boundaries in these final two seasons.”

Some fans were upset when they learned that season 7 would consist of only seven episodes, rather than the usual 10. But it sounds like they’re putting just as much work into it. This reminds me of what Maisie Williams (Arya) said of the season a while back. “We only have seven episodes this time. But we’re shooting for just as long, so there’s just as much content. And you guys will not be disappointed.” Liam Cunningham (Davos) also said something to that effect at the end of HBO’s live stream yesterday. “I can personally assure you that it will be worth the wait.” (17:05 below.)

You’ll soon be able to see Harington on the big screen in Brimstone, a horror Western where he stars alongside Carice van Houten (Melisandre). Harington has taken a variety of roles in the past few years, although he acknowledges that, to some fans, he’ll always be Jon Snow.

"Most roles I go into I have the same appearance, so you’re never going to drift completely away from a viewer who’s watched ‘Thrones’ and loves ‘Thrones.’ They’re always going to see an element of me, which is the character of Jon Snow. I’m never going to get away from that so, for me, I don’t try and fight against a character like Jon Snow."

The pull of Thrones is indeed strong, particularly as the show heads into its endgame. It sounds like Harington has made peace with that. “You have to live up to the hype that’s surrounded the show and the worst thing would be to end without really pushing and trying new things,” he said. “Even if it’s a failure, at least trying to go out with a bang.”

The bang kicks off on July 16.