Kit Harington has revealed he was "genuinely" angry about a petition that went viral in the weeks after Game of Thrones aired its controversial final season.

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The actor achieved international stardom in the role of Jon Snow, appearing across all eight seasons of the fantasy drama, which was once considered the jewel in HBO's glittering crown.

A divisive and generally underwhelming finale tarnished that reputation to a sizeable extent, even prompting a petition for a total reshoot with "competent writers," in a jab at showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss.

In total, that campaign attracted a staggering 1.8 million signatures, which is a powerful illustration of the dissatisfaction felt over the ending that the duo presented.

In an interview with The New York Times to mark Industry season 4's premiere, Harington revealed that the outlandish demand left him seething.

He recalled: "That genuinely angered me. 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."

Despite coming to the defence of Benioff and Weiss in this instance, Harington recently distanced himself from the Game of Thrones franchise after years spent developing a Jon Snow-focused spin-off.

When asked if he would want to reprise the role in a full cast audiobook, the likes of which Harry Potter has recently received, Harington said firmly: "No, god no. I don't wanna go anywhere near it. I spent 10 years doing that. Thanks, I'm alright."

Harry Lawtey as Robert Spearing, Ken Leung as Eric Tao, Myha'la as Harper Stern, Marisa Abela as Yasmin Kara-Hanani, Sagar Radia as Rishi Ramdani and Kit Harington as Henry Muck in Industry. They are stood and sat around in dresses and tuxedos
Kit Harington currently stars in Industry. BBC / Bad Wolf Productions / HBO / Marc Hom

The comments came almost two years after Harington confirmed that the Jon Snow series was dead at HBO, telling ScreenRant that "we all couldn’t find the right story to tell that we were all excited about enough".

As for the petition, it should come as no surprise that HBO didn't jump at the chance of remaking Game of Thrones season 8, which is estimated to have cost just shy of $100 million to produce.

After the initial hubbub died down, HBO boss Casey Bloys remarked (via Variety): "The petition shows a lot of enthusiasm and passion for the show, but it wasn't something that we seriously considered."

Game of Thrones is available on Sky and NOW.

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A headshot of RadioTimes.com drama writer David Craig. He is outside, smiling, wearing glasses and has a beard
David CraigSenior Drama Writer

David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.

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