Kit Harington’s Most Heartbreaking Quotes About His Struggles With ‘Game of Thrones’ Ending

Credit: Courtesy of Helen Sloan/HBO

Kit Harington's Most Heartbreaking Quotes About His Struggles With 'Game of Thrones' Ending

An open book. Kit Harington may have been secretive about checking into treatment for stress and alcohol abuse ahead of the Game of Thrones series finale, but he hasn’t been quiet about the effect the end of the HBO hit has had on his life. In fact, he confessed to getting therapy as his fame was peaking in an interview with Variety as far back as March. “It wasn’t a very good time in my life,” he explained to the publication at the time. “I felt I had to feel that I was the most fortunate person in the world, when actually, I felt very vulnerable.” The How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World star’s rep gave a statement to Us Weekly about his more recent decision to get help earlier in May. “Kit has decided to utilize this break in his schedule as an opportunity to spend some time at a wellness retreat to work on some personal issues,” the rep said. [jwplayer z0ihlkqq-l3ahXupL] A source told Us that Harington’s decision was based on his love for his former costar and wife, Rose Leslie. “Kit went to treatment for Rose,” the insider revealed. “He was living a very unhealthy lifestyle. He was stressed all the time and using unhealthy coping tools. … She had been telling him to get into treatment for a little while now.” Page Six reported on May 28 that Harington stayed at a facility in Connecticut for roughly one month to help cope with the end of GoT, which “really hit him hard,” according to the outlet. The website reported that Harington received "psychological coaching" at the facility, which included "practicing mindful meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy" to deal with "any negative emotions." Scroll through to read even more of the clues Harington gave about his difficulty transitioning away from his hit show ahead of its end.

Credit: Courtesy of Helen Sloan/HBO

Kit Harington's Most Heartbreaking Quotes About His Struggles With 'Game of Thrones' Ending

An open book. Kit Harington may have been secretive about checking into treatment for stress and alcohol abuse ahead of the Game of Thrones series finale, but he hasn’t been quiet about the effect the end of the HBO hit has had on his life. In fact, he confessed to getting therapy as his fame was peaking in an interview with Variety as far back as March. “It wasn’t a very good time in my life,” he explained to the publication at the time. “I felt I had to feel that I was the most fortunate person in the world, when actually, I felt very vulnerable.” The How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World star’s rep gave a statement to Us Weekly about his more recent decision to get help earlier in May. “Kit has decided to utilize this break in his schedule as an opportunity to spend some time at a wellness retreat to work on some personal issues,” the rep said. [jwplayer z0ihlkqq-l3ahXupL] A source told Us that Harington’s decision was based on his love for his former costar and wife, Rose Leslie. “Kit went to treatment for Rose,” the insider revealed. “He was living a very unhealthy lifestyle. He was stressed all the time and using unhealthy coping tools. … She had been telling him to get into treatment for a little while now.” Page Six reported on May 28 that Harington stayed at a facility in Connecticut for roughly one month to help cope with the end of GoT, which “really hit him hard,” according to the outlet. The website reported that Harington received "psychological coaching" at the facility, which included "practicing mindful meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy" to deal with "any negative emotions." Scroll through to read even more of the clues Harington gave about his difficulty transitioning away from his hit show ahead of its end.

Credit: Courtesy of Helen Sloan/HBO

Not Ready for the Limelight

Harington struggled with the newfound fame his character of Jon Snow brought with it — particularly following the king in the North's death in season 5. “It was probably one of the darkest periods I have been through in my life," he told Emmy magazine in April 2019. "I think it must have had something to do with being a walking cliffhanger; I didn't enjoy it. You want to be a lead, and then you get all the spotlight of the biggest show in the world onto you for a few months. It's very disorientating, and weird, and unpleasant in many ways." (Snow was revived by the Red Woman at the beginning of season 6.)

Credit: Courtesy of Helen Sloan/HBO

Getting Help

Harington opened up to Variety in March 2019 about grappling with success at the height of his fame. “I had a shaky time in my life around there — like I think a lot of people do in their 20s. That was a time when I started therapy, and started talking to people. I had felt very unsafe, and I wasn’t talking to anyone.” Added Harington: “I had to feel very grateful for what I have, but I felt incredibly concerned about whether I could even f—ing act.”

Credit: Courtesy of Helen Sloan/HBO

A Backbreaking Finale

Things only got harder for Harington from there: He admitted season 8 of the beloved series was incredibly difficult. “The last season of Thrones seemed to be designed to break us. Everyone was broken at the end,” he told GQ Australia in January 2019. “I don’t know if we were crying because we were sad it was ending or if we were crying because it was so f—king tiring. We were sleep deprived. It was like it was designed to make you think, ’Right, I’m f—king sick of this.' I remember everyone walking around towards the end going, ’I’ve had enough now. I love this, it’s been the best thing in my life, I’ll miss it one day – but I’m done.’”

Credit: Courtesy of Helen Sloan/HBO

A Stirring Speech

Harington became visibly emotional during his last table read for the show, as seen in the HBO documentary, The Last Watch, which aired on May 26. (He broke down upon learning that his character would be the one to kill Emilia Clarke's Daenerys Targaryen.) The British actor later gave a speech expressing his feelings to the cast and crew after he shot his final scene: "I feel like my heart is breaking. I love this show more than anything. It has never been a job for me. It's been my life. And this will always be the greatest thing I will ever do or be a part of. And you have been, just, my family. I love you for it, and thanks so much."

Credit: Courtesy of Helen Sloan/HBO

That's a Wrap

"My final day of shooting, I felt fine  . . . I felt fine  . . . I felt fine . . . Then I went to do my last shots and started hyperventilating a bit,” the Emmy nominee told Esquire in April 2019. “Then they called, 'Wrap!' And I just f--king broke down.” According to the actor, he had mixed feelings about no longer being able to share his days with his HBO family. “It was this onslaught of relief and grief about not being able to do this again. It wasn’t so much about Jon. It was about not being in this world, not getting to smell those smells, fight those fights, be with these people — the whole package."

Credit: Courtesy of Helen Sloan/HBO

Hanging Up His Costume

Things got even more strange when he took off his Jon Snow gear. "The weirdest bit was when we came off set and they started taking the costume off and it felt like being skinned,” he told Esquire. “It felt like they were, unceremoniously, for the last time, ripping off this character. I was still blubbering my tears."

Credit: Courtesy of Helen Sloan/HBO

New Identity

The London native revealed that he struggled to give up his character’s identity post-series. "I left set [for the final time] and I was very emotional, and this poor girl came up [to me] at the airport and went, 'Are you Jon Snow?' and I went, 'Not anymore!'" he said through mimed sobs on an April 12, 2019, episode of The Graham Norton Show. “She backed off ... pretty quick!"