‘Game Of Thrones’ Showrunners Play A Prank On Kit Harington, Claiming Jon Snow’s Storyline Was ‘Too Harry Potter’


If you thought HBO was mean for teasing fans about the fate of Jon Snow after the Season 5 finale of Game of Thrones, wait until you hear about the trick they played on Kit Harington during Season 1.

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains information about HBO’s Game of Thrones. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers.

For months, Game of Thrones fans anguished over the fate of their beloved Jon Snow after the Season 5 finale saw him stabbed multiple times by members of the Night’s Watch. Was he dead? Would Melisandre (Carice van Houten) revive him? Would he rise like a Targaryen from the flames as the Night’s Watch burned his body? And just what did this mean for the L + R = J theory? So many questions, and yet the only answer HBO would give out was the officially sanctioned, “Jon Snow is dead.”

Jon Snow played by Kit Harington Game of Thrones flesh wound meme
[Image via HBO/JoelNerd.com]
Melisandre did indeed resurrect Jon Snow in the Season 6 premiere of Game of Thrones. Fans were relieved at this, albeit cross at HBO for lying to them for so long. When the actor that played him, Kit Harington, released a statement apologizing for lying to them, fans were okay with his confession.

But how would you react if you were Kit Harington and HBO had just informed you they were going to light your character on fire and horribly disfigure them because they felt Jon Snow’s storyline was “too Harry Potter”? According to an Entertainment Weekly interview with Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, this is exactly the prank they played on Kit Harington.

This prank occurred all the way back in Episode 8 (entitled “The Pointy End”) of Season 1 of Game of Thrones when Jon Snow had to protect Lord Commander Mormont (James Cosmo) against an attacking wight. Do you remember how Jon Snow did that? He threw a lantern at the wight to kill it with fire. However, according to a prank script Benioff and Weiss sent to Kit Harington, burning drapes were used and the result was a badly burned and disfigured Jon Snow. A section of the prank script can be read below.

Jon Snow and the Lord Commander see a wight in Episode 8 of Season 1 of HBO's Game of Thrones
[Image via HBO]

“Jon plunges his hand into the fire, seizes the burning drapes, and flings them at the dead man, engulfing them both in flames. When the fire is finally out, we see by torchlight that all of Jon’s hair has burnt down to the scalp. The skin on the top half of his face has been melted in the extreme heat, blistered and pustulant. Despite what must be the extreme agony of permanent disfigurement, Jon stands stoically by his master’s side. Mormont then says to Jon: ‘Gods, boy. I was wrong about you. You’re a ranger, through and through!'”

In an effort to make the scene seem even less Harry Potter and more the sick and twisted fans were anticipating in the — at the time — newly adapted series, the prank script concludes with the following statement, “Jon smiles, his teeth shining brightly in his destroyed face. Mormont, sickened, has to look away.”

So did Kit Harington fall for this prank? Of course, he did. Harington even turned up to set anticipating the fiery outcome. It was only when Benioff and Weiss started laughing on set that the prank was revealed.

Considering men the world over are now trading in their man buns for the Jon Snow inspired man perm, having a partially bald Jon Snow could have been a disaster to the hairdressing industry. What do you think of this prank? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below!

Season 6 of Game of Thrones returns to HBO with Episode 7, entitled “The Broken Man” airs on Sunday, June 5, at 9 p.m. ET. The official synopsis for Episode 7 is as follows.

“The High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) eyes another target. Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) confronts a hero. Arya (Maisie Williams) makes a plan. The North is reminded.”

[Image via HBO]

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