Game of Thronesstar Kit Harington has defended the show from critics who are accusing the series finale of being “sexist”.
The actor was speaking about the show’s last ever episode when he expressed a concern that some fans wouldn’t like the way showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss dealt with two of the show’s leading female characters.
*Major spoilers below – you have been warned*
The finale of the HBO series saw Jon Snow kill Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) after she became the Mad Queen and sent Drogon on a fire-breathing rampage through King’s Landing, murdering thousands of innocent civilians as well as Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), in the process.
Moreover, fans were surprised to learn that Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) became ruler of Westeros with Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) as his Hand of the King. Harington thinks these twists might not sit well with some fans.
“One of my worries with this is we have Cersei and Dany, two leading women, who fall,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “The justification is: Just because they’re women, why should they be the goodies? They’re the most interesting characters in the show. And that’s what Thrones has always done.
“You can’t just say the strong women are going to end up the good people. Dany is not a good person. It’s going to open up discussion but there’s nothing done in this show that isn’t truthful to the characters. And when have you ever seen a woman play a dictator?”
He added that he felt the finale was going to “divide” critics, but supported his character’s murderous action.
“If you track her story all the way back, she does some terrible things. She crucifies people. She burns people alive. This has been building. So, we have to say to the audience: ‘You’re in denial about this woman as well. You knew something was wrong. You’re culpable, you cheered her on.’”
You can find a ranking of every character – from worst best – here and the same for every episode below.
The show will be available on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK.
