‘Game of Thrones’ Final Season Left Cast Members Numb and in Tears

The final season Game of Thrones is still a few months away from its 2019 premiere on HBO, and the cast has already wrapped filming the last episodes.

To say that those last scripts took a toll on the actors would be an understatement. As Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner, and Kit Harington have all stated, it was an emotional experience. In fact, for Jon Snow actor Harington, there were a couple of points that made him cry, according to a new report from Entertainment Weekly.

The cast were sent scripts in advance of a table read, and many of the actors read them as soon as they received them. But Harington wanted to go in blind.

“I walked in saying, ‘Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know,’” Harington said. “What’s the point of reading it to myself in my own head when I can listen to people do it and find out with my friends?”

At one point during the read, Harington began to weep. And then he got to the final page, and cried once again.

“Every season, you read at the end of the last script ‘End of Season 1,’ or ‘End of Season 2,’” Harington said. “This read ‘End of Game of Thrones.’” And he wasn’t ready for it.

Other actors also felt the emotional sting, as Sansa Stark actress Sophie Turner admitted.

“It was completely overwhelming,” Turner said. “Afterwards I felt numb, and I had to take a walk for hours.”

Daenerys Targaryen actress Emilia Clarke was out with a friend when she received the scripts, and immediately had to cancel her plans.

“I turned to my best mate and was like, ‘Oh my God! I gotta go! I gotta go!’” Clarke said said. “And I completely flipped out… Genuinely the effect it had on me was profound. That sounds insanely pretentious, but I’m an actor, so I’m allowed one pretentious adjective per season.”

That feeling carried over onto the set until the end of filming. The heightened budget led to bigger sets, better costumes, more attention to details, and more intense scenes.

“[Camera] checks take longer, costumes are a bit better, hair and makeup a bit sharper — every choice, every conversation, every attitude has this air of ‘This is it,’” said Clarke. “Everything feels more intense. I had a scene with someone and I turned to him and said, ‘Oh my God, I’m not going to do this ever again,’ and that brings tears to my eyes.”

You’re not the only one.

The final season of Game of Thrones will premiere on HBO sometime in 2019.