Jon Snow has (sort of) issued the apology that every “Game of Thrones” fan who signed that viral Change.org petition (demanding the final season be remade) was likely waiting for.
A convincing “deepfake” video that YouTube channel Eating Things With Famous People shared online Thursday shows Snow (aka Kit Harington) appearing to say sorry for the way HBO’s epic fantasy drama ended.
“It’s time for some apologies,” says Snow in a doctored scene from the fourth episode “The Last of the Starks,” in which those who lost their lives in the Battle of Winterfell are honored and then burned.
“I’m sorry we wasted your time. I’m sorry we didn’t learn anything from the ending of ‘Lost,’” he adds in the spoof video that creator Chris Ume reportedly spent weeks working on. He recruited a voice actor to portray Snow.
It concludes with fellow characters, including Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), joining him to torch the script.
“Fuck season 8!” he exclaims.
Check out the video here:
Amusing so-called deepfakes such as this “Thrones”-themed one may go viral for all the right reasons, but there are growing concerns over their proliferation, given the spread of fake news spread the 2016 presidential election.
“GetOut” director Jordan Peele highlighted the issue last year with this BuzzFeed collaboration deepfake video in which he voiced former President Barack Obama calling his successor, President Donald Trump, a “total and complete dipshit.”
Check out the explainer on deepfakes above.