Kit Harington took a break from filming season 8 to chat about his series Gunpowder, and how it feels to be approaching the end of his tenure on Game of Thrones (but, you know, for real this time).

In his interview with Deadline, Harington reports that production on season 8 is going swimmingly. “These days are long and a grind but we’ve got the first section out of the way, and all is well. All is good,” he says. But he admits that there’s a sense of pressure on set that hasn’t been present before.

“Whereas before, every year there’s always been a bit of pressure, this season is one where we could easily let people down,” he says. “Obviously, we don’t want to do that so we’re very much stepping up everyone’s game which is very apparent, at least to me … I love it, you know. It’s also I think that thing of just trying to get everything you can out of it while we’re still doing it. Really kind of explore every inch of it.”

Perhaps it’s the residual effects of spending an entire year assuring everyone that Jon Snow wasn’t coming back after season 5, but Harington struggles to articulate how it feels to approach the end of Game of Thrones.

“The ‘how are you’ feeling thing is a strange one because I’m not sure that you’re feeling one particular thing at any one time when you’re present in it.”

He explains that, when one in is the thick of filming, it’s difficult to get a sense of the bigger picture, because everyone’s concentrated on getting things right in the moment.

“So I look back at the ‘Battle of the Bastards’ episode now and I understand what it meant and what it was to do it, but at the time you’re just getting on with the job … I will say I think I’m understandably more affected by it than I thought I would be,” he says.

“You know I wasn’t quite cynical about things, I’m quite straightforward and English. But, really, eight years of your life is a long time to connect with anything. I didn’t know at the beginning if this would be a show that no one would watch or if it would be a show that a lot of people would watch. And I’ve never been in a situation, a show, that’s lasted this long. In my life it’s pretty significant thing that’s happened to me, and coming to the end of it is understandably quite emotional.”

The three part series, Gunpowder (which aired its finale last night), was Harington’s producing debut. Looking forward, Harington says he’d like to produce again and perhaps give directing a try.