Even George R.R. Martin Doesn’t Know How Game of Thrones Ends
Game of Thrones has been a delicate balancing act since the first season. Not because of the political battles that threaten the fragile balance of power or the struggle for life over death. It has been so tricky because the biggest game on television in the 2010s has been born of a book.
Everyone knows that George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series inspired the hit show. Even more infamously, the seasons surpassed where Martin was in the novels. Most notably, Jon Snow’s death in season 5 is roughly the last major event in Martin’s books. Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have worked closely with the author, even enlisting him to write a few episodes in early seasons. However, the storylines began to diverge allowing for Game of Thrones to take on its own life as Martin focused on the next book, The Winds of Winter.
Even so, Game of Thrones has been incredibly secretive even going so far as to blast drones hovering over the set out of the sky. The time eventually came that the storylines diverted so each medium could be enjoyed on their own. Entertainment Weekly spoke with Martin, Benioff, and Weiss about the final season.
“[The concern] used to be that the books would spoil the show for people — and luckily it did not for the most part,” [Showrunner David] Benioff says. “Now that the show is ahead of the books, it seems the show could ruin the books for people. So one thing we’ve talked to George about is that we’re not going to tell people what the differences are, so when those books come out people can experience them fresh.”
Even though Martin is the Father of the Throne, he shockingly divulged he actually doesn’t even know how it ends. No special privileges for the characters’ creator.
“I haven’t read the [final-season] scripts and haven’t been able to visit the set because I’ve been working on Winds [of Winter],” Martin reveals. “I know some of the things. But there’s a lot of minor-character [arcs] they’ll be coming up with on their own. And, of course, they passed me several years ago. There may be important discrepancies.”
Obviously, this was probably a choice. Martin was even invited to appear in the final season and turned it down. Still, he’ll be a fellow fan when the series ends.
“It’s the end for a lot of people,” Martin says. “It’s not the end for me. I’m still deeply in it. I better live a long time because I have a lot of work left to do.”
Some solace for those of us who are not yet ready to let go. But you better believe we will be watching intently every week until the final episode airs.
Game of Thrones returns to HBO April 14.
Featured Image: Viserion in Game of Thrones, season 7. Courtesy HBO.
