George R. R. Martin, the author of 'A Song of Fire and Ice,' has admitted he hasn't seen the scripts for the final season of 'Game of Thrones.'
When George R. R. Martin released the first book of his hit fantasy series, he never would have guessed that a TV series would ever surpass the release of his books, beating the book series to an ending first. The first entry into the series, 'A Game of Thrones' was released in 1996.
Fast-forward 23 years later, and we are mere weeks away from the final season of the hit HBO series; while Martin's two remaining books are nowhere to be seen.
The author, as well as showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, sat down with Entertainment Weekly to talk about everything related to the season finale. In their interview, Benioff and Weiss say they have changed Martin's ending so that readers can feel like the books are still "fresh" upon reading them. They explain:
"[The concern] used to be that the books would spoil the show for people — and luckily it did not for the most part. 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."
When it became apparent to Martin that the TV series would overtake the books, he laid out his plans to the series' showrunners. Now, Martin admits that he has "mixed feelings" about it all ending. He says:
"It’s been an incredible ride. And almost all of it has been great. Obviously, I wished I finished these books sooner so the show hadn’t gotten ahead of me. I never anticipated that. 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).' 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."
The author also revealed that due to spending every waking hour on 'Winds of Winter,' he wasn't able to make a cameo appearance in the final season. He explains:
"I was tempted to do [the final season cameo], but I didn’t think, just for the sake of a cameo, I could take the time to return to Belfast."
We feel bad about venting our frustration at the author now. We take it all back, George R. R. Martin, you take your time with those books. It begs the question though - is the author waiting on the finale, to change his own book ending? We'll have to wait and see.
The final season of 'Game of Thrones' will premiere in Ireland on Monday, April 15th.