The final season of “Games of Thrones” wasn’t exactly the triumphant send-off that HBO and the series’ creators, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, had hoped for. Fans were split (putting it mildly) about the final batch of episodes that aired this spring. But fans shouldn’t worry about the ‘Thrones’ books ending on a sour note.
In a recent interview with Fast Company magazine (via DigitalSpy), visionary author George R.R. Martin makes crystal clear the ending that HBO presented for his epic fantasy saga isn’t exactly the same as the one he’s expecting to finish up in the novels. The author explained that the network would have needed a lot more time to arrive at a “completely faithful” ending.
Martin’s main gripe is that the folks over at HBO didn’t want to invest the time in seeing his epic story through. “Otherwise, it would have to run another five seasons,” he explained.
Martin also offers a staggering comparison which first appeared earlier this year on his blog. “They [showrunners Benioff and Weiss] had six hours for this final season,” he said. “I expect these last two books [‘The Winds of Winter’ & ‘A Dream of Spring’] of mine will fill 3000 manuscript pages between them before I’m done… and if more pages and chapters and scenes are needed, I’ll add them.”
It appears Martin and HBO butted heads constantly about the series, as well. “You get totally extraneous things like the studio or the network weighing in, and they have some particular thing that has nothing to do with story, but relates to ‘Well this character has a very high Q Rating so let’s give him a lot more stuff to do,’” he said.
What may be the most telling statement from the interview and to legions of frustrated fans is Martin’s blunt observation about what can happen when such a vast epic is translated from page to screen. “It can be…traumatic,” he said.
Fans hoping to see what Martin has in store for the true ending for “Game of Thrones” will still have to wait a while, as there’s no release date for the first of the two final books.
