14 DAY TRIAL // This was the problem that George R.R. Martin saw from the first day he met with HBO bosses in the view of bringing his series of novels “Song of Ice and Fire” to the small screen, as the hit series “Game of Thrones”: the series has caught up with the novels, and will end before Martin gets the chance to finish them.
Speculation about this has been particularly strong in anticipation of the season 5 premiere, because it meant the end was coming near, something that Martin himself couldn’t but note in recent interviews.
Now, series creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss have confirmed it during a panel at Oxford, which you will find available in full below: HBO will catch up with the books and will bring the story to an end before Martin gets the chance to.
This means good news and bad news: the good news is that we will finally have closure for the story and fans won’t have to wait for years to find out who wins at the end; the bad news is that readers of the books will have the ending spoiled, no doubt about it.
“Luckily, we’ve been talking about this with George for a long time, ever since we saw this could happen, and we know where things are heading. And so we’ll eventually, basically, meet up at pretty much the same place where George is going; there might be a few deviations along the route, but we’re heading towards the same destination,” they say.
They describe their situation as “between a rock and a hard place,” and they admit that they would have loved a scenario in which they didn’t spoil the story for the readers. But that’s not a possibility anymore.
Since Martin knew this was coming, and he long revealed for them how the story ends, chances are the HBO show won’t go the exact route as the books. In other words, the ending might be spoiled, but the narrative will probably be different. Here’s to hoping, at least.
Season 5 of “Game of Thrones” premieres in April.
