While fans of HBO's Game of Thrones may be enjoying the final season of the hit TV series, the book's readers may not be as forgiving, seeing as author George R.R. Martin has yet to finish writing the novels.
When asked how he planned to end the series, given that the show's creators, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are light years ahead, Martin walked back the notion he didn't know how to end the books, and said his vision will mostly stick to what he told the showrunners years ago. But because of the time lag, he'll have no choice but to tweak things to create an air of surprise for The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.
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"I've been so slow with these books," Martin told Rolling Stone. "The major points of the ending will be things I told them five or six years ago. But there may also be changes, and there'll be a lot added." These books are part of one epic saga called "A Song of Ice and Fire," but Martin hasn't added to the franchise since 2011's A Dance of Dragons, which climaxed with Jon Snow getting stabbed and seemingly dying at the Wall.
Of course, the show has gone way beyond this point, resurrecting Jon and confirming theories such as him being a Targaryen and the nephew of Ned Stark, not his bastard.
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It's up in the air as to how the TV show's ending will impact Martin's novel, because we've seen even more deaths, alliances and the mission of the Night King in the show that we didn't encounter in the book. This has left fans wondering what the landscape will be for the novels when they eventually come out, and who ends up on the Iron Throne.
Season 8 of Game of Thrones, the show’s final season, will premiere April 14. It will feature six episodes with longer than usual runtimes. The HBO drama stars Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister, Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister, Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark, Maisie Williams as Arya Stark and Kit Harington as Jon Snow.