Game of Thrones Creator George R.R. Martin Teases How the Ending of the Books Will Compare to the TV Series

The first five seasons of HBO’s Game of Thrones served as loose adaptations of the first five books in author George R.R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels, though co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss took their own creative liberties with the narrative. The final three seasons were developed by collaborating with Martin, though with the final books yet to be completed and with the series finale having aired, fans can’t help but wonder how similar Martin’s books will be to what we’ve already seen. Martin himself took to his blog to remind fans that his final books will be different from the final seasons.

“How will it all end? I hear people asking,” Martin shared on his blog. “The same ending as the show? Different? Well… yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes.”

He continued, “I am working in a very different medium than David and Dan, never forget. They had eight hours for this final season. I expect these last two books 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. And of course the butterfly effect will be at work as well; those of you who follow this Not A Blog will know that I’ve been talking about that since season one.”

Throughout those first seasons, fans of the novels kept anticipating specific events to happen and characters to appear on screen. Martin reminded fans that, with some of those characters never making their way into the show, there are fundamental differences between the two narratives.

“There are characters who never made it onto the screen at all, and others who died in the show but still live in the books,” Martin reminded. “So if nothing else, the readers will learn what happened to Jeyne Poole, Lady Stoneheart, Penny and her pig, Skahaz Shavepate, Arianne Martell, Darkstar, Victarion Greyjoy, Ser Garlan the Gallant, Aegon VI, and a myriad of other characters both great and small that viewers of the show never had the chance to meet. And yes, there will be unicorns… of a sort…”

As far as when fans can expect to find out how the literary journey plays out, you shouldn’t hold your breath, as Martin has made it clear that, with the number of projects he’s working on, he’s not revealing when he’ll get around to finishing the final books.

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