Shortly after Game of Thrones Season 1 premiered in 2011, series creator George R.R. Martin released A Dance With Dragons, the fifth book in his A Song of Ice and Fire novels upon which the series is based.
While Martin is taking off time from the upcoming fifth season of Game of Thrones to finish the sixth novel in his seven book Ice and Fire saga, it appears that there is no chance that the final book in the series will be released before the end of HBO’s adaptation.
While speaking at an event in London (via Vanity Fair), Game of Thrones showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff acknowledged that they would spoil Martin’s ending for the novels as they plan to wrap up the TV series after seven seasons.
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“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,” said Benioff.” 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. I kind of wish that there were some things we didn’t have to spoil, but we’re kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. The show must go on … and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Benioff added that “I think the thing that’s kind of fun for George is the idea that he can still have surprises for people even once they’ve watched the show through to the conclusion. There are certain things that are going to happen in the books that are different in the show, and I think people who love the show and want more — want to know more about the characters, want to know more about the different characters who might not have made the cut for the show — will be able to turn to the books.”
You can watch Benioff and Weiss make the comments in the video from the event below. Game of Thrones Season 5 premieres on Sunday, April 12 on HBO.
