Westeros

Over at Not a Blog, George R.R. Martin has shared thoughts on the close of Game of Thrones, how it might be compared to his plans for the final two novels in A Song of Ice and Fire, and more. Well worth a read as a reminiscence and commentary for those who wonder about these things. It’s been a long road for George, for everyone who worked on or covered the show, and for the tens (hundreds?) of millions around the world who’ve watched it.

I had the great privilege to accompany George and Parris to a visit to the set as the first season filmed (the image above comes from that visit, George and I moving down a dark hallway in the Paint Hall studio, led by Bryan Cogman to one of the several sets in that colossal space).

In his post, George gives a response of a kind to the question of how similar the end of the show is to his plans:

He goes on to explain some of that ambiguity; he has more room than they had, more characters and plot threads that they excised (some of which, fans speculate, are exceptionally central to George’s plans and their absence a part of why the final season seemed rushed). But he also touches on other matters, five shows in development at HBO (we assume three are the successors George recently noted were still in the works, plus one is a series adaptation of Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death and one is possibly unknown… or could be Captain Cosmos, which was in development by Michael Cassut back in 2015 and for all we know may still be making the rounds), two at Hulu (these would be the two separate Wild Cards shows under development), and something at the History Channel, home of original dramas like Vikings and Knightfall.

And of course, there’s The Winds of Winter. George is working on it, he writes, and he finishes with this:

(I think the answer is easier than George gives it credit. The real ending to Game of Thrones has been witnessed this past Sunday. The real ending to A Song of Ice and Fire can only come from between the covers of the books.)