No, George R.R. Martin won’t change the ending of A Song of Ice and Fire

The eighth and final season of Game of Thrones was the most divisive one yet, with some fans enjoying the twists and turns that occurred and others heavily criticizing the way things turned out. But whatever your opinion of the show’s ending, one thing is certain: It won’t affect the outcome of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series.

Although the show came to an end this year, George R.R. Martin still has two more books to release before finishing off the series: The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. And in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, the author confirmed that fan reactions to the TV adaptation’s ending won’t have any sway when it comes to the ending of his fantasy saga — though he did own up to the temptation being there.

”Suddenly the twist you’re building towards is out there,” Martin told ET. “And there is a temptation to then change it [in the upcoming books] — ‘Oh my god, it’s screwed up, I have to come up with something different.’ But that’s wrong. Because you’ve been planning for a certain ending and if you suddenly change direction just because somebody figured it out, or because they don’t like it, then it screws up the whole structure. So no, I don’t read the fan sites. I want to write the book I’ve always intended to write all along. And when it comes out they can like it or they can not like it.”

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Of course, just because Martin is sticking to his original ending, that doesn’t mean the upcoming books won’t be different from the television series anyway. While many of the major plotlines are likely to be resolved in similar ways, Martin has a lot more space to get there in his 1,000+ page novels than David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had in just six episodes.

“Yes, I told [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] a number of things years ago,” Martin explained. “And some of them they did do. But at the same time, it’s different. I have very fixed ideas in my head as I’m writing The Winds of Winter and beyond that in terms of where things are going. It’s like two alternate realities existing side by side. I have to double down and do my version of it which is what I’ve been doing.”

Still, some critics will be disappointed with Dany’s Mad Queen arc or the Night King’s defeat no matter what Martin does. But it’s possible he’ll manage to convert viewers who couldn’t get on board with HBO’s adaptation by more clearly leading up to such major events. Many of the complaints surrounding Game of Thrones‘ last season had to do with previously complex storylines being rushed — something that shouldn’t be an issue given how long Martin’s books typically are (and how much time goes into writing them).

In regard to when fans will see the next ASOIAF book, Martin had good things to say: “There’s no longer a race. The show is over. I’m writing the book. It will be done when it’s done.” Following the author’s recent statements that fans can “jail him” if The Winds of Winter isn’t out by 2020, we’d say things sound optimistic.

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