Why yes, it has been six months since the Game of Thrones finale, and fans of the George R.R. Martin-adapted saga remain divided on the closing chapters. A final Emmy for outstanding drama certainly helped sooth any lingering wounds felt by showrunners, but Martin himself remains uneasy with the abrupt manner in which his Song of Ice of Fire was brought to a close. The solution, he suggests? Why, five more seasons!
Martin—who remains hard at work on delivering A Song of Ice and Fire’s sixth novel The Winds of Winter—spoke to Fast Company (via Digital Spy) with a few diplomatic critiques of HBO’s handling of the show’s final seasons, which diverged from his intended narrative for lack of published material. Season 8 in particular strained to wrap up major plot points like the Night King’s invasion of Westeros or Daenerys’ quest for the Iron Throne in a solitary six episodes—far more quickly than Martin intends of his last few novels.
“The [final] series has been… not completely faithful” he acknowledged of the shortened final run. “Otherwise, it would have to run another five seasons.” Earlier this year, Martin noted on his blog that “I expect these last two books of mine will fill 3000 manuscript pages between them before I’m done,” while showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were “working in a very different medium.” The TV version began diverging heavily from Martin’s work in Season 6, having already adapted the majority of his five published novels.
Martin also spoke out on the authorial discomfort of watching one’s work adapted for TV and film. “It can be… traumatic,” he admitted. “Because sometimes their creative vision and your creative vision don’t match, and you get the famous creative differences thing – that leads to a lot of conflict.” Speaking more generally of Hollywood adaptations, he added “You get totally extraneous things like the studio or the network weighing in, and they have some particular thing that has nothing to do with story, but relates to ‘Well this character has a very high Q Rating so let’s give him a lot more stuff to do.’”
The author’s relationship with HBO nonetheless continues, Martin having consented to multiple proposed spinoffs drawing from franchise lore rather than the main saga. One prequel spinoff has already begun filming, while a Targaryen-centric series was reportedly nearing a pilot order in September. Martin is unlikely to share more direct involvement than he had with initial Game of Thrones seasons, should HBO pick up either series, but the prospect of 13 full seasons remains an ambitious, if slightly implausible dream.
