More than two years after Game of Thrones ended, the series’ ending remains a touchy subject for fans. However, it bears remembering that the franchise’s creator, George R.R. Martin, never intended for things to play out the way they did.
It’s a known fact that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were the ones behind most of the creative decisions made after Game of Thrones' fifth season, which is when they ran out of source material provided by Martin’s books. Naturally, the fact that the writer’s last mainline novel in the franchise was published in 2011 didn’t help and it looks like Martin continues to take his time with The Winds of Winter.
Nevertheless, all that didn’t keep Martin from wanting to meddle in the way the TV show’s Lord of Light put things together. This fact is noted in James Andrew Miller’s new book, Tinderbox: HBO's Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers, which chronicles the network’s rise to produce some of the most memorable television content of all time. According to excerpts taken from interviews with Martin’s agent Paul Hass and ex-HBO CEO Richard Plepler, the author would often travel to New York City to meet with executives “begging” for Game of Thrones to be greenlit for ten seasons featuring 10 episodes each.
Martin always felt there were plenty of stories to draw inspiration from, a feeling he has echoed in the past many times when being quoted saying Game of Thrones could have gone well into 13 seasons to become “a more satisfying and more entertaining experience.” Per Hass’ accounts, even though Martin loved his working relationship with Benioff and Weiss, the author did say at times “You’re not following my template” to HBO with regard to the route that was being taken to get the characters to the place they were supposed to be.
Both Benioff and Weiss wanted to explore other projects, as they were tired of working so many years on Game of Thrones and became understandably eager to wrap up the series, which does explain why the final two seasons were shorter than previous ones up to that point, despite reaching the desired ending intended by the author. Nowadays, Martin is staying busy working on the long-awaited Elden Ring, acting as executive producer, and, hopefully, doing some writing for The Winds of Winter too.
Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire saga remains incomplete up to this day, with only five out of the intended seven novels completed. While The House of Dragon may look to take the main show’s spot as the go-to fantasy series, Netflix’s The Witcher now brings some serious competition to this streaming battle.
Game of Thrones is now available to stream on HBO Max.
Source: Tinderbox: HBO's Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers (via Insider)