Game of Thrones became another entry in the long list of TV series that have captivated audiences for years before falling foul of the curse of the series finale, a Bermuda Triangle of the industry where much loved shows pass into in their final moments to vanish from the world and leave a trail of disappointment in their wake. Along with the likes of The Sopranos, Lost and the original run of Dexter, Game Of Thrones had fans eating out of the palm of its hand through numerous seasons but when the last season played out fans were left feeling so cheated that many began petitioning for the whole final season to be remade. Now it has been revealed in a new book that George R. R. Martin, author of The Song of Ice and Fire novels on which the series was based, was not particularly happy with the direction the show was taking when it surged past his novels.
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Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers is a new book by James Andrew Miller that looks at the history of HBO programming through the years, and along with the many different shows covered in the book Game of Thrones obviously comes up as one of HBO’s biggest ever series. While George R.R. Martin is not directly quoted in the book, Paul Haas comments on the show on the author’s behalf and had a few things to say about Martin’s thoughts as the show began its decline.
The troubles with Thrones has been well documented over the years, with the main issue being Martin’s length process of completing the final books in the series of novels that began with A Game of Thrones back in 1996. While Martin was initially publishing a new novel every two years, by the time the series started his most recent entry, A Dance With Dragons, had taken six years to produce. Still, with five novels to work on, it was believed that Martin would manage to put out his final two novels by the time the series caught up with it, but as the series hit its later seasons it was clear that the show was going to reach its conclusion long before Martin completed the novels. As it stands, two years on from the end of the HBO adaptation fans are still awaiting the final two books.
“George loves Dan and Dave, but after Season 5 he did start to worry about the path they were [going down] because George knows where the story goes. He started saying, ‘You’re not following my template.’ The first five seasons stuck to George’s roadmap. Then they went off George’s roadmap.”
While it has been claimed, and hoped by fans, that Martin’s ending is different to the TV show, Haas says in the book that Martin “hasn’t told anyone” about how his book will actually end, despite the series showrunners previously explaining that they followed Martin’s plans. When it comes to the controversial ending to Daenerys’ story, the book quotes Martin as suggesting that her transformation was also something that came directly from his own intentions. He said:
The book Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers is available now, and all series of Game of Thrones are available to stream on HBO Max. Prequel series House of The Dragon is set to premiere in 2022.
“Emilia Clarke was great. The role of Daenerys is a difficult role. She suddenly grows from a girl to a woman and starts to realize that she does have power and authority. There’s a transformation that’s incredible the entire course of the show. [You have to find] an actress who can be very convincing as the scared little girl in the beginning, but also very convincing as the ‘I’m gonna kick your ass and burn your city to cinders’ woman that she becomes by the end. It’s challenging.”
