George R.R. Martin wasn’t able to write a fifth season episode of ‘Game of Thrones‘ due to his work on ‘The Winds of Winter‘ and it looks like he is still too busy with the next epic installment to pen a sixth season episode as well. As showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff are currently in the process of assigning the scripts out for the next season and with production beginning in July,  the decision had to be made now. While Martin may have plans to be done by that time, there really is no guarantee that fans wouldn’t revolt hearing that the novel was even further delayed after a four year wait since ‘A Dance with Dragons’ was released.

Of course, that isn’t the only reason Martin might be in a hurry.

Considering that the sixth season will most likely premiere before ‘The Winds of Winter’ are released and events even in the fifth season might already contain new material it would be no surprise that Martin wants to try to get his next novel out before the show spoils it for readers. It will be an odd twist of fate with how many readers have spoiled the show for viewers so far.

The showrunners do seem as if they are probably ending the series after the seventh season which may or may not spoil how the novels end depending on changes that are made and how quick Martin is able to finish up his series. We already know that the next novel won’t be released in 2015 so he’ll have to be in a hurry if he wants to try and beat the 2016 sixth season premiere.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time that the show changes the plot of the novels so we might not have that much to worry about. We’ve already seen characters killed that are still alive so who knows how much of a change may be coming. Or, if the series really is just already making way for huge spoilers from the novels.

Are you looking forward to the sixth season of ‘Game of Thrones’? Are you happy with the changes that the show is making or worried that you’ll be seeing what happens at the end of the novels before actually being able to read them? Share your thoughts below!

Source: EW