‘Game of Thrones’ fans, you aren’t the only ones sad to see the epic series wrap up next year. At the Emmy Awards, where the show won for Best Drama Series, while Peter Dinklage won his third Emmy, George R.R. Martin discussed the show’s ending and his sentiments are… ironic to say the least.
Martin’s dense novel series, ‘A Song of Ice & Fire’ laid the foundation for the TV program. While the books were already bestsellers, that was nothing compared to the crossover phenomenon that ‘Game of Thrones’ became. It’s natural that Martin is sad to see this come to an end. He discussed it while walking the red carpet:
“We could’ve gone 11, 12, 13 seasons. [Showrunners] David [Benioff] and Dan [a.k.a D.B. Weiss] have been saying for like five seasons that seven seasons is all they would go. We got them to go to eight but not any more than that. There was a period like five years ago when they were saying seven seasons and I was saying 10 seasons and they won, they’re the ones actually working on it.”
Indeed, ‘Game of Thrones’ is unquestionably one of the most ambitious, expensive and difficult-to-produce shows on television. And eight seasons is a lot for any show. Sure some go longer– ‘Supernatural‘ is going into its 14th– but the majority wrap up well before that.
But maybe Martin needs to take a look in the mirror. Isn’t it a bit hypocritical that he is upset that Benioff and Weiss have chosen to end this herculean series when he’s been working on his next ‘Song of Ice & Fire’ book for seven years now? The last book, ‘A Dance With Dragons’ came out in 2011, the same year ‘Game of Thrones’ began airing. So in that time, we got seven-going-on-eight seasons of a mind-blowing program that helped change the face of television… and zero books.
Part of the reason the show is coming to an end is that it’s already covered everything in the novels and had to start making things up just to keep the episodes going. With no source material and storylines that are likely completely different from what will wind up happening in the novels, now’s as good a time as any to go out on a high note.
Are you upset that ‘Game of Thrones’ is ending? Or do you agree with Martin, and think the show could have easily gone on for years to come?
Source: Variety
