When they first pitched HBO on the concept of Game of Thrones in 2006, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had never written a single second of TV
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Weiss and Benioff pitched themselves to HBO as adaptors, not creators. Their advantage over every other show, they argued, was that they had at least four seasons of show laid out in George R.R. Martin’s published books with more to follow.
“This story is unmarked by the unavoidable compromises that come with writing against a ticking production clock,” they promised in 2006. “George has thought this story through with a focus and consistency of vision that is simply impossible in a normal television context. All of the suspense for [Thrones viewers], none of the uncertainty for us.”
And I’m writing. Winter is coming, I told you, long ago… and so it is. THE WINDS OF WINTER is very late, I know, I know, but it will be done. I won’t say when, I’ve tried that before, only to burn you all and jinx myself… but I will finish it, and then will come A DREAM OF SPRING.
How will it all end? I hear people asking. The same ending as the show? Different?
Well… yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes.
I am working in a very different medium than David and Dan, never forget. They had six hours for this final season. I expect these last two books of mine will fill 3000 manuscript pages between them before I’m done… and if more pages and chapters and scenes are needed, I’ll add them. And of course the butterfly effect will be at work as well; those of you who follow this Not A Blog will know that I’ve been talking about that since season one. There are characters who never made it onto the screen at all, and others who died in the show but still live in the books… so if nothing else, the readers will learn what happened to Jeyne Poole, Lady Stoneheart, Penny and her pig, Skahaz Shavepate, Arianne Martell, Darkstar, Victarion Greyjoy, Ser Garlan the Gallant, Aegon VI, and a myriad of other characters both great and small that viewers of the show never had the chance to meet. And yes, there will be unicorns… of a sort…
Book or show, which will be the “real” ending? It’s a silly question. How many children did Scarlett O’Hara have?
How about this? I’ll write it. You read it. Then everyone can make up their own mind, and argue about it on the internet.
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Philip Mozolak, AKA “Moze” is a regular on The Incomparable’s TeeVee podcast usually covering such greats as Daredevil and The Punisher as well as the first few seasons of True Detective and others.