Current Events > George RR Martin confirms that Winds of Winter will have a different ending.

(+) Yeah! (+)

"Looking back, I wish I'd stayed ahead of the books," Martin said. "My biggest issue there was when they began the [TV] series, I had four books already in print, and the fifth one came out just as the series was starting in 2011. I had a five-book head-start, and these are gigantic books, as you know; I never thought they would catch up with me, but they did.

"They caught up with me and passed me, Martin said. That made it a little strange, because now the show was ahead of me, and the show was going in somewhat different directions. I'm still working on the book, but you'll see my ending when that comes out."

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a36812992/george-rr-martin-winds-of-winter-game-of-thrones-ending/

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Fucking just hurry the hell up George

And you better leave notes in case you die

Lazy ass shoulda typed faster, and stopped procrastinating then.

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people are still interested in this fad series?

I wonder if he actually believes he's going to finish the series at this point. Unless he really cleans up a lot of plot threads in that book, I can't imagine he'll ever finish the last one, no matter how long he lives.

I remember when I thought the books and the show were good; now its just some shit I never think about until someone brings it up and I think, oh yeh I used to like that stuff

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Crono99 posted...

I wouldn't be surprised if we'd be playing Elder Scrolls VIII: Akavir by the time he's done.

Let's hope the Skyrim modders are that good.

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It'll end with him croaking before it's actually finished.

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well yeah, the different ending is that there is no ending

the series is going to end with dany shitting in the desert and the mutiny and the stuff at king's landing

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DarthAragorn posted...

well yeah, the different ending is that there is no ending

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The ending of WoW will be that ADoS is coming soon, and 10 years later he hasn't started on it yet.

That of course assumes he actually finishes WoW anyway.

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SerperiorThanU posted...

Kind of happens when you don't write a single book within 5 years.

He thought they'd delay the series.

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You reckon there's a betting site where you could put down money that he'll never finish the series?

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Strange. I was under the impression that Martin did share his ideas on how the story would end with the showrunners (or at least, a rough draft of it). He was a consultant and co-producer on the show after all, even wrote the script to a few episodes.

So either the showrunners knew the ending and decided to go a different way anyway, or Martin is getting cold feet after seeing the public's reaction and has changed his mind about how he wants things to end.

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Hornezz posted...

Strange. I was under the impression that Martin did share his ideas on how the story would end with the showrunners (or at least, a rough draft of it). He was a consultant and co-producer on the show after all, even wrote the script to a few episodes.

So either the showrunners knew the ending and decided to go a different way anyway, or Martin is getting cold feet after seeing the public's reaction and has changed his mind about how he wants things to end.

Oh, that's 100% how the books are going to end. There's just enough in the books already released that you can see how it'll lead there. But assuming he can pull it off with the same quality as the existing work, it'll be the difference between walking downstairs vs rolling down them.

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pfh1001 posted...

I wonder if he actually believes he's going to finish the series at this point. Unless he really cleans up a lot of plot threads in that book, I can't imagine he'll ever finish the last one, no matter how long he lives.

I think well get Winds but not Spring

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We all know he will finish it when he stops raking in cash from the residuals.

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He speaks on this book more than he spends time working on it

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Or maybe they're both done already.

He is just stalling to build hype and have the last book released posthumously

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SergeantGander posted...

Or maybe they're both done already.

He is just stalling to build hype and have the last book released posthumously

No, sorry

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A decade with no books, George.

He ought to be fucking embarrassed

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He pretty much has to say the ending will be different, though - people won't spend years and years and years staying hyped for books where the story/ending is already known via the TV show: he has to keep people wondering what will happen to keep the excitement.

Plus, y'know, everyone hated the ending, haha, so he's not gonna come out and say that he's doing the same thing.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the actual ending is pretty much exactly what we got on the show (in a hypothetical scenario where the books actually get an ending, this is) - so much of the last couple of episodes was so out of whack with what had been built up that I assume the D&D were told "this is the ending, this is how the show has to finish" and just didn't know how to get there organically.

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Tom Clark posted...

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the actual ending is pretty much exactly what we got on the show (in a hypothetical scenario where the books actually get an ending, this is) - so much of the last couple of episodes was so out of whack with what had been built up that I assume the D&D were told "this is the ending, this is how the show has to finish" and just didn't know how to get there organically.

This is probably the case. I don't even have that much or an issue with the ending so much as how rushed it was to get to it. Mad Queen Dany is heavily implied through the books but not as much the television series.

Of course, I will also die on the hill of people saying they had plenty to adapt from books 4 and 5 that those two books due to their structure would have made for fucking awful television. But thats me.

Of course this is assuming he even finishes Winds and I dont believe for a second we will get Dream of Spring. And even if we do on the 0.1% chance of it, I don't trust him to be able to get everything tied up in 2 books, so a third is possible.

Still better than Rothfuss though.

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Not having an ending at all is technically different.

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It's cute that he thinks people think he will actually finish the book.

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Flaming_Fire619 posted...

This is probably the case. I don't even have that much or an issue with the ending so much as how rushed it was to get to it. Mad Queen Dany is heavily implied through the books but not as much the television series.

Yeah, I think that everything at the ending made sense even within the show up until around Season 5 or 6 - I still reckon they wrote the scripts for the last few episodes around that point (even the dialogue in the last couple of episodes has a more "early season" feel) - probably when GRRM told them that was the plan - and then they went rogue with other storylines etc. in the meantime and really struggled to get to that point, eventually just thinking "fuck it, wipe out the characters that aren't in those scripts, wrap up the White Walker story as soon as possible, and just go with the finale we've written already" rather than adjusting the ending to the two or three seasons that had preceded it, even though the White Walkers had very much become the main plot in the intervening time.

I still maintain that the ending itself wasn't the problem - and was actually pretty good, and was the "right" ending for the show we started out watching - it was the couple of seasons leading up to it, where they meandered too much on the way there then couldn't find their way back, that was the problem.

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Hes hasnt finished the books because he doesnt know how to finish them. He has painted himself into a corner with a dozen complicated storylines that cant possibly be wrapped up in two books.

If youve only seen the show but not read the books, youve seen MAYBE half of the characters/stories that are in the novels

Does anybody believe that he actually thought that he was going to finish the book series before the show caught up? Like, does that make even the slightest bit of goddamn sense to anybody? When the first season of GoT dropped it was right after book 5 released, which was six years after book 4.

At this point I no longer care.

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Here's a sneak peek of WoW's alternate ending (HUGE SPOILERS):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_PMab-SGgY

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Zikten posted...

And you better leave notes in case you die

I though fat people were totally healthy and normal?
Which one is it?

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SergeantGander posted...

Or maybe they're both done already.

He is just stalling to build hype and have the last book released posthumously

He would have released them before the show ended if he'd already been done. As others have said its because he bit off way more than he could chew in books 4 and 5 and now its impossible to get everything to tie together in just two books.

Wouldnt be surprised if they reboot the show with a new cast with George RR martins ending in a decade or two (if he finishes it by then)

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Lmao well that is one smart way to reinvigorate interest in something people have lost interest in each passing year

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If it didnt happen in a year of no comic cons to distract him, then it isnt happening at all. The show is the true canon and the books are just fan fiction at this point.

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Jagr_68 posted...

Lmao well that is one smart way to reinvigorate interest in something people have lost interest in each passing year

Yeah, I was a huge fan of the books and had read all of them before the show started and at this point I have completely lost interest.

If I was GRRM, I'd be happy that by the time I'd let the book come out, all the newbie fans in because of the show would have dropped off and my original audience was back.

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Yeah, no shit the ending is going to be different. If you followed the books and the production of the show at all it was obvious, despite the idiots who have kept saying "iT wIlL bE tHe SaMe!1!!" since season 8 aired. Dumb and Dumber made it clear they weren't sticking to GRRM's plans, and he didn't have any input on the show after season 4 specifically because they were making stupid changes to the series and he didn't want to deal with them.

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Solar_Crimson posted...

It's cute that he thinks people think he will actually finish the book.

The least shocking death from the Game of Thrones series.
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https://bit.ly/3vVqKET

This article is kind of funny. But it's the last line that is the zinger. (Onion Article)

Not only will fans be treated to Martin-aping gems like Power is a sword you use to rape your enemies, but the author also hinted that the complex, meticulously developed characters at the beginning of Elden Ring will devolve into complete caricatures that make decisions totally at odds with their previously stated goals. Sounds like game of the year might already be in the bag!

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He types with one finger.

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toyota posted...

people are still interested in this fad series?

Yes, the books are quite good.

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DeadlyNinjaBees posted...

I though fat people were totally healthy and normal?
Which one is it?

Is this cause I said I found a fat girl posted on CE to be "not ugly"? I never mentioned her health. Just said I didn't find her ugly . You might be mixing my comment up with other people in that topic
Also it's not cause of his weight. George is old. Even if he was skinny, he doesn't have much time left

George RR Martin: "I'm done writing, but want to remain relevant. What do?"

I demand a Martin cut

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