Game Of Thrones Is Changing Its Controversial Ending
Game of Thrones had one of the most controversial endings of any series ever, but it turns out we might get a do-over.
Game of Thrones was a television program that achieved what most TV and films never could: it legitimized sword and sorcery fantasy. Whereas high culture has traditionally disdained the fantasy genre (Game of Thrones’ own Ian McShane probably voiced the standard critical opinion best), the HBO series became the most-watched program in the network’s history, won a whopping 59 Emmy Awards (more than any other dramatic program ever), and launched a hundred memes. Then the last season aired, fans got angry, critics soured, and everyone was left with a bad taste in their mouths. Now, it seems that George R.R. Martin may be striving to put right what Game of Thrones once put wrong.
In a recent post on his blog, the Song of Ice and Fire author expressed that the upcoming, long-awaited sixth installment of the fantasy series will not follow the events of Game of Thrones…exactly. The author writes that some of the narrative of the book will be what was seen in the final season of Game of Thrones (though he takes care to say it may not be exactly how things went down in the show), The Winds of Winter will be more often different than the same. George R.R. Martin goes on to reasonably explain that this was an inevitable result of the increasing differences between his book series and Game of Thrones.
The HBO series deleted many characters from the storyline (such as Lady Stoneheart, Brown Ben Plumm, and Marwyn the Mage), altered others (Yarra Greyjoy becoming TV’s Asha Greyjoy, for example), and change the plot details of yet others (Martin implying that Rickon Stark has an entirely different role in his books). At a certain point, It would be impossible for Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire to entirely match each other plot point for plot point.
As George R.R. Martin puts in his own writerly way, he considers himself a gardener rather than an architect. As such, the story of A Song of Ice and Fire apparently grows in unexpected directions sometimes rather than following a strict set of building instructions. He also seems very cognizant of the fact that the differences between his books and the Game of Thrones series will cause enormous debates among the fan base, which has pretty definitively shown itself to not be comprised of easygoing individuals just looking for some entertainment.
The final season of Game of Thrones became one of the more controversial and fan-angering television events since that one guy in the cowboy hat got shot on Dallas. Among other things, critics and fans were infuriated by the comparatively rapid plot developments of the final season, the seeming indifference to time and space, and the sudden twist of central protagonist Daenerys Targaryen turning into a fascistic despot. Given that George R.R. Martin estimates that the final two installments of A Song of Ice and Fire will be a total of about 3,000 pages, it hopefully will be enough to make fans finally happy. Well, that or one of the upcoming spin-off series could finally make them happy. Something must.
