Game of Thrones TV Series Set To Spoil Books

The showrunners for Game of Thrones made an announcement this weekend, and readers of the books are outraged. 

Fans of author George R.R. Martin’s series “A Song of Ice and Fire” are some of the most dedicated fans to any current literature, and an announcement from Game of Thrones show runners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff this weekend confirmed that the show will catch up to the books in season 5, pass the books in seasons 6 and 7, and spoil the ending in season 7. George R.R. Martin has been working on “A Song of Ice And Fire” since 1991, with the first book in the series being published in 1996. To date, the first 5 books in the series have been released, and the sixth book is soon to come. Fans of the books hoped that Martin would be able to release the sixth book before the television series caught up and began spoiling elements of the plot, but that is looking less and less likely as Martin’s writing continues to move at a glacial pace. Season 5 of Game of Thrones begins to air on HBO starting on April 12, and will cover the ending of books 4 and 5. Unless Martin can seriously expedite the rest of the sixth book, the show will begin its sixth season next year and begin spoiling the plot.

There has already been some deviation between the books and the television series. There have been characters added and removed, deaths changed, and plot elements added and skipped. This deviation from the book series is likely to increase drastically in season 6, as Martin has shared with the show’s creators relatively few details about what is to come. In a quote from showrunner David Benioff this weekend, fans now know that “[the television series will] meet up at pretty much the same place where George is going; there might be a few deviations along the route, but [the show is] heading towards the same destination”. Even if Martin does manage to finish the sixth book in the series before the sixth season of the show airs, there really is no hope left for the ending of the story. Martin is taking, on average, about 4 years per book, and the makers of the show are not going to wait that long to produce their final season. Therefore the show and books will have (basically) the same ending, but the show will spoil it for the dedicated readers of the books.

You Win Or You Die

Lately I've been getting into the smash HBO series Game of Thrones.  This epic saga based on the novels of George R. R. Martin, is an fantasy series on HBO created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss to become a massive success and fan favorite.  Season 3 is in the midst right now and it's been an epic battle and quest for power and knowledge every episode.  I'm really enjoying this series, even though it's a little different than my usual programs.

Right now, Game of Thrones is in it's 3rd season (it was picked up for it's 3rd season just 9 days after premiering it's 2nd season) and is an adaptation of the 3rd book in the series.  The cast and characters are all incredibly dangerous and fascinating which makes the show so intriguing.  I can honestly say (with out reading the books of course) that at this point in the show ANYONE could die.  This is highly unlikely for a TV show to kill off it's main characters but the show has done it before and would not be a surprise.  The premise of the show obviously revolves around a fictional fantasy world where kings and queens ruled the land, so naturally the goal of the majority of characters is to become the king.  And I can say it's a very safe bet that any one of the characters has a rightful power for the throne.

Some of the favorites on the show include Peter Dinklage as Tyrion the women-crazed son and imp of a very wealthy family who strives for the kingdom; Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryan the bad-ass blonde dragon trainer; and Kit Harrington as Jon Snow the young and hunky bastard-son who's gone on to fight in a brotherhood army.  (Emilia Clarke is my favorite - I actually met her when she was starring on Broadway!)

The show brings on a huge cast of characters yet does a wonderful job of including them and weaving in story lines. (Unlike Glee with all of their characters).  I will continue to watch this show for as long as it will go on for a while.  There are 5 books currently but 2 more in the works and they might split the books up into multiple seasons as they did for seasons 3 and 4 (both about the 3rd book).

Could HBO be onto something, but turning hit books into TV shows rather than movies? (True Blood is another example.)  Maybe Harry Potter should have been an HBO series?  But then again it probably wouldn't have had enough sex or nudity for HBO to pick it up in the first place!