When Game of Thrones first began airing on HBO, there was hope that George R.R. Martin would complete the final two novels in his "A Song of Ice and Fire" saga, but the TV series found itself moving beyond previously-released source material several years down the road and wound up crossing the finish-line without Martin.
Following the divisive series finale, George R.R. Martin reacted to the ending of Game of Thrones on his blog. Martin praised showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss as well as the cast and crew, before saying that the finale is an ending, not the ending. Does this mean that the conclusion of the novels will be different to what unfolded on the series?
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…
So which will be the "real" ending, book or show? "It's a silly question," Martin said. "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." As far as when the next book in the series, "The Winds of Winter", will be released, Martin wasn't about to say, only to promise that it is coming. In addition to the novel, Martin is incredibly busy in other areas, with five shows in development at HBO (some of which have nothing to do with Westeros), two at Hulu, and one on the History Channel.