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While HBO’s Game of Thrones followed the overall trajectory of George R.R. Martin‘s Song of Fire and Ice book series, it deviated from key plot points in a variety of ways, but according to showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, one major reveal of the series’ ending is Martin’s planned ending for the book series. Martin’s first book in the series, Game of Thrones, debuted in 1996 and, once the series hit, led the narrative to become one of the biggest pop culture phenomenons of the past decade. Martin has yet to release the final two books in the series, though the HBO series’ commentary track may have confirmed its ending.
WARNING: Possible spoilers for the Song of Fire and Ice books
According to Benioff and Weiss on the series’ home video release, as revealed by Entertainment Weekly, the final book ends with Bran taking the Iron Throne, just like how the series ended.
“Bran is the only probably pure person in there,” star Peter Dinklage shared on the commentary. “And the fact he cannot father children is key because they’ve repeated the cycle in this Westerosi history of heirs being really bad.”
Despite these claims, it’s possible that there’s more to the story of how Martin achieves this supposed finale. While it’s possible that Bran does earn the Iron Throne in A Dream of Spring, a number of other factors could differ from what fans saw in the series finale, with it also being possible that Bran only earns the Iron Throne temporarily before something devastating occurs. Additionally, while Martin might have planned on ending with Bran on the Iron Throne at one point, with the author reportedly not yet having begun work on that final novel, it’s possible that his plans have changed entirely.
Martin has collaborated with the filmmakers at HBO to offer his guidance at various points in time, but the narrative of the series was very much its own beast compared to the novels. The author previously confirmed that avenues explored by the series won’t impact what he plans to do with the final two novels in the series.
“No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t change anything at all,” Martin revealed to The Observer earlier this year about the series changing his novels’ trajectory. “You can’t please everybody, so you’ve got to please yourself.”
Stay tuned for details on the future of the Game of Thrones and A Song of Fire and Ice franchises.
Do you think this is how the novels will end? Let us know in the comments below!