Just as all men must die, all television shows must end, my friends — and that goes doubly for HBO’s Game of Thrones, as much as people may not want to admit it. The epic fantasy drama has been a monster success for the network, but it’s not without a limited scope. Author of the book series on which its based, George R.R. Martin has previously said there would only be 7 novels in the Song of Ice and Fire, and heading into the fourth season, with certain character’s storylines pulling from later books, the time to see towards the end is upon us.
According to the show’s co-creators, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss in a recent interview with Vanity Fair, the show does indeed have an expiration date worth sticking to. “It doesn’t just keep on going because it can,” explained Weiss. Both men agree that they’d like to wrap the show up after season seven or eight and nothing more. “I think the desire to milk more out of it is what would eventually kill it, if we gave in to that.” And, hey: you can’t disagree with that. Milking a show just because of ratings is how everything turns to shit.
Looking at that timeline, though, raises serious questions and concerns considering the series has source material it must be loyal to — Martin’s series of novels. The most recent installation, a fifth book titled A Dance with Dragons, was released in 2011 and has elements of its story featured in the upcoming fourth season. And while there are still two more books expected in the series, Martin is hardly known for being a swift writer. There were five years between book three and four, and six years between book four and five. And that means Benioff and Weiss are running low on source material — especially considering the fact that the next two books are without release dates.
So what does one do in that situation? Well, head to the brains of the operation and get the goods. “Last year we went out to Santa Fe for a week to sit down with him and just talk through where things are going,” explained Benioff. “We don’t know if we are going to catch up and where exactly that would be.” And it’s not just to make you jealous that the duo holds the keys to the future of Westeros and Essos, merely that “We want to know how everything ends. We want to be able to set things up. So we just sat down with him and literally went through every character,” Benioff continued.
But it’s not all that easy, since Martin hasn’t written it yet. “I can give them the broad strokes of what I intend to write, but the details aren’t there yet,” explained Martin. “I’m hopeful that I can not let them catch up with me.” So are we, Martin. So are we: but we can’t help but feel as though you maybe need someone to light a fire under your ass because, hoo boy, the winter of this show is coming. And April 6th is almost here.
