Come on now, the most likely ending to the books could easily be in the next 3-4 years. George RR Martin gets out one more book on his own, then has a heart attack or something and the estate has somebody else who can get out material a lot faster publish the last two (or maybe they stretch it out for 3, for the $$$), one per year.
Martin will never finish the novels.
I think this season will pretty much cover all of books 4&5.
Well, except for all the stuff they cut.
I’d guess all but maybe one major story line catches up or passes the books in this upcoming season.
Well, not that this is all that surprising, but it’s pretty much been confirmed that the TV series will end before the book series does.
You will see stuff THIS season that hasn’t been written yet. Some of it is in the trailers.
It’s not quite as simple as “taking over the books”.
Certainly storylines have passed or pretty much caught up with the books. If last season was Book 3 part 2 (strongest book was split in two), then Bran, Daenerys, Sansa and Theon are into their storylines in Book 4/5 (I can’t recall which for each, but basically 4 and 5 split the points of view, so some of those are in book 4 alone, and other book 5 alone).
But when it comes to Book 4 and 5, there’s a lot to drop. Basically Book 3 was the great book. A feast for crows (or rather a feast for editors, I would call it) was IMHO, barely readable. If it wasn’t for one characters storyline (see spoiler), then I’d suggest new book readers to skip it alltogether. So there’s a lot which can be dropped there (and sounds as if will be). Book 5 was better, but even at that, a bunch of stuff there doesn’t really translate well to the screen.
On which storyline worthwhile from book 4:
Cersei becoming increasingly bonkers
So I suspect this season will fill pretty much the rest of the storylines in for Books 4 and 5. And some will pass it.
Which ones?
Sansa and The Watch, for instance, and perhaps Daenerys too.
However, significant good bits have been omitted, much to some fans ire.
But it looks like little of GRRM’s published material intended for the screen will be left at the end of this season.
The contracts have been signed till end of Season 6, and there’s two theoretical books to get through till the end. The showrunners have stated at least seven seasons are intended for, but a split 7th season (in effect nearly twice the shows over two years 10 vs 2 x 8), and perhaps even split 8th season, means its got potentially another five years of life in it…
Which means the next book might be out by then. I doubt the last book will.
According to the more recent link posted upthread, the principals are signed on through the seventh season, so from the showrunners perspective, everyone is locked in for their entire vision.
I do agree that the seventh (final) season will likely be extended into a two-part season much like Breaking Bad. As the article describes, that still counts as a single season for actor contracts, so no renegotiations would be needed.
It’s looking pretty strongly that the show will end after seven seasons, either in two years or three depending on if they split season seven into two parts of maybe 8 episodes each. (They normally do 10 episodes per season.)
On a side note, I do appreciate that your boxed spoilers are super vague so as not to be spoilery for us non-book readers. (In case it’s unclear, this is not sarcasm. Much appreciated.)
I thought the very same thing. Of course, on the other hand, it could be less of a “being ahead of the books” thing and more of an example of the two diverging entirely.
I tend to feel that while the show and the books will end up in the same place, they paths they take there will be dramatically different. In some respects this has already happened in a few places. It hasn’t been major things, but I think as we get into the unwritten sections after this season (or some this season), that will become more and more apparent.
I feel that it has to happen because, as stated, some significant characters and plot lines have been completely written out of the show. No some people say that, well that means those book plots “go nowhere”, but that may not necessarily be the case - in that they may not end up ‘winning’ in the end, but may have a significant impact on the story in the books.
I agree and given his last book, I think that’s probably a good thing. He seems to be incapable of wrapping it up and is just kind of meandering in this world he built.
Maybe the first, but definitely not the second two. Both have big scenes at the end which are good for the end of a season.
I’m not sure what you mean here. The quote is about what goes past the book in next season:
Extensive spoilers on both book, and reasonable speculation and information about series:
#1
Ok, so Sansa will be in Winterfell, taking the Manderley role, rather than the farya role. Retribution seems likely with this, taking it past the book. Though the book is completely different, any change of state with the Boltons will be past the book.
#2
Hardholme is this season. Likely to be big battle with the Others. This hasn’t happened in the book. In fact its being talked about happening in the last POV chapter from Jon Snow.
#3
Let’s face it Daenerys’s is near her position in the end of ADWD, people are getting murdered, Yunkai is in revolt, Dragons have lost control, Drogon is off. Not much left to do but marriage, pitfighters and Danys lost in the dothraki sea. If, and its a good bet because of the drama, the Battle of Mereen might happen this season. Then that’s past the book.
Oh, and an additional one about Arya.
The released chapter called Mercy from next book seems to be quite likely too. Probably the reason why the chapter was released.
Some info here (spoilers)
Brian
Maybe it’s obvious but since Martin looks to have one foot in the grave that’s the reason people are saying he won’t finish the books. Of course he could live to 100.
Re: That last one. I wonder if that will be filmed and how far they will take it. A huge part of the viewership might still see Arya as a preteen even if her and Maisie are really grown up.
Some critic review copies are circulating for the first episode of the new season. I read a mostly non-spoilery review that said the characters in the first episode are at significantly different points with different motivations than they would be at the start of book 4. That it is, by far, the most divergent plot as yet featured in the seasons in regards to the books. And it likely will be that way until the end simply because the show is already outpacing the books in certain storylines, and there’s no way the book series will finish anytime soon - it’s not even super likely that the next book will be out in time for next year’s season.
From what I’ve heard of how book readers think of the changes, I trust D&D to be able to take the story wherever they need it to go. Most of the changes they’ve done have been either a positive, or simply necessary or time limitations. Few clear mistakes. I wouldn’t even take it for granted that their artistic vision for how the story will end would be worse than GRRM’s.
I guess makeup and outfits make the difference there, Arya has been dressed in rags with dirty face previously. Still, wasn’t she 12 when the show started, and is now 17, so it might be more of the matter of trying to make her younger.
It is possible that they could use a different actress though. There is scope for that too. Might be confusing for the show people.
I don’t think it’s just a matter of life-span; it looks to me like he’s simply lost the drive to finish the series. I don’t see a win for fans of the books. Either he’ll pass and the publisher will have someone else finish them, or Martin will grudgingly finish the series the way Thomas Harris ground out more Lecter novels.
Don’t think so. I think that the big ending will be A changed version of the attack in the pits. Instead of the dragons going crazy, the Sons of the Harpy will attack. It’s likely that the end of this season will have Dany looking toward the Battle of Mereen, still yet to come. As it is, it’s definitely confirmed about the attack in the Pits (you can see stills, shots, and making-of footage in the stuff they’ve released in advance of the season). The rest is my speculation.
Yeah, I’ll be totally okay with them tightening up books 4 and 5. They’re … meandering. It’s already been confirmed that there are significant plots that have been dropped entirely for the show, as well. Mostly budget, but also some plot, concerns. For instance … 1) Ariana Martell is out. She’s being replaced by Ellaria Sand.
2) The entire Ironborn plot is gone. Too expensive to create both that AND Dorne this season.