‘Game of Thrones’ Creator George R.R. Martin Confirms Fans Have Guessed Series’ End

All too often 'Game of Thrones' fans have had to worry that series creator George R.R. Martin's lengthy writing process might one day deprive them of a true end to the 'Song of Ice and Fire' series, but even with the HBO series angling to tell the tale in its entirety, it seems a few clever fans have already deduced the answers to some of 'Game of Thrones' biggest mysteries for themselves.

So says Martin himself from the Edinburgh International Literary Festival, upon being asked about fan theories for the remaining two books, 'The Winds of Winter' and 'A Dream of Spring.' As quoted by the Telegraph, Martin explained his hesitance to allow fan theories to influence his ultimate plan for the story, even if some of the speculation proves accurate in the end:

I’ve wrestled with [the issue of fan speculation online], because I do want to surprise my readers. I hate predictable fiction as a reader, I don’t want to write predictable fiction. I want to surprise and delight my reader and take them in directions they didn’t see coming … At least one or two readers had put together the extremely subtle and obscure clues that I’d planted in the books and came to the right solution.

So what do I do then? Do I change it? I wrestled with that issue and I came to the conclusion that changing it would be a disaster, because the clues were there. You can’t do that, so I’m just going to go ahead. Some of my readers who don’t read the boards, which thankfully there are hundreds of thousands of them, will still be surprised and other readers will say: ‘see, I said that four years ago, I’m smarter than you guys.'

While we wait for ‘Game of Thrones’ season 5, we at least know of a multitude of other new characters cast, including those that confirm we’ll be visiting the oft-mentioned kingdom of Dorne, for which Spain location shoots will double. We’ll also meet fewer new characters in season 5 than in prior years, as the next cycle will prove to be something of a midpoint for the series’ run. As expected, the story will draw heavily from George R.R. Martin‘s fourth and fifth novels, ‘A Feast for Crows’ and ‘A Dance with Dragons,' while HBO has also provided a list of directors.

Of course, Martin would never confirm which theories on the fantasy drama's ending have merit, but fans of the series have likely seen some of the more prominent speculation making the rounds on the internet of late, and may draw their own conclusions. What do you think? Will Martin's vision for 'A Song of Ice and Fire''s ultimate end remain unchanged? How might the HBO series adapt the story for its own 7-8 season run?