George RR Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire, the books which have been adapted into the HBO hit Game of Thrones, has sent a warning across the realm, heralding death on a scale far larger than that in his deadly book series. Showrunners D.B. Wiess and David Benioff are, according to Martin, far more bloodier than he is, with their plans to up the death toll during this upcoming Season 5 and deliver character deaths even book readers won’t expect.
Whether or not this is a way to lessen the impact of dreaded spoilers, it’s a pretty big play from the showrunners, who have thus far stayed relatively close to their source material, give or take a few peripheral characters.
Of course, this also means that characters who may die in the TV show will still be alive when Martin finishes the final two books in his acclaimed fantasy series. This will make for two very different strands of GoT, and arguably something far more rewarding than the alternative.
Martin also told ShowBiz411 that even though he is planning two more books – a total of around 3000 pages – he has no idea as to how many TV seasons that will translate to. “This is the fifth season, the sixth season HBO picked up last year. We will have a 7th, 8th or 9th, no one knows. They only renew one or two seasons at a time. After we do season 6, maybe we’ll get a renewal for 7th and 8th. That all depends, Television is a very changeable medium.”
The final two books will be called The Winds of Winter and The Dream of Spring.
Game of Thrones Season 5 premieres on HBO on April 12.
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