George RR Martin Was Unhappy With Three Seasons of Game of Thrones
Fans may have been in an uproar over the final episode of Game of Thrones, but many say the series had a bit of a wobble well before the end of season 8.
In fact, the whole of series 7 came under fire with fans criticising what they saw as lazy writing and some odd character arcs that didn't always make sense. And it turns out that George RR Martin felt the last three seasons were not up to scratch.
Indeed, the series outline he gave to writers D. B. Weiss and David Benioff was, he says, largely ignored. Martin actually had the complete story in his head and felt there was enough going in for the show to stretch to 10 seasons.
But after season 5 he believes the showrunners went off his roadmap and began writing the whole thing their way.
The first few seasons were heavily influenced by Martin – and it may come as no surprise that these were the most critically acclaimed. Without the input of the original author, it could be argued that the show would have never hit the heights it did. But, of course, Martin knew where the story was going and what twists and turns were set to come. As his influence lessened, the show was always going to become, at best, somebody else's interpretation of George RR Martin's roadmap.
And he did try to guide Weiss and Benioff as to how he saw the tale playing out. But, for whatever reasons, they took their own path. To be fair, although Martin is only on record as saying he was unimpressed with the final three seasons, the series was deviating from his novels much earlier than that. As far back as season 4, characters had begun to grow beyond their original plotlines.
Once the TV show outran Martin's writing, however, much more improvisation was required by the showrunners. It essentially became their version of the story rather than that of Martin. Naturally, this was going to take the show in a different direction – and it seems that fans and author alike were unconvinced that it was the right one.
Some have suggested that Weiss and Benioff lost interest and wanted to get involved in other projects. That would certainly explain issues like a Starbucks cup making an appearance, and a litany of continuation errors.
But whatever the reason, there is a strong argument for saying that Martin should have been listened to as the success of the entire franchise ultimately depends on his ability to weave together a complex and compelling narrative.