For the first time since Game of Thrones debuted in 2011, fans who have read every one of George R.R. Martin‘s books, and those who haven’t even started his series, are on the same page. The highly-anticipated Season 6 will be the first season that is completely caught up with the author’s novels, and it was confirmed in January that his long-awaited sixth book, The Winds of Winter, will not be published in time for the Season 6 premiere on April 24. Since there is so little we know about the season thus far, some are worried that the new episodes will actually spoil the events of George R.R. Martin‘s upcoming novel. But during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, series co-creator David Benioff revealed that won’t happen.
“People are talking about whether the books are going to be spoiled – and it’s really not true. So much of what we’re doing diverges from the books at this point. And while there are certain key elements that will be the same, we’re not going to talk so much about that – and I don’t think George is either. People are going to be very surprised when they read the books after the show. They’re quite divergent in so many respects for the remainder of the show.”
Back in March 2014, Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss revealed that they went to visit George R.R. Martin for a week, to find out how the author’s novel series ends, in the event that the show catches up with the books. They also said that they want to end the show after either Season 7 or Season 8, but as of now, there is no official endgame mapped out for the beloved series. D.B. Weiss added that they saw the show surpassing the books as a blessing in disguise.
“What makes the books so great is that George doesn’t make meticulous blueprints for every beat of this story and then fill in the blanks dutifully going from A to B to C, fleshing out an outline. At a certain point, we realized we were going to outpace the books and we kind of chose to see it as a great thing on both sides – there’s this amazing world George has created and now there are two different versions, and there’s no reason we can see why you can’t be thrilled and surprised and dismayed by both of these different versions of this world.”
With just over one month left until Game of Thrones Season 6 debuts, it’s unclear how much more footage will be shown from the season before the April 24 debut. It’s also worth noting that George R.R. Martin recently revealed that his upcoming book has a twist that the series won’t be able to use, since it features characters who are dead on the show, but not in the books. Are you glad that this upcoming season won’t spoil the long-awaited book The Winds of Winter? Chime in with your thoughts, and stay tuned for more as we get closer to Game of Thrones‘ return.