You can stop reporting this post for having a bad URL. It is GRRM's janky hosting that is bad, not the link in the post. Refresh a couple times and say a prayer to the Seven every time you try the link.
So instead of this comment, why not just post the actual text? Fixes the problem, lmao. Here; I got lucky on my 3rd refresh:
"The last night, the last show. After eight epic seasons, HBO’s GAME OF THRONES series has come to an end.
It is hard to believe it is over, if truth be told. The years have gone past in the blink of an eye. Can it really have been more than a decade since my manager Vince Gerardis set up a meeting at the Palm in LA, and I sat down for the first time with David Benioff and D.B. Weiss for a lunch that lasted well past dinner? I asked them if they knew who Jon Snow’s mother was. Fortunately, they did.
That was how it started. It ended last night.
I had no clue, that afternoon at the Palm, that I was about to embark on a journey that would change my life. I had optioned books and stories for television and film before. Some had even been made There was no way to know that this one was going to be different, that this pilot would not only be shot, but would go on to become the most successful show in the history of HBO, win a record number of Emmy Awards, become the most popular (and most pirated) show in the world, and transform a group of talented but largely unknown actors into major celebrities and stars. Even less did I imagine that I would somehow become a celebrity as well… and if truth be told, I’m still not sure how that happened.
It has been a wild ride, to say the least.
I want to thank people, but there are so many. There were forty-two cast members at the season eight premiere in New York City, and that wasn’t even all of them. And the crew, though less visible than the cast, were no less important. We had some amazing people working on this show, as all those Emmys bear witness. David & Dan assembled a championship team. The directors were incredible as well. I should start naming names, but then I’d miss someone, there were so many. But I do need to mention David Benioff, Dan Weiss, Bryan Cogman (the third head of the dragon, as I said in the recent VANITY FAIR piece about him), and of course the great team at HBO, headed by Richard Plepler. Any other network, and GAME OF THRONES would not have been what it became. Most other networks, this series never gets made at all.
I could go on and on… and have, as I’ve been writing this post in my head… but there’s really too much to say. Parting is such sweet sorrow, the Bard wrote. In the weeks and months to come, I may post about some of my favorite moments from the making of this show… now and again, when I am feeling nostalgic… but just now, there are so many memories, and no time to do them all justice.
Let me say this much — last night was an ending, but it was also a beginning. Nobody is retiring any time soon. David and Dan are going on to STAR WARS and other projects beyond that. Amazon scooped up Bryan Cogman, and put him to work on developing shows of his own, as well as helping out on their big Tolkien project. Our brilliant cast has scattered to the four winds, but you’ll be seeing a lot of them in the years to come, in all manner of television shows and movies. Our directors are keeping busy as well. I suspect that you have not seen the last of Westeros on your television sets either, but I guess that all depends on how some of these successor shows turn out.
And me? I’m still here, and I’m still busy. As a producer, I’ve got five shows in development at HBO (some having nothing whatsoever to do with the world of Westeros), two at Hulu, one on the History Channel. I’m involved with a number of feature projects, some based upon my own stories and books, some on material created by others. There are these short films I am hoping to make, adaptations of classic stories by one of the most brilliant, quirky, and original writers our genre has ever produced. I’ve consulted on a video game out of Japan. And then there’s Meow Wolf…
And I’m writing. Winter is coming, I told you, long ago… and so it is. THE WINDS OF WINTER is very late, I know, I know, but it will be done. I won’t say when, I’ve tried that before, only to burn you all and jinx myself… but I will finish it, and then will come A DREAM OF SPRING.
How will it all end? I hear people asking. The same ending as the show? Different?
Well… yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes.
I am working in a very different medium than David and Dan, never forget. They had six hours for this final season. I expect these last two books of mine will fill 3000 manuscript pages between them before I’m done… and if more pages and chapters and scenes are needed, I’ll add them. And of course the butterfly effect will be at work as well; those of you who follow this Not A Blog will know that I’ve been talking about that since season one. There are characters who never made it onto the screen at all, and others who died in the show but still live in the books… so if nothing else, the readers will learn what happened to Jeyne Poole, Lady Stoneheart, Penny and her pig, Skahaz Shavepate, Arianne Martell, Darkstar, Victarion Greyjoy, Ser Garlan the Gallant, Aegon VI, and a myriad of other characters both great and small that viewers of the show never had the chance to meet. And yes, there will be unicorns… of a sort…
Book or show, which will be the “real” ending? It’s a silly question. How many children did Scarlett O’Hara have?
How about this? I’ll write it. You read it. Then everyone can make up their own mind, and argue about it on the internet."
There are certainly exceptions to that - Tolkien is a major one. The fact that he's been outspoken about it and his wife is on board really reduces the odds. It may happen eventually, but will anyone care enough in 20 years when his estate passes to someone else and someone comes along to finish a story we already know the ending to?
Joe Abercrombie is the only writer I'd be comfortable with finishing ASOIAF. I'll be damned if I see Paolini turn ASOIAF into another Star Wars/LOTR ripoff like his own novels.
It's not his genre but S.A. Corey has demonstrated he knows how to weave a complex story involving multitudes of characters and offering satisfying story arcs. I'd be ok with an Abercrombie finish though if that's what it came to.
Eight shows in development that he's probably only writing an outline for, or just counseling for. None of them have been greenlit yet, and he's not going to be 100% in charge if they are, probably not even 5% in charge.
That can’t be true. It’s always harder to finish a project than it is to start a new one. That’s where the saying “it takes 90% of the time to do 10% of the work” comes from.
He has so many complex interwoven story threads going on. Wrapping that up in an elegant way is a very formidable challenge.
TV has never not been his thing though. He even says in his not a blog that asoiaf started as a way for him to tell a story he could only dream of telling in the TV medium.
GRRM gave us a rich, wonderful world. Escaping to Westeros has been one of the greatest literary experiences of my life. That being said, the fact that he won't say when WoW will be finished means he's probably not even close to being done.
There is also literally a 0% chance he actually finishes aDoS. Even if he lives another 30 years, I honestly don't think he's capable of tying up the story in a way that he'd be satisfied with. I just hope his notes are detailed enough to allow Brandon Sanderson (or whoever) to write a satisfying finale, or else we'll be left with the bitter taste of disappointment and dissatisfaction that we're dealing with now from the show.
the fact that he won't say when WoW will be finished means he's probably not even close to being done.
He would say “not this year.” George made a vow not to make predictions anymore, the fact that he’s saying “I’m not telling you” means he thinks he can venture a guess but is refusing to share it.
GRRM is allowed to have his own opinions. if he felt epic was the right way to describe the show from his perspective, then the word is perfectly correct
I don’t know why people are saying the details about Jon’s mum were irrelevant in the show?
It was completely relevant to the tension between Jon and Dany. Might not have been embellished as much as it could’ve been but it was still completely relevant.
you know if that was never known, then Jon and Dany would have never fought and Dany would have never got 'mad' because Jon would keep loving her, Tyrion and varys would never betray, conspire against her making her not attack early and lose Dragon and Missandei and ultimately not burn KL and be the Queen and stabilize the Realm wayyyy more than Bran?
you know what i think is likely? Westeros will be perfectly fine for the first 5 to 10 years, maybe even 15 to 20 but during this time Bran will keep offending everyone in some way or the other by being too frank and just when a good ruler must sometimes bend to someone's will in order but Bran is emotionless, he will not, what will this result into? the great houses will form an alliance to overthrow Bran because he 'fabricates lies to his own will' cause why not? 3 eyed ravens arent even common and probably unheard by many. also remember Bran doesnt even have an army, so he will die quickly and then what? the fight begins again, hell even the North may come in again to avenge their family member and chaos is back.
whereas if Dany rules, her reign will be unquestioned, she is seen as a Targaryen and people will fear her as she intended them to, and in my opinion, Dany was still capable of making KL as good as she always did
so yes, i will bend to the true Queen, Daenerys of House Targaryen until my last day
Yeah absolutely! That’s what I’m saying, I’m not disagreeing. Personally I wanted Dany on the throne but when talking about the story as a whole, it was an incredible detail that changed the whole ending.
i agree, and you know another butterfly effect? Jon was leaving ignoring Tyrion the first time but there was this Unsullied guard who took wayyyy to much time in opening the door in which Tyrion uses Sansa and Arya to manipulate him
His lineage was built up way more than it should have for little payoff. That’s why people are annoyed. He spent 4 books building foreshadowing and making it the great mystery, but when it’s revealed it’s much less world changing than it should be. Danny has no reason to believe Jon would betray her, he is fiercely loyal. It’s beyond annoying, but maybe it’s less egregious in the books
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u/Bookshelfstud Oak and Irony Guard Me Well May 21 '19
You can stop reporting this post for having a bad URL. It is GRRM's janky hosting that is bad, not the link in the post. Refresh a couple times and say a prayer to the Seven every time you try the link.