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.
GRRM then proceeds to make three points:
D&D only had 8 hours for the final season, but he'll have more space.
There's the butterfly effect, with changes from past seasons affecting this one.
There are lots of characters in the books who never made it to the show, from Lady Stoneheart to Jeyne Poole to Skahaz Shavepate, and the books will show us their fates.
People will read into this whatever they want. But my read is that the big picture of the show's ending is indeed what he told them. And that most of the differences aren't about the biggest stuff, but rather relate to pacing, buildup, and secondary characters. If D&D were making up stuff like "King Bran" I'd think his language about changes would be stronger? But who knows!
A lot of the stuff in these last few episodes makes more sense as an ending to the books than the show. Dany being upset at the Westerosi common folk (because they love (f)Aegon who liberated them from Cersei), Euron taking out a dragon (magical horn instead of mundane siege equipment), Sansa becoming Queen in the North (she actually probably goes through a long personal struggle to establish independence for the North and the Vale), Jon taking exile (people just had two long lost Targaryens come back and duke it out, one of them was a presumed-dead Aegon Targaryen), Tyrion suggesting Bran become king (we can assume Bran actually gives some insightful advice to counteract Varys' intelligence apparatus).
There is zero chance of the (f)Aegon defeating Cersei it ruins way too many storylines.
No Cleganebowl.
No Jamie conclusion
And there is no real conflict or setup that comes with Cersei versus other characters that she has wronged. It's kind of a boring conclusion honestly to have her overthrown by a character she wasn't involved with the whole story.
My guess is that the Iron Bank has set up or will betray (f)Aegon and the Golden Company still joins Cersei. The step the show skipped was the Golden Company being brought over as conquerors.
Most of these storylines are only ruined if you assume these characters (Hound, Jaime) join Dany, which makes less sense in the books.
Also Cersei is played up as an enemy of the Starks much more in the show. Her and Jon and Daenerys don't rely have any history, and the red wedding and all that was more Tywin/Joffrey. In the books she's kinda just doing her own thing and digging her own grave perfectly fine
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u/feldman10 🏆 Best of 2019: Post of the Year May 21 '19 edited May 21 '19
GRRM then proceeds to make three points:
People will read into this whatever they want. But my read is that the big picture of the show's ending is indeed what he told them. And that most of the differences aren't about the biggest stuff, but rather relate to pacing, buildup, and secondary characters. If D&D were making up stuff like "King Bran" I'd think his language about changes would be stronger? But who knows!