George R.R. Martin revealed in his interview via the Toronto International Film Festival that the ending of the A Song of Ice and Fire series has been “planned out to an extent,” comparing it to a road trip journey where he knows exactly his destination and the roads he needs to take.
Intriguingly, the author said he will have stopovers and errands in places he hasn’t decided yet, which is evidently the same approach he uses to write his books and why The Winds of Winter is delayed.
Moreover, Martin revealed he has already decided what happens to the main characters at the end of the book series, though there’s a bit of a twist to this revelation:
I know the ending. I know the fate of the principal characters. There’s been a lot of characters who have sort of popped up and budded their way into the story, and I’m still sort of making up their fates on the fly.
Somehow, Martin’s statement isn’t very comforting, especially since the book is already 14 years delayed. It is highly possible that the author is still figuring out some parts of his story.
GRRM’s Hint At The Winds of Winter’s Plot Is Why The Book Remains Unfinished
Martin’s approach in writing has its ups and downs, and while the gardening method enriches the story through organic unfolding of events, it may have contributed to the book’s delay.
Since he has already mentioned that the fates of the characters have been mapped out, presumably since the beginning, it only goes to show that Martin still hasn’t figured out how to get there.
While the author admitted that he still has some new characters who became more prominent in the story, which only added more work for him, he assured fans that he won’t have new viewpoint characters in The Winds of Winter.
This is only one of the possible reasons why the upcoming book remains uncompleted. Apart from the uncertain fates of his minor characters, he’s also struggling to interweave stories and, possibly, to unravel the infamous Meereenese knot that plagued the past installments.
More Signs Point to The Winds of Winter Having a Similar Ending as Game of Thrones
One of the most asked questions about Martin’s book is whether it will have the same ending as Game of Thrones. He has already said that there will be similarities and differences, although the showrunners previously revealed that they have spoken to the author and learned how Martin envisioned his story.
While his comment above doesn’t reveal much, it’s important to remember that Martin holds on to his plans for the major characters even without knowing how to plot the events that will lead to their fates.
When the showrunners asked him about how he imagined the ending would be, Martin would have surely only told them the ideas he had in mind, possibly Daenerys failing to claim the Iron Throne and Bran becoming the king.
How do you think A Song of Ice and Fire would end? Let us know in the comments!
Game of Thrones is currently available to watch on HBO Max.
