Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin says that the series needed 13 seasons to be faithful to his A Song of Ice and Fire novels.
The show began in 2011 and quickly became hugely popular worldwide. It wrapped up with its eighth season earlier this year with fans turning on their favourite show, slamming the way showrunners DB Weiss and David Benioff handled the GoT ending.
Earlier seasons stuck quite close to the source material, however, Martin released the fifth book the same year the show premiered and has famously been delayed in finishing the series.
It felt like the show took its time in order to not overtake the books, but when it became obvious that the show was moving beyond the books, the slow pacing of the series quickly sped up. Seasons Seven and Eight were just seven and six episodes long, respectively, and fans thought the story needed more time.
As it turns out, Martin 100 per cent agrees with you.
According to Digital Spy, Martin spoke with Fast Company, about the problem, saying, “The [final] series has been… not completely faithful. Otherwise, it would have to run another five seasons.”
He also went on to explain the process of adapting his novels wasn’t a great one.
“It can be… traumatic.” He added, “Because sometimes their creative vision and your creative vision don’t match, and you get the famous creative differences thing – that leads to a lot of conflict.”
Not only that, but he also had to deal with the opinions of the network and studio.
Many fans thought Weiss and Benioff did the story a disservice by rushing through the last two seasons of the show, but it’s understandable that without source material you’d probably panic too.
People are now hoping that when Martin releases his GoT own ending to the show that they’ll be happier with how things end up.
No pressure, George!