Game of Thrones’ ending was incredibly divisive, leading many to wonder how the books’ original author, George R. R. Martin, felt about it. For at least six seasons, Game of Thrones was considered one of the best TV shows of all time. In fact, it still is, despite its final seasons ranging from underwhelming to flat-out bad.
Season 7 wasn’t quite the latter, but the ending of Game of Thrones, season 8, tanked the show’s popularity in a way many thought was not possible. Thankfully, several Game of Thrones spinoffs, and the sheer, near-unattainable quality of its first four seasons, have allowed the HBO series to remain an iconic one.
That said, the final season of the show is a stain on its reputation that is sometimes hard to ignore. Season 8 is, without a doubt, Game of Thrones’ worst season, primarily due to the fact that it was mostly a concoction of the showrunners and writers, David Benioff and Dan Weiss.
George R. R. Martin, the author of the Song of Ice and Fire books on which Game of Thrones was based, has yet to complete the series’ final two installments. This meant that HBO’s creative team couldn’t only use very brief footnotes on what the ending would be to plan Game of Thrones season 8.
We know how that turned out, but how did George R. R. Martin feel about the conclusion to Game of Thrones?
George R.R. Martin Wrote A Long Post On His Blog After Game Of Thrones’ Finale
Vladimir Furdik as the Night King in Game of Thrones season 8
On May 20, 2019, a day after the release of Game of Thrones season 8, episode 6, the finale, George R. R. Martin took to his personal blog. The post, titled “An Ending,” is very much a retrospective on the entire making of Game of Thrones, as opposed to anything that gives Martin’s direct opinion about how the show ended.
Martin explored the first meetings he had with HBO alongside Benioff and Weiss, thanking the two creators as well as Bryan Cogman, the “third head of the dragon,” as Martin called him. Beyond looking back at his memories of beginning the Game of Thrones journey and thanking the key creatives involved, Martin’s post was very much about non-GoT elements.
He outlined his own future in film, TV, and writing, giving updates on The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, his final two installments in A Song of Ice and Fire. Martin also mentioned the once-planned future of Benioff and Weiss in the Star Wars franchise, which we know did not come to pass, very much thanks to Game of Thrones season 8’s reception.
Finally, Martin capped off his post by mentioning how the ending to his own story will be different, not least because of the myriad characters in his series that were not part of Game of Thrones: “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.”
Martin ended the post with the question: Will Game of Thrones’ ending be the “real” ending, or will A Dream of Spring be the genuine conclusion to the long-running story? Martin simply answered, “I’ll write it. You read it. Then everyone can make up their own mind and argue about it on the internet.”
Evidently, Martin was less interested in giving his direct response to Game of Thrones season 8 after its final episode. The nature of the blog post as a retrospective on the show as a whole and a career update, as opposed to a direct review of season 8, episode 6, proves as much.
George R.R. Martin Has Confirmed His Ending Will Be Different
Custom Image by Hannah Diffey
That said, in the six years between Martin’s blog post and now, he has been much more open about Game of Thrones’ ending. He has never stated that he outright disliked Game of Thrones season 8, instead being much more diplomatic about that fact by stating his own ending will be different from what played out on HBO.
In January 2026, the premiere of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a show based on Martin’s collection of short stories, Tales of Dunk and Egg, allowed the author to comment more directly on A Song of Ice and Fire. In an interview with the Oxford Union, Martin stated, “I have said in other places, but I’ll just repeat it here. No, the books are not going to end that way. They’re not.”
This comment confirms that Game of Thrones, aside from likely some of the much bigger, broader plot points, strayed away from what Martin has planned. When we get to see Martin’s own ending is another question entirely, given that it has been 15 years since A Dance with Dragons was published, with no firm release date set for the next book, The Winds of Winter.
Still, Martin confirming that his ending will be unequivocally different from that of Game of Thrones indicates he was not overly happy with the latter. In the same interview, Martin stated that he could not provide constructive criticism about Game of Thrones season 8 as it would give away what he was planning, again giving more hints as to his true feelings about the show’s conclusion.
How George R.R. Martin Feels About The Backlash On Season 8
Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones season 8
As alluded to, despite the hints that Martin was not fond of Game of Thrones’ ending, he has always remained respectful and diplomatic when questioned about it. This is a far cry from the fan reaction to Game of Thrones season 8, which, as is typically the case with online fandoms, became overly vitriolic.
Martin has commented on this, too. The backlash to Game of Thrones season 8 baffled the writer, who wondered how an entire audience could outwardly hate something they once loved so much. Martin’s view was that if people did not like the show or its ending, they should simply not watch and not comment.
Martin concluded his thoughts with one question: “How has everything become so toxic?” This question can be applied to any large fanbase of recent times, with the advent of social media and online discourse allowing such toxicity to be much easier to both give and receive.
Clearly, while Martin has his own opinions about how Game of Thrones concluded, he wished others would have gone about theirs much more respectfully.
George R.R. Martin Has Reservations About Game Of Thrones Season 8
An image of George R.R. Martin in front of the Iron Throne in Game of ThronesCustom Image by Yeider Chacon
All of this being said, it is evident that Martin had his reservations about Game of Thrones season 8. As repeatedly mentioned, though, his respect for the show has meant that he has not been so blunt as to criticize it directly. This was also the case in an interview with East Company (via Digital Spy), released a few months after Game of Thrones’ ending.
Martin opened this interview by stating that the loss of aspects from page to screen can be “traumatic.” The author mentioned that his creative vision can differ from others, leading to creative differences. He also stated that TV has extraneous elements at play, such as networks wanting characters with good ratings to have more story, regardless of whether this was planned.
Finally, Martin commented on Game of Thrones directly, stating that “The series has been… not completely faithful. Otherwise, it would have to run another five seasons.” Seemingly, Martin shares the biggest issue that fans had with Game of Thrones’ conclusion, that being that it was far too rushed.
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His aforementioned blog, posted a day after Game of Thrones’ finale, alluded to this also. Martin mentioned that Benioff and Weiss had only six hours to complete the story. This was, admittedly, their own choice, given that HBO offered the creatives as many seasons as was needed to end the show.
Martin mentioned this to highlight the difference between TV and books, with the author confirming that his final two installments will have around 3000 pages each, with more stories, characters, and arcs potentially being added if he deems it so. This is possible with publishing, while TV has more variables.
Regardless, it is clear that Game of Thrones season 8’s biggest issue was its pacing. The show could have easily continued well into season 10 and beyond, in order to give the plot points that concluded the show more time to breathe and feel much more natural, as a result.
As it was, though, Game of Thrones’ ending came about far too quickly. George R. R. Martin himself has stated as much, with this, and the confirmation that his own ending to the saga will be quite different, offering an insight into how he truly felt about the HBO show’s conclusion.
Release Date
2011 – 2019-00-00
Showrunner
David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
Directors
David Nutter, Alan Taylor, D.B. Weiss, David Benioff