How George R.R. Martin Actually Feels About Game Of Thrones Season 8: “It Can Be Traumatic”

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As a huge fan, I remember when Game of Thrones was at its peak – for at least six seasons, everyone agreed it was one of the greatest shows ever! It’s still amazing to look back on those times, even though the ending really disappointed a lot of us, and the last few seasons weren’t as good as they could have been. I, like many others, have been really curious to know what George R.R. Martin, the author of the books, thought about how it all ended.

While season 7 had some issues, the final season of Game of Thrones was widely disliked and significantly damaged the show’s reputation. Fortunately, the popularity of several spin-offs and the exceptionally high quality of the first four seasons have helped the HBO series maintain its iconic status.

Despite everything the show achieved, the final season unfortunately damaged its legacy and is difficult to watch. Season 8 is widely considered the weakest part of Game of Thrones, mainly because it felt rushed and was largely driven by the decisions of showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss.

George R.R. Martin, who wrote the Song of Ice and Fire books that inspired Game of Thrones, still hasn’t finished the last two books in the series. Because of this, the team at HBO couldn’t rely on knowing the complete ending when they planned the final season, season 8, and had to work with limited information.

We all saw how the final season of Game of Thrones ended, but what were George R.R. Martin’s thoughts on it?

George R.R. Martin Wrote A Long Post On His Blog After Game Of Thrones’ Finale

On May 20, 2019, the day after the final episode of Game of Thrones season 8 aired, George R. R. Martin published a blog post. Titled “An Ending,” the post largely reflects on the entire process of creating Game of Thrones rather than offering Martin’s personal thoughts on how the show concluded.

Martin reminisced about his initial meetings with HBO and the creators of Game of Thrones, Benioff and Weiss, giving special thanks to Bryan Cogman, whom he affectionately called the ‘third head of the dragon.’ While he shared memories of the show’s beginnings and acknowledged the key people involved, Martin’s post primarily focused on projects outside of Game of Thrones.

He discussed his plans for future projects in film, television, and writing, including updates on The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, the last two books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. Martin also touched on the previously announced plans for Benioff and Weiss to work on the Star Wars franchise, a project that ultimately fell through, largely due to the negative reaction to the final season of Game of Thrones.

Martin concluded his message by hinting that the conclusion to his books will diverge from the TV series, largely due to the many characters featured in his novels that weren’t included in Game of Thrones. He playfully responded to questions about the ending, saying it will be both similar to and different from the show, repeating ‘yes’ and ‘no’ several times to emphasize its complexity.

Martin concluded his post by wondering if the Game of Thrones finale was truly the end, or if the story would continue in his upcoming book, A Dream of Spring. He jokingly replied, “I’ll write it, you read it, and then everyone can decide for themselves and debate it online!”

It seems Martin wasn’t eager to immediately share his thoughts on the final season of Game of Thrones. Instead of a review of the last episode, his blog post was more of a look back at the entire series and an update on his own work.

George R.R. Martin Has Confirmed His Ending Will Be Different

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Since Martin first wrote about the show six years ago, he’s become much more willing to discuss how Game of Thrones ended. While he hasn’t said he hated season 8, he’s carefully explained that his planned ending for the series will differ from what viewers saw on HBO.

The TV show A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which premiered in January 2026 and is based on George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg, gave Martin an opportunity to address the direction of his A Song of Ice and Fire series. During a talk at the Oxford Union, he firmly stated, “I’ve said this before, but I’ll repeat it: the books will not end the same way the show does. They won’t.”

This comment shows that Game of Thrones deviated from George R.R. Martin’s original plans, except for perhaps the main storyline. However, it’s unclear when we’ll actually see Martin’s version of the ending, as the last book in the series, A Dance with Dragons, came out 15 years ago, and there’s still no confirmed release date for the next one, The Winds of Winter.

George R.R. Martin has made it clear his own ending to the A Song of Ice and Fire series will be distinctly different from the finale of Game of Thrones, suggesting he wasn’t satisfied with how that show concluded. He also explained that he couldn’t offer any feedback on Game of Thrones season 8 without revealing his own plans, further implying his dissatisfaction with the show’s ending.

How George R.R. Martin Feels About The Backlash On Season 8

Although Martin has suggested he wasn’t thrilled with how Game of Thrones ended, he’s consistently been polite and tactful when asked about it. This contrasts sharply with the reaction from fans, which, like many online communities, became extremely harsh and negative.

George R.R. Martin also shared his thoughts on the negative reaction to the final season of Game of Thrones. He was surprised that so many fans who previously enjoyed the show ended up disliking it, and he believes those who didn’t like the ending should simply stop watching and avoid commenting on it.

Martin finished speaking by asking, “How did things get so negative?” This is a question many modern fanbases face. Social media and online discussions have made it much simpler for negativity to spread and be experienced.

Martin wasn’t happy with how some people reacted to the ending of Game of Thrones, even though he has his own thoughts on it. He felt their responses lacked respect.

George R.R. Martin Has Reservations About Game Of Thrones Season 8

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Despite everything, it’s clear Martin had concerns about the final season of Game of Thrones. However, because he respects the show, he hasn’t publicly criticized it. This was true even in a recent interview with East Company (as reported by Digital Spy) following the show’s conclusion.

Martin began the interview by saying that adapting a story from a page to the screen can be a deeply upsetting experience. He explained that his artistic ideas might not always align with those of others, which can cause disagreements. He also pointed out that television often introduces outside factors – like networks prioritizing characters who boost ratings, even if it doesn’t fit the original story – that can change the creative direction.

Martin also addressed the Game of Thrones TV series, explaining that it wasn’t a perfect adaptation of his books – and that staying true to the source material would have required many more seasons. This seems to echo the main complaint fans had with the show’s ending: that it felt hurried and incomplete.

I was reading a post on George R.R. Martin’s blog – he wrote it right after the Game of Thrones finale – and it reminded me of something. He said that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss only gave themselves six hours to wrap up the entire story! Apparently, HBO was happy to let them have as many seasons as they needed, but they chose to finish it quickly.

Martin pointed this out to emphasize how books differ from TV shows. He confirmed his last two books will each be approximately 3000 pages long, and he might even add more stories, characters, and plotlines if he feels it’s necessary. He explained that this level of detail is possible in publishing, but TV production has many more factors to consider.

Honestly, looking back, the biggest problem with the final season of Game of Thrones was definitely how rushed it felt. They really could have stretched the story out – I think it easily could have gone for another two or three seasons! It would have allowed everything to unfold more naturally and given the ending the time it deserved, instead of feeling so crammed together.

Honestly, the ending of Game of Thrones always felt rushed to me. It’s interesting because George R.R. Martin has even said the same thing! Knowing that his original plan for how the story wraps up is different really gives you a sense of how he felt about the way HBO ultimately concluded things.

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2026-02-15 02:22