HBO’s Game of Thrones is coming to an end next year when the eighth and final season of this highly popular fantasy series returns to television. But, as it turns out, the end didn’t have to come this early. George R. R. Martin, author of the Songs of Ice and Fire book series on which Game of Thrones was based, recently revealed that he didn’t want to end the series and that it could have gone on for “11,12,13 seasons.”
According to Martin, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss made the call to end the series.
“David and Dan have been saying for like five seasons that seven seasons is all they would go,” the 69-year-old author told reporters at the Primetime Emmys red carpet on Monday. “We got them to go to eight but not any more than that. There was a period like five years ago when they were saying seven seasons and I was saying 10 seasons and they won, they’re the ones actually working on it.”
While there are several spinoff series based on Game of Thrones in works at the moment, George R. R. Martin ruled out the possibility that any of them will be based on the original characters.
“I know all of the actors, as great as they are, all the actors are anxious to get on and play other roles,” – Martin added. “They don’t want to spend their entire lives playing one role, and that’s fine, that’s great, we had such an amazing cast.”
The final season of Game of Thrones is scheduled to premiere during the first half of 2019 but the exact date is still to be determined. Also, the eighth season will only have six episodes.
