Game of Thrones author George RR Martin revealed that he urged producers to keep the beloved show going for at least 10 seasons.
In May 2019, Game of Thrones came to an end after eight years, with stars including Emilia, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams bidding farewell to their characters as the fight for the Iron Throne reached a bloody conclusion.
However, the controversial finale left many fans disappointed by the finale, which saw Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) killed by Jon Snow (Kit), who – despite being in love with her – felt her death was necessary in order to prevent her from causing any further destruction.
This ultimately sparked a lot of uproar among diehard fans of the series, with actress Emilia admitting she understood ‘why people were p***ed’.
Speaking to Wall Street Journal, writer Martin explained that he didn’t have much of a say in the decision to keep the fantasy drama going after eight seasons.
‘I was saying it needs to be 10 seasons at least and maybe 12, 13. I lost that one,’ he said.
‘I had no contribution to the later seasons except, you know, inventing the world, the story and all the characters.’
However, Martin recently shared that he’s had ‘more influence’ over the highly-anticipated prequel series, House of the Dragon, than he did on Game of Thrones.
Earlier this year, Martin teased details about other spin-offs, including those that follow House of Dragon, revealing that he is ‘heavily involved’.
In a new blog post, the man whose imagination brought the Targaryens, the Starks and the Lannisters to life on-screen in the HBO series opened up on what he’s been working on for the past year, assuring fans that he is – still – chipping away at The Winds of Winter, the sixth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.
The eagerly anticipated spin-off will see fans transported back to Westeros for the first time since the acclaimed HBO series came to an end in 2019.
Set 200 years before the original series, House of the Dragon centres on the brutal civil war between Targaryen claimants to the infamous Iron Throne.
The prequel will be the first in a number of planned spin-off series to arrive from HBO – including one focused on Jon Snow – offering a deeper dive into the history and mythology of Martin’s creation.
The star-studded show features actors including Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke and Paddy Considine.
House Of The Dragon premieres on and NOW on Monday August 22.
