George R.R. Martin reveals that ‘Game of Thrones’ season 5 is bloodier than ever before and characters who aren’t dead in the books will soon hit the slab on the television show….
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
As the anticipation for ‘Game of Thrones’ season 5 to debut, the creator of the entire world of Westeros is dropping hints that may leave the body count even higher when the show returns on April 12 on HBO.
George R.R. Martin, who created the ‘Song of Ice and Fire’ universe which ‘Game of Thrones’ is based on, has intimate knowledge of what’s about to transpire in the 10-episode fifth season coming soon and he says to expect a lot of bloodshed.
Martin also confirms that characters will die in this season of the show who aren’t dead in the books, which will probably shock some and anger others, but it’s been clear for the past two seasons that show runners David Benioff and Dan Weiss will deviate from the source material when it makes the most sense.
“People are going to die who don’t die in the books, so even the book readers will be unhappy,” Martin said at the Writers Guild West Awards on Saturday (as transcribed by the Independent in the U.K.)
“Everybody better be on their toes. (Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss) are even bloodier than I am.”
The series has already veered off Martin’s original course for certain characters, but by in large the story has stayed mostly the same. Some characters have been recast and others have just failed to appear, but ‘Game of Thrones’ has been fairly loyal to the source material through four seasons.
It seems as the fifth season begins, however, ‘Game of Thrones’ is looking towards the end game, which is expected to happen after season seven and that means some long range planning has to happen now.
Unfortunately, Martin’s source material runs out after book five and book six — The Winds of Winter — isn’t expected to be released until sometime in 2016. There’s no word on the final book in the series being released, but there’s very little chance Martin will release it before the show catches up and passes his original material.
‘Game of Thrones’ season 5 debuts on HBO at 9pm ET on Sunday, April 12.
