Game of Thrones executive producers discuss finishing the show before the books are completed

It’s no secret that HBO’s Game of Thrones will soon adapt all of the source material available in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book series. It’s unavoidable. Martin’s story is very complicated, and he’s going to take his time finishing it. Meanwhile, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the executive producers behind the show, have to produce ten episodes of the show per year. They can’t take any years off for fear that the actors will get other work, and they can’t slow down the pace for fear of making the show terrible. Therefore, they’ve had to change things, drop things, and combine things from the books, something they’ve done more of as the show’s gone on. This means that by the time the show is over, it will tell a slightly different story than the one told in the books, even if the broad strokes are the same.

Yesterday, the Oxford Union posted a free-wheeling roundtable interview, filmed late last year, with Benioff and Weiss. Kit Harrington (Jon Snow) and John Bradley (Samwell Tarly) were also present. During the course of the lengthy, interesting interview, Benioff and Weiss touched on the necessity of changing things from the books.

…Luckily, we’ve been talking about this with George for a long time, ever since we saw this could happen, and we know where things are heading. And so we’ll eventually, basically, meet up at pretty much the same place where George is going; there might be a few deviations along the route, but we’re heading towards the same destination. I kind of wish that there were some things we didn’t have to spoil, but we’re kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. The show must go on […] and that’s what we’re going to do.

I think the thing that’s kind of fun for George is the idea that he can still have surprises for people even once they’ve watched the show through to the conclusion. There are certain things that are going to happen in the books that are different in the show, and I think people who love the show and want more—want to know more about the characters, want to know more about the different characters who might not have made the cut for the show—will be able to turn to the books.

So there we are. If Benioff and Weiss can be trusted, the show will definitely wrap up before the books, which was already a foregone conclusion anyway. Moreover, the show will not be able to avoid spoiling the books, so anyone who wants to experience them with fresh eyes will have to avoid it (good luck).

Other notable moments from the roundtable:

• On all the sex in Game of Thrones: “Lord of the Rings is wonderful, and this show would not exist without Tolkien’s books or Peter Jackson’s movies, but I don’t think any of the Hobbits ever got a boner.”
• Benioff and Weiss convinced George R.R. Martin to let them make the show by “buying him a big steak” and talking to him for four hours.
• One of the executive producers once got drunk, challenged Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo) to the “mercy game” (whatever that is), and ended up in the emergency room.
• After they’re done with Game of Thrones, Benioff and Weiss would like to adapt Dirty White Boys, a novel about a group of escaped convicts. Basically, they want to get as far away from fantasy fiction as possible.

Here’s the full interview. Benioff and Weiss discuss changes from the books around 35:17.

• Published on 03/21/2015 at 6:31 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:06 PM CDT