Don't think he can tapau all the loose ends within one book. He did mention could be two books.

As far as I know, none of those salty petitions ever change anything in Hollywood. HBO already secured the subscription fees to their services. Will it harm GoT branding, not in the slightest. At the end raging fanboys just the vocal minority. GRRM couldn't be bothered with the whims of petulant fans. The moment the books release, the same butthurt idiots will buy it in a heartbeat.

Happy ending...
Jon kills Danny then himself, Drogon torch Arya, Bran knife himself with dragon glass to continue NK cycle...

Ned Stark woke up from slumber, all these while just a dream...lol...

It's not a train wreck finale. The biggest takeaway for me is the closure. Unlike "Lost" that simply make no effing sense. Season 7 & 8 felt like they simply do not have enough moolah to stretch out to more episodes for deeper character development. You can dislike the writing or things being rushed but don't bitch and moan in bad faith.

To those salty fanboys, please point to me another creative duo that able to pull off what D&D did for the entire 8 seasons in the current TV big players. Bad plot threads and unwarranted character development pretty much unavoidable on long-running show. Also do not mistake fulfilling your expectation as a legitimate entitlement. It just shows you do not have the conjones to deal with disappointment.

Remember Rian Johnson after TLJ backlash, his next movie pulled some serious A-listers and mouse house handed the SW kingdom key to him and D&D. Just so someone did an eff-up, doesn't mean there's no turnaround for him.

Book and filming, 2 different medium.
One has no restrictions on imagination. Filming governed by time, budget, manpower and technology. To compare both equally the same is just wrong. Without Hollywood mumbo jumbo GOT won't be this huge cultural phenomenon.
You just gotta wait it out for GRRM finishing his books and there's no guarantee it will be a knockout either.

This post has been edited by 6so: May 20 2019, 11:37 PM

HBO mandate is 90m for S8. E4 alone swallowed 30m. E5 looks equally expensive. The main actors clocking 1m per episode. So the balancing act is spectacle or more episodes. You can roughly calculate the budget is not entirely bottomless. Ending their contract early is anyone's guess, ultimately is the money crunch.

While all the soyboys crying and whining, GRRM released his blogpost about the show finale. Read between the lines of his statement. He simply said you decide on your own term. Planning 3,000++ pages of manuscript for his next two books. That easily 5 or more seasons worth of material.
https://www.thewrap.com/george-rr-martin-wr...e-last-2-books/

Talks a little more about his book ending.

Matt Smith is all over the place.

It's Daemon Targaryen, the rogue prince. He is kinda Jamie and Tyrion roll into one. A fighter like Jamie with the smart of Tyrion. He ride a badass dragon. He is a villain and protagonist at the same time. One of his nemesis is a Cersei 2.0.

This post has been edited by 6so: Oct 7 2021, 12:23 PM

Very hard to say. Hope Miguel Sapochnik able to deliver cause he directed all the best episodes before. The show will rest on Matt Smith's portrayal of Rogue Prince. If he can be more than what on the pages, there's a chance. Lastly the catfight between Alicent and Rhaenyra equally important.

Alright this is more like it. The earlier trailers all about teasing while this one let you know what at stake and can see why they cast Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra.

Like the orchestra version of Venus in Furs. Haven't heard this song in a long time.