Game of Thrones has proven to be a huge success for HBO, but the eighth and final season of the series is just over the horizon and it won't be too long before we find out just how this epic battle for Westeros shakes out. As the series is still incredibly popular, it would be understandable if HBO wanted to keep it going for a few more years, and one person who wishes that they had done just that is the creator of Game of Thrones himself, George R.R. Martin.
Martin spoke with Variety on the red-carpet for the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony (where Game of Thrones has scored 22 nominations) and the author said that he believes that the series could have lasted for many more years. "We could’ve gone 11, 12, 13 seasons," George R. R. Martin said, before adding that the decision to end the series fell to showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. "David and Dan have been saying for like five seasons that seven seasons is all they would go. 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." As much as I enjoy Game of Thrones, I'm also grateful that the series won't be overstaying its welcome, so I'd have to side with Benioff and Weiss on this one. Martin also said that the series' stars, including Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner, and Maisie Williams, are most likely ready to tackle new projects after playing these characters for so many years.
I know all of the actors, as great as they are, all the actors are anxious to get on and play other roles. 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.
Although Game of Thrones will be coming to an end next year, HBO won't exactly be leaving the franchise behind entirely as they're developing a prequel spin-off which will fill its slot. Taking place thousands of years prior to the events of the main series, the spin-off will chronicle "the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend–it’s not the story we think we know." The final season of Game of Thrones will return to HBO in 2019.
Is Game of Thrones ending at the right time or do you wish that the series could have continued for a few more years?