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George R R Martin ‘begged’ HBO to make 10 seasons of ‘Game of Thrones’

A new book suggests Martin had concerns with the direction the show was heading

Elizabeth Aubrey
Tuesday 30 November 2021 20:10 GMT
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George R R Martin reportedly “begged” HBO to make 10 seasons of Game of Thrones, according to his agent.

The author ofthe Game of Thrones books wanted to see a total of 10 seasons of the show and 100 episodes.

The show came to an end in 2019 after eight seasons and 73 episodes, but the final two seasons of the show divided fans with many saying the episodes were rushed and that the show ended too abruptly.

Now, a new book called Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers, by journalist James Andrew Miller, sees Martin’s agent Paul Haas speak about the author’s hopes for the ending of the show.

In one part, Haas tells Miller about how Martin flew to New York to speak about the show with HBO’s former CEO, Richard Plepler.

“George would fly to New York to have lunch with Plepler, to beg him to do 10 seasons of 10 episodes because there was enough material for it and to tell him it would be a more satisfying and more entertaining experience,” Haas told Miller in an interview for the book.

Speaking about he show’s creators, he continued “Dan [Weiss] and Dave [Benioff] were tired, rightfully so. They were done, and wanted to move on, so they cut it short and then negotiations became, how many seasons can we stretch this out? Because of course HBO wanted more.”

Haas added: “George loves Dan and Dave, but after season five, he did start to worry about the path they were going because George knows where the story goes. He started saying, ‘You’re not following my template.’”

Author Martin himself told Miller that he “wished it had run for 10 years”.

He added: “I think that would’ve given us a little more time in the later seasons to end it. But that might be just because I’m still trying to end it in these books here.

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“I’m working on The Winds of Winter even now as I have been for the best part of a decade. And hopefully I’m going to get to that end soon and then people can argue about which ending they like better.”

George R R Martin
George R R Martin (AFP via Getty Images)

Back in October, the first trailer for the upcoming Game Of Thrones prequel show House Of The Dragon was released.

The 10-episode series will air in 2022 on HBO Max. It’s set 300 years before the timeline of Game of Thrones and follows the House Targaryen up to a bloody civil war that threatens to end the Targaryen reign.

The series is based on Martin’s novel Fire & Blood, published in 2018.

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