Game of Thrones Creators Have Planned The Series' Ending For Years

The final season of Game of Thrones is just a couple of days away, and the anticipation for the end of HBO’s epic drama is off the charts. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly co-creator and showrunner Dan Weiss revealed that he and collaborator David Benioff have been actively planning the end of the series for five years, since the show’s third season.

“When you’ve been working on something for 10 years, knowing you’re writing the last episodes is harder because there’s a lot more weight and pressure on those scenes. ‘Is a line right?’ seems more important than in seasons past,” Weiss said. “On the other hand, the motivations behind each scene are something you’ve been thinking about for five years, so the foundations in your mind are stronger for what you’re putting on paper. But you still find yourself spending a lot more time to get it right.“

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Benioff took on the subject of spoilers, since the series has been subject to leaks like when the first four episodes of the fifth season made their way online just a day before the season premiere. Benioff seemed to peacefully come to terms with the idea that there will always be some this kind of problems “no matter what.”

“If the NSA and CIA can’t protect all of their information, what hope do we have? Stuff is going to leak no matter what, so you try your best to limit it,” Benioff said. “There’s always going to be a certain level of douchery, of people trying to spoil things. But luckily most people out there don’t want the story to be spoiled. We won’t be relieved until the final episode airs without a leak. We’re certainly happy we got through production without a leak. But there have been issues that have happened in post production, or a week before an episode airs. So we’re entering the most dangerous time“.

On the same subject, the pair also revealed that they won’t divulge the changes they’ve made for the show’s ending compared to the books.

“One thing we’ve talked to George about is that we’re not going to tell people what the differences are, so when those books come out people can experience them fresh,” Benioff said.

Weiss adds, “It’s kind of nice for him because — obviously through necessity we’ve pulled out ahead — the show has become so different [in recent seasons] that people will have no way knowing from watching what will or won’t appear in the books. And honestly, neither do we.”

Season 8 will debut on April 14 on HBO. What do you expect from the series’ finale? Let us know in the comments section below.