Game of Thrones season 5: Showrunners confirm last episode's tragedy is future book spoiler

David Benioff and DB Weiss hinted that the author shared his plans with them

DB Weiss and David Benioff are almost certainly spoiling George RR Martin's next books in Game of Thrones (Getty Images)

Game of Thrones showrunners have seemingly confirmed that yes, the latest TV episode did spoil an upcoming plot twist in George RR Martin's books.

*This article contains spoilers*

David Benioff and DB Weiss have hinted that the idea for Shireen's shocking death in last night's "The Dance of Dragons" originated from the author, who is busy writing the sixth novel in his A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Martin has emphasised before that there will always be differences between his books and the HBO series but it is hard to see this latest surprise as anything less than a spoiler.

Fans were left reeling when Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) burned his daughter Shireen (Kelly Ingram) at the stake after Red Priestess Melisandre (Carice von Houten) advised him to make a sacrifice to the Lord of Light in a bid to gain more power.

"When George first told us about this, it was one of those moments when I remember looking at Dan and I was just like, 'Ugh, it's so horrible, and so good in a story sense because it all comes together'," Benioff said in an Inside the Episode video.

"It's really all come to this. There's been so much talk about King's Blood and the power of King's Blood, and it all leads ultimately, fatally, to Shireen's sacrifice. It's one of the most horrible moments we've shocked just in terms of the emotion."

But it seems that Linda Antonsson, owner of Thrones fansite Westeros.org, is not best pleased with the showrunners. She posted an angry message on Twitter yesterday complaining that the Benioff and Weiss "care nothing" about spoiling future storylines for readers.

Shireen was still alive in Martin's last book, so it remains to be seen whether fears will be realised when we eventually see The Winds of Winter on shelves.

Benioff said at the Oxford Union last year that he "kind of wishes there were some things we didn't have to spoil". "We're stuck between a rock and a hard place," he said. "The show must go on...and that's what we're going to do.

Pressure on Martin will be mounting as the TV show catches up and begins to overtake his novels. The 66-year-old has cancelled several convention appearances and will not be writing an episode for season six in order to focus on publishing his final two instalments as soon as possible.

Game of Thrones season five reaches its finale next week.