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Game of Thrones TV show will overtake the books, making book-readers' lives a spoiler nightmare

Both will meet up at 'pretty much the same place' but get there in different ways, showrunners confirm

Christopher Hooton
Monday 23 March 2015 11:40 GMT
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David Benioff and DB Weiss have confirmed what everyone suspected, that the TV series and George R.R Martin's books will finish up in the same place but that the HBO show will get there first.

The series is being produced faster than Martin can write material for them to adapt at the moment, and fans are still waiting on the sixth book, The Winds of Winter.

HBO will not slow down to wait for the author however, but continue at the same pace regardless.

On the prospect of soon catching up with the novels, Benioff told Oxford Union: "Luckily, we’ve been talking about this with George for a long time, ever since we saw this could happen, and we know where things are heading.

"And so we'll eventually, basically, meet up at pretty much the same place where George is going; there might be a few deviations along the route, but we're heading towards the same destination.

"I kind of wish that there were some things we didn't have to spoil, but we're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. The show must go on… and that's what we're going to do."

The move will put significant pressure on its writers, who will presumably have basic notes from Martin on where the plot is headed, but for the first time not the detail.

It also might come to the annoyance of book-readers, who face a much harder challenge in avoiding spoilers from the show than vice versa.

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