The Game of Thrones fandom can be a fierce one. Fiercely loyal to the stories crafted by George R.R. Martin and to the dragon-filled dramas they spawn on HBO…until, that is, they think something wasn’t adapted for the screen correctly. At any rate, as we all await the arrival of House of the Dragon Season 2 and more updates on the next GOT spinoff, The Hedge Knight, Martin has now made a very specific claim about (FINALLY) finishing TheWinds of Winter so he can prep more stories for that new series.
What Did George R.R. Martin Say About Finishing Winds Of Winter As He And HBO Work On The Hedge Knight?
For those who are unaware (or who have simply forgotten, because it’s been oh so many years) George R.R. Martin has yet to finish the saga that started this Game of Thrones and spinoff business (all of which you can watch with a Max subscription), A Song of Ice & Fire, as he’s been giving updates on TheWinds of Winter (the sixth book) since 2011, and even said in 2015 that his hope was to finish it by (wait for it…) 2016. Meanwhile, he also has plans for a seventh novel, A Dream of Spring, which I can only imagine is still in the primordial stages, considering how long book six is taking.
While writing on his Not a Blog site, the author gave an update on production for The Hedge Knight, and then laid out his (hoped for) specific timeline for completing TWOW, and said:
THE HEDGE KNIGHT will be a lot shorter than GAME OF THRONES or HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, with a much different tone… but it’s still Westeros, so no one is truly safe Ira Parker and his team are doing a great job. I hope to visit the shoot come July, when I swing by Belfast on my way to the worldcon in Glasgow. The show will make its debut next year… and if it does well, THE SWORN SWORD and THE MYSTERY KNIGHT will follow. By which time I hope to have finished some more Dunk & Egg stories (yes, after I finish THE WINDS OF WINTER).
Alright, I fully admit that I had to read this twice to figure out how he wants to lay out his whole writing process for his many different projects, so let’s break it down to the nitty gritty. THK is nearly done casting and is set to be filming by this July so it can be released at some point next year. Martin (who warned about growing “toxicity” in TV and movie fandoms recently) hopes to complete TWOW before the new show comes out in 2025.
Now, I know most fans have fully given up on the writer actually, truly, honestly finishing The Winds of Winter by this point, but this plan sounds solid. That is, until you think about what he said just in November 2023, when he admitted that “it’s a big mother of a book” and he was “struggling with it.” But, you know, that was literally half a year ago at this point, so a lot could have really changed by now. Maybe he cracked the code and got that mofo under control so his idea of getting it done by some point in 2025 is realistic at this point. We’ll just have to (continue to) wait (more) and see.