Game of Thrones' final season proved to be particularly divisive, and by that, we mean the vast majority of fans appeared to hate it. Many of the creative decisions came under fire, including who ended up on the Iron Throne, Daenerys' death at the hands of Jon Snow, and battles that were so dark, no one could really tell what was going on.
While there are those who still petition for the season to be remade, our best hope for a more satisfying ending will be in George R.R. Martin's next book, The Winds Of Winter.
He's already confirmed that it will greatly differ from the HBO series, and we may now know why. During a recent interview to discuss House of the Dragon, the author confirmed that his behind-the-scenes involvement with the series diminished significantly during its final seasons.
After consulting on everything from scripts to casting during the first four seasons, "By Season 5 and 6, and certainly 7 and 8, I was pretty much out of the loop," Martin reveals.
That may go some way in explaining why Game of Thrones lost its way, and when Martin was asked why he became estranged from the show, he responded, "I don’t know - you have to ask Dan and David" (both Weiss and Benioff declined the Times' request for comment which is a little strange).
The writer has been heavily involved with the upcoming prequel series, though, and HBO's Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys made it clear that he remains a vitally important part of this world on television. "George, for us, in this process has been a really valuable resource," he says. "He is literally the creator of this world. He is its historian, its creator, its keeper. And so I can’t imagine doing a show that he didn’t believe in or didn’t endorse."
It's a real shame that Martin was frozen out of Game of Thrones in this way, but he's probably wise to distance himself from the show given how much it disappointed fans in those later years. The final season, in particular, was a real let-down, so fingers crossed House of the Dragon is a return to form for this franchise in live-action.
House of the Dragon premieres on August 21.