George R.R. Martin wanted Catelyn Stark back as Lady Stoneheart, but Game of Thrones showrunners refused

The controversial finale of Game of Thrones still lingers and causes pain in the hearts of die-hard fans. For a huge section of the fanbase, the HBO epic was the victim of negligence, and the showrunners, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, were the convicts. However, there were a lot of other changes made by the duo that upset the fans, and the first of them greatly saddened the progenitor of the series, George R. R. Martin.

Catelyn Stark’s story was the first biggest deviation from the books

Talking with Time in an earlier interview, Martin recalled how the showrunners made changes to the show’s script, “At some points, when David and Dan and I had discussions about what way we should go in, I would always favor sticking with the books, while they would favor making changes.

I think one of the biggest ones would probably be when they made the decision not to bring Catelyn Stark back as Lady Stoneheart. That was probably the first major diversion of the show from the books and, you know, I argued against that, and David and Dan made that decision.”

What happens to Catelyn Stark after the Red Wedding in the books?

Martin also explained how Catelyn’s story is different in his work, “In my version of the story, Catelyn Stark is re-imbued with a kind of life and becomes this vengeful wight who galvanizes a group of people around her and is trying to exact her revenge on the riverlands.

David and Dan made a decision not to go in that direction in their story, pursuing other threads. But both of them are equally valid, I think, because Catelyn Stark is a fictional character and she doesn’t exist. You can tell either story about her.”

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