George R.R. Martin originally wanted the Game of Thrones books to be a trilogy

George R. R. Martin, the author of Game of Thrones, has been creating his fantasy universe since the 1990s. The world of Westeros is only getting bigger. And the fandom expands alongside it, attracting new fans through the series – Game of Thrones and its prequel, House of the Dragon. He keeps on revealing new facts about the series quite regularly.

Game of Thrones was supposed to be a trilogy

A Redditor by the name of TheNextRobin found a tweet from UK bookseller Waterstones (now deleted) which showed the first three pages of a 1993 letter Martin wrote outlining the entire series. Martin wrote:

“Dear Ralph,

Here are the first thirteen chapters (170 pages) of the high fantasy novel I promised you, which I’m calling A Game of Thrones. When completed, this will be the first volume in what I see as an epic trilogy with the overall title, A Song of Ice and Fire.”

Here are the first three pages from George R. R. Martin’s letter

Martin summarised the outline of the original trilogy he had in mind in his letter to the book publisher. He can read it in the pictures below:

He wrote:

“As you know, I don’t outline my novels. I find that if I know exactly where a book is going, I lose all interest in writing it. I do, however, have some strong notions as to the overall structure of the story I’m telling, and the eventual fate of many of the principle characters in the drama. Roughly speaking, there are three major conflicts set in motion in the chapters enclosed.”

“These will form the major plot threads of the trilogy, [unclear] each other in what should be a complex but exciting (I hope [unclear] tapestry. Each of the [unclear] presents a major threat [unclear] of my imaginary realm, the Seven Kingdoms, and to the live [unclear] principal characters.”

“The first threat grows from the emnity between the great houses of Lannister and Stark as it plays out in a cycle of plot, counterplot, ambition, murder, and revenge, with the iron throne of the Seven Kingdoms as the ultimate prize. This will form the backbone of the first volume of the trilogy, A Game of Thrones.”

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