George R. R. Martin was worried when Game of Thrones stopped following his template after Season 5

Game of Thrones was the biggest show of the last decade, but it had its flaws. After the show’s controversial final season, it was doubtful whether we would get spinoffs, but luckily we do in the form of House of The Dragon that is due in 2022. A lot of fans agree the show seemed to have lost its track after season 5, and we can’t blame them, even George R. R. Martin agrees.

An excerpt from the newly published book Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers by James Andrew Miller reveals that in 2015 Martin was not happy with the show’s direction. A quote from the author’s representative, Paul Haas, details how Martin began to “worry about the path they were [going down]” as early as season five.

Haas said, “George loves Dan [Weiss] and Dave [Benioff], but after season five he did start to worry about the path they were [going down] because George knows where the story goes. He started saying, ‘You’re not following my template.’ The first five seasons stuck to George’s roadmap. Then they went off George’s roadmap.”

“Dan and Dave were tired, rightfully so. They were done, and wanted to move on, so they cut it short and then negotiations became, how many seasons can we stretch this out? Because of course, HBO wanted more.”

Do you think the show would have gone in a better direction following Martin’s template? Talk to us in the comments below!