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SYFY WIRE Game of Thrones

George R.R. Martin wanted ‘10 seasons at least’ of 'Game of Thrones'

Martin, in fact, would have been fine with 12 or even 13 seasons.

By Vanessa Armstrong
George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin has been talking a lot about the Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, lately. During his round of interviews promoting the new show, however, he also opined on the end of HBO’s GoT.

“I had no contribution to the later seasons except, you know, inventing the world, the story, and all the characters,” Martin said about the original series in an interview with The Wall Street Journal (via The Playlist). “I believe I have more influence now [on House of the Dragon] than I did on the original show.”

Martin went on to imply that he, like some fans, didn’t love how Game of Thrones ended.

One common critique of the show’s eighth season is that there was too much story packed into the final episodes. Martin apparently agrees with this assessment. “I was saying it needs to be 10 seasons at least and maybe 12, 13,” he said about the original series. “I lost that one.”

House of the Dragon isn’t the only HBO project in the Game of Thrones universe that Martin is working on. There’s a Jon Snow spinoff, appropriately called Snow, that has Kit Harrington attached; at least two animated projects; a spinoff called The Sea Snake centered around Corlys Velaryon; a show called Ten Thousand Ships that would focus on Nymeria; and a Dunk & Egg series that won’t be called Dunk & Egg that’s based on his novella, The Hedge Knight.

That’s a lot of projects! And Martin conceded that all of them might not make it to a screen near you. ​​“How many shows will make it to air? I don’t know,” he said. “But I hope the answer will be several, and we’ll have something akin to the Marvel or Star Wars model by the time it’s all settled.”

House of the Dragon, the second of potentially many shows in the Game of Thrones universe, drops new episodes on Sundays on HBO and HBO Max. 

Looking for more fantasy adventures? Stream the entire eight-film Harry Potter saga on Peacock.