Saying he doesn’t want his viewers or readers to ever get too comfortable, best selling author George R.R. Martin took to Conan last night to defend the most recent episode of Game of Thrones.
If you haven’t seen the episode yet and it’s not been spoiled for you, you may want to stop reading now. There are huge SPOILERS just ahead.
“As a reader or as a viewer of television and film, I always like unexpected things and I always like the suspense to be real,” Martin told Conan O’Brien. “I want my readers and I want my viewers to be afraid when my characters are in danger. I want them to be afraid to turn the next page because the next character may not survive it.”
The episode caught some fans who have not read the books by surprise and sent shockwaves through the Internet and other social media outlets.
But that’s part playing the game, says Martin. Martin did admit it’s different killing off characters on the printed page than on the TV screen. He says he only feels a twinge of guilt for the actors involved no longer being part of the show.
“It’s one thing to kill these characters when they’re just people on paper, but when you actually meet the actors who portray them and you know you’re making people unemployed, it does bring up a certain amount of guilt feelings,” Martin says.
“It’s one thing to kill these characters when they’re just people on paper, but when you actually meet the actors who portray them and you know you’re making people unemployed, it does bring up a certain amount of guilt feelings,” Martin says.
Really George, it’s not like these actors wouldn’t know their fate if they had actually read the source material.