As fans continue to speculate about the remaining books in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, the controversial ending of Game of Thrones remains overshadowed by these discussions. The beloved fantasy series moved beyond the source material in its 5th season, continuing with an original story, but this did not turn out well. The show not only killed off fan-favorite Queen Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) but also rushed the final confrontation, placed Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) on the Iron Throne, and left fans confused with many decisions.

Seven years have passed since the end of Game of Thrones, and fans are waiting to see if Martin's books will offer a more satisfying conclusion for the characters. However, the author has yet to publish The Winds of Winter and has not provided any updates on the anticipated conclusion, A Dream of Spring. While many fans believe the series will never be completed, some continue to hold onto the hope that the books will deliver the ending they wanted for Game of Thrones. However, this is quite an optimistic viewpoint. Without Martin's books, fans officially do not know what will happen, but the author has given some hints about the ending, which may not be as different as some think.

While the early seasons of Game of Thrones remained quite faithful to the novels, things changed as the series approached the end of the published material. Even before diverging from the books, Game of Thrones began to stray from A Song of Ice and Fire; it altered storylines, removed significant characters, and in some cases, killed off characters early. Despite the differences, most of the major points in Martin's story were reflected in the HBO series through the published books, and this remained partially true even when the show ran out of source material. As Martin wrote the later seasons of the series, he explained upcoming story points to David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, which provided a better understanding of the show's future.