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It’s strange to say, but the final episodes of Game of Thrones are less than a month away. Soon, everyone who’s followed the show – some as far back as the first book’s publication in 1996 and others since the TV adaptation aired in 2007 – will finally see how George R. R. Martin envisioned the end of his massive, popular fantasy series.

Or will they?

Martin recently spoke to Rolling Stone about the inspirations behind Game of Thrones‘ leading ladies, sisters Arya and Sansa Stark, and dropped this little nugget about the series’ conclusion:

“I’ve been so slow with these books,” Martin says in the interview. “The major points of the ending will be things I told them [showrunners David Benioss and Dan Weiss] five or six years ago. But there may also be changes, and there’ll be a lot added.”

Exactly what those changes are, we won’t know until Martin finishes the books, which the show outpaced around Game of Thrones’ fifth season. For the most part, the TV series adheres to each book’s major plots points with the showrunners occasionally taking creative liberties like combining character arcs – or sometimes skipping them completely. 

We might have to wait a little longer to see how much the show’s conclusion deviates from Martin’s vision, but at least we’ll have an ending. 

Game of Thrones premieres on April 14 on HBO. If you aren’t already on the hype train like us, check out the grim trailer above.

[Source: Rolling Stone]