In the lead up to the Game of Thrones season seven premiere, we’ve heard from Emilia Clarke on sex scenes, Kit Harington on terrible theories, Sophie Turner on “very graphic stuff,” Iwan Rheon on how Oasis inspired Ramsay Bolton, Nell Tiger Free on Myrcella’s death scene, and David Benioff and Dan Weiss on killing everyone’s favorite couple. But what about the man who brought Westeros to life, George R.R. Martin? The author has been quiet, with the exception of some cryptic posts, but Time recently caught up with him to discuss, among other topics, his least favorite book-to-show change.
“At some points, when David and Dan and I had discussions about what way we should go in, I would always favor sticking with the books, while they would favor making changes,” Martin said. “I think one of the biggest ones would probably be when they made the decision not to bring Catelyn Stark back as Lady Stoneheart. That was probably the first major diversion of the show from the books and, you know, I argued against that, and David and Dan made that decision.”
He continued, “In my version of the story, Catelyn Stark is re-imbued with a kind of life and becomes this vengeful wight who galvanizes a group of people around her and is trying to exact her revenge on the Riverlands. David and Dan made a decision not to go in that direction in their story, pursuing other threads. But both of them are equally valid, I think, because Catelyn Stark is a fictional character and she doesn’t exist. You can tell either story about her.”
At least Martin can find comfort in knowing that rumors of Lady Stoneheart’s impending arrival will continue long after the show’s been off the air.
(Via Time)
