Professional procrastinator George R.R. Martin has decided to give himself permission to throw in a massive twist in the sixth A Song of Ice and Fire book entitled The Winds of Winter. In a new interview with IGN, Martin confirms the twist while throwing in some potentially hype-altering details for anyone still annoyed by the fact that the sixth book will not arrive before the premiere of Game of Thrones' much-hyped sixth season.
"I have decided to do it," Martin teased. "Will you know it? I don’t know. It is fairly obvious because it is something that involves a couple of characters, one of which is dead on the show, and not dead in the books." Martin notes that, at this point, there are "like 15 characters" who have been brutally killed on the HBO show but remain very much alive in the books. "Ideally, I would have liked to have finished all seven books and have the story complete," Martin admitted, "but the show moves at a faster pace than I do and that's partly because I am a slow writer."
Though it's easy for Game of Thrones enthusiasts to want so badly to believe that Jon Snow is the beneficiary of Martin's teased plot twist, such a feat is impossible due to (SPOILER, I guess?) Snow's status in both the series and the books. Unless Martin is (awesomely and wisely) offering false information here, then the mystery character involved in this twist must have been killed off on Game of Thrones while remaining entirely not dead in A Song of Ice and Fire.
Back in January, Martin delivered the disappointing news that Winds of Winter had missed the deadline necessary to ensure it hit shelves prior to Game of Thrones' April premiere, the Guardian notes. "There’s a lot written," Martin confirmed when admitting temporary defeat. "Hundreds of pages. Dozens of chapters. But there’s also a lot still left to write. I am months away still, and that's if the writing goes well."
