There are no two ways about it. The world is absolutely in love with George R.R. Martin’s books “A Song of Ice and Fire.” The inspiration behind the HBO hit show Game of Thrones, the fourth season comes to a close Sunday, undoubtedly leaving millions of fans fiending for more.
The world awaits with bated breath the fate of our favorite imp Tyrion Lannister as he’s scheduled to be separated from his head for a crime he didn’t commit. But fans are also curious about a myriad of loose ends that will hopefully come to a finish during Sunday’s final episode. Will Sansa and Arya Stark be reunited? Will Arya kill The Hound? Is Sansa using Lord Petyr Baelish until she has the opportunity to kill him? Where is the crippled, Bran Stark? And will Jon Snow live?
Last episode, the battle for The Wall found Snow in the thick of an entire episode devoted to one battle. However, the true threat to the wildlings and all of Westeros are the White Walkers. A storyline that’s been dangling for way too long, Sunday’s finale will likely continue the traditions of a universe where justice seems to never be visited upon those who truly deserve it.
The discomfort in seeing Theon Greyjoy as a pet to Ramsey Snow has lost all of its appeal as Greyjoy’s existence no longer seems to serve any purpose. And will Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons ever reach King’s Landing or will they become too much for her to control? There are far too many questions that need to be answered with the finale. And we likely won’t find out until next season what destiny is truly in store for most of the aforementioned characters we hesitantly love on a show known for killing the good guys.
Though the show is a phenomenal success, The New York Times reports that there is some concern regarding the manner in which HBO interprets the material from Martin’s books. Fans don’t seem to care. Game of Thrones averages more than 18 million viewers per episode, surpassing The Sopranos as the most watched HBO series of all time.
In a recent telephone interview with The New York Times, Martin said he hadn’t found the translation to television too difficult, “because they’ve done such a wonderful job of it,” referring to the Thrones team led by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. With its far-flung location shoots — Iceland, Northern Ireland, Malta, Croatia, Morocco — and those all-important yet sprawling battles, one season of “Thrones” is reported to cost $60 million to $70 million. The 10 episode cap is understandable. Although Martin’s wish is that his characters get more “elbow room” to live and breathe.
“Battles are expensive,” said Mr. Martin, speaking from his home in Santa Fe, N.M. “I wish we had more episodes. I’d love to have 13 episodes. With 13 episodes, we could include smaller scenes that we had to cut, scenes that make the story deeper and richer.”
Regardless, we’ll all eagerly be watching for deeper, richer, bloodier moments during Sunday’s anticipated season finale of Game of Thrones.
