HBO’s Game of Thrones is going to spoil the books

Game of Thrones show runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have confirmed that the upcoming season is going to spoil the still unpublished books.

HBO’s GoT is going to spoil the books

ARE you the kind of person who likes to read all of the Game of Thrones books before you watch the show? Well, you’re gonna be out of luck very soon.

Game of Thrones show runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have confirmed that Game of Thrones the show is going to start spoiling the still unpublished books very soon.

It’s been common knowledge among Game of Thrones fans for years that the books’ author, George R.R. Martin, writes his epic tomes at an alarmingly slow pace. This would be completely fine — after all, true art can’t be rushed — except for the fact that the plot of the HBO show is set to usurp what’s happened in the books by the end of this upcoming season. In fact, the show runners have officially run out of storyline for one of the main protagonists: Bran.

Slashfilm reports that at a recent appearance at the Oxford Union, Benioff said:

“Luckily, we’ve been talking about this with George for a long time, ever since we saw this could happen, and we know where things are heading. So we’ll eventually basically meet up at pretty much the same place where George is going [in the still unfinished, unpublished Book Seven]. There might be a few deviations along the route, but we’re heading towards the same destination. I kind of wish there were some things we didn’t have to spoil in terms of the books, but we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. So the show must go on.”

So, the show is going to end before the books will, and that means we’ll find out who winds up winning the Iron Throne from HBO, and not from the books.

Of course, it’s not all bad news. There is still a slim chance that Martin will finish and publish book six, The Winds of Winter, before season six airs in the US next year. Martin has cancelled his San Diego Comic Con appearance so he can work on the book. And while publishers don’t expect the book to land on bookshelves and on eReaders in 2015, it still could be ready in time for an early 2016 release.

Speaking of Game of Thrones spoilers … HBO revealed the names for the first three episodes of season five this week. They are The Wars To Come, The House of Black and White, and High Sparrow.

Game of Thrones season 5 returns to HBO on Sunday, April 12.

This article first appeared in The New York Post.