George R.R. Martin’s ‘Game of Thrones’ Pitch Letter Leaked

Fans waiting for the next Game of Thrones book, Winds of Winter, were disappointed to learn that publisher HarperCollins did not have the book on their publishing list for 2015.

It seems that all Game of Thrones fans can do is wait. What’s a fandom to do?

Well, HarperCollins leaked the 1993 pitch letter that George R.R. Martin wrote to express his earliest ideas for the Game of Thrones series. So, there’s that.

Some of the information is vastly different than what has actually happened in the plot so far.

(Please note that although the pitch letter does have a lot of Martin’s unused ideas for Game of Thrones some of it may actually be spoilers.)

The photos of the pitch letter hanging up in HarperCollins’ London offices are clear enough to read, for the most part. Some glare does prevent certain lines from being seen.

The first page of the Game of Thrones pitch explains how Martin goes about writing his novels. Instead of outlining his work, he allows the characters to lead him.

From there, he goes on to describe the enmity of the Lannister and Stark houses. It was meant to be a large part of the first Game of Thrones book and it’s clearly seen throughout the books and the show.

Martin then talks about how Daenerys Stormborn will be a part of the Dothraki invasion in the second volume, A Dance with Dragons. Finally, the Game of Thrones story was meant to be taken over by the demons beyond the wall in The Winds of Winter.

It’s easy to see only minor differences in the first page, especially since we can see the similarity when Martin writes, “All three books will feature a complex mosaic of intercutting points-of-view among various of my large and diverse cast of players. The cast will not always remain the same.”

He speaks easily of killing the characters in the Game of Thrones series, and has undoubtedly delivered. Very little of the characters remain the same from one book, or season, to the next.

The second page is where it gets interesting.

Although Martin has insisted on numerous occasions that no one in the Game of Thrones is safe, his letter states otherwise. It names exactly five key players meant to make it throughout the entire series: Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Arya Stark, Bran Stark and Jon Snow.

That list of names could produce an enormous spoiler for what to expect in the future.

Between the second and the third pages of the Game of Thrones pitch, Martin explains some relationships that might make fans raise an eyebrow.

Arya and Jon Snow were originally meant to fall in love. Tyrion was meant to fall in unrequited love with Arya, causing a strange love triangle between them. Also, Daenerys was meant to kill Drogo out of revenge, not mercy.

There’s no telling how much of the pitch will still come to light and how much will be completely different in the Game of Thrones series.

[ Images courtesy of HBO and Waterstones Twitter ]