‘Winds Of Winter’ Release Date: HBO Chairman Confident That ‘Game Of Thrones’ Show Won’t Violate Novel’s Integrity

Many were left disheartened when the assumed Winds of Winter release date did not take place. Speculations previously surfaced that George R.R. Martin’s highly-acclaimed novel would hit shelves before the premiere of Game of Thrones Season 6. Now that the author himself admitted that the novel’s not yet done, some wondered about the delay’s impact to the gargantuan television series.

HBO chairman Richard Plepler assured everyone at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour that despite the Winds of Winter release date delay, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss wouldn’t besmirch GRRM’s story.

“I always knew that given the relationship that David and Dan had with George and the closeness and respect that they have for each other that if they overtook the books or not, there would be a synchronic and organic conversation going on between them. That they would never do anything that would violate George’s sense of the integrity of the story and I think that’s absolutely true. Their relationship is such a wonderful thing to observe, the mutual respect that they have for each other that I know George would say, ‘I trust these guys moving this arc forward.'”

On his blog, Martin wrote about the stress brought by the looming deadline.

“The fewer the days, the greater the stress, and the slower the pace of my writing became,” he wrote.

GRRM cited various reasons that had impacted his missed deadline, including his age and his travels.

After admitting that the sixth A Song of Ice and Fire wouldn’t be out yet, Martin thanked his supporters for their kind messages. In a follow-up blog post, he wrote that he was surprised by the outpouring of encouragement.

“There were forty pages of screened comments on the post by the time I logged on this morning. I haven’t even been able to read half of them as yet. I am going to close comments on this post, lest I have even more messages to deal with. But I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all the kind words and good wishes.”

While it isn’t clear yet as to how Game of Thrones Season 6 will deviate from its source material, fans already got a hint with HBO’s latest marketing material that bears Jon Snow’s bloodied face. It can be remembered that the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch met his death in the finale episode of Game of Thrones Season 5. Conspiracy theories quickly emerged in an attempt to prove that the prominent character was still alive.

When asked during the press tour if HBO’s latest promotional materials were indeed telling of Snow’s fate, Plepler teased fans by saying, “I think it was just titillation in the purest sense and I wouldn’t confirm or deny anything, but it worked very well.”

It appears as well that Natalie Dormer accidentally confirmed that the latest posters included spoilers. When she recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel, she pointed out that the new posters might have “given a little bit of the game away.”

Hopeful fans were delighted by the possibility of the well-loved character’s return.

Game of Thrones and Easter both happen on Sunday so it's pretty obvious that Jon Snow is going to come back to life.

— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) January 9, 2016

Game of Thrones Season 6 is set to return on April 24.

[Image via Winter Is Coming]