George R.R. Martin Maintains Winter Is Time For Death And That Upcoming Book Isn’t The ‘Happy Feel-Good’ Type

While the Winds of Winter release date remains unknown, George R.R. Martin has been teasing fans with details, and in a true Game of Thrones way, they were grim. At the Guadalajara International Book Fair, George made no effort to sugarcoat what’s about to come in the highly-anticipated Song of Ice and Fire book.

“It is called The Winds of Winter, and I’ve been telling you for 20 years that winter was coming. Winter is the time when things die, and cold and ice and darkness fill the world. So this is not going to be the happy feel-good that people may be hoping for. Some of the characters [are] in very dark places.”

He emphasized that “things are getting worse for a lot of people.” Nonetheless, he repeated that A Dream of Spring, the final book in the series, would have a bittersweet “overall flavour.” The author previously talked about the ending saying that he was inspired by how J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings ended.

George’s lips are sealed when it comes to the Winds of Winter release date. After missing a key deadline, he now prefers to be quiet stating that fans will eventually know if there is already a confirmed date.

Now that the Game of Thrones show has overtaken the books, fans have yet to see how HBO will give life to Season 7. As for Sansa, Sophie Turner recently told Entertainment Weekly that her character’s victory appears to be short-lived. In the previous season, she managed to defeat her sadistic husband, Ramsay.

“She’s seemingly in control for the first time – and it really suits her. She’s kind of having a bit of a power trip. But she’s also becoming more insecure, because there are threats to the power that she holds.”

Will there be a tension between her and half-sibling Jon who was named King in the North? As reported by Digital Spy, Sophie previously said that Sansa will yearn for a bit of recognition since she was the one who saved Jon’s army at the Battle of the Bastards. She hinted that her character might want the same title as Jon’s.

“I think she probably would like to be Queen of the North on her own, or again she probably just wants Jon to listen to her; if Jon had listened to her in the beginning then she would be very happy collaborating with him, so it’s just a bit frustrating.”

Cersei and Daenerys can likewise threaten the influence of the eldest Stark girl. After all, Cersei and the Iron Throne might not be a good combination especially after losing all of her children. Sophie teased that everything’s ramping up for Game of Thrones now that the series will soon face its end.

Alfie Allen, known for his role as Theon, said during the Malta India Fan Convention that there would be “more torture” in the upcoming Game of Thrones season. For those concerned if Theon managed to recover from the aftermath of Ramsay’s horrific acts, Alfie said that Theon’s still “skittish and full of fear” although these feelings are likely to “evolve into rage.”

If there’s a scene where Theon will come across Jon and Sansa, Alfie believes that his character would feel “horrible and awful,” but he would use that meeting as a chance to redeem himself.

Game of Thrones Season 7 will premiere in the summer of 2017 as opposed to its customary spring release since the series needs to have the dreariest shooting conditions possible. Emilia Clarke even showed fans a glimpse of what they needed to endure to create the show’s penultimate season. Filming will end in February, 2017.

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