I started writing a post about how much larger the book audience is, hence the books will be finished. But, research proved me wrong. It really isn't that much larger. HBO has 28 million subscribers. About 5 million of them are known to watch GOT. The entire ASOIAF series has sold about 25 million books. Assume many buyers bought all 5 books, the audience is roughly the same size.
Still, I don't think the series ends with HBO. The divergence is key. Even through this episode, the story has diverged enough that it would be difficult to have the same ending. I wonder if the catch-up problem was resolved by taking the show in a different enough direction that it ends up being something else entirely before complete. An alternate reality ASOIAF.
I can't believe I just wrote "alternate reality ASOIAF". I wonder how different my life would be today had a said those words in front of my wife before we were married nearly 9 years ago. Last night we had this conversation snippet.
me: "the others have, like, predator armor (from the book), and are preparing an army of blue eyed ice zombies to invade the south, but we don't know exactly what they do with the babies they convert"
her: "wait, they have blue eyed ice zombies?"
me: "well, yeah"
her: "(eyes roll) snicker, dear lord, snicker giggle laugh, blue eyed ice zombies".
Anyway, the books will get written, either by GRRM or someone else if he dies. The missus will not read.
Question: the terms WW and Other mean the same thing, right?
Also, always thought the Others somehow raised the babies. If a sacrificial baby is all that keeps my home from being overrun by the wights, that baby is worth more than lunch. We now know the Others transform the babies. We don't know what it transforms them into. Not a wight, because nobody needs wight babies. Not an Other, else you get the chicken/egg problem. Maybe something in between, something that can survive better in the warmth. An Others bannerman.
Also, in the previews, I don't think we actually saw the faces of the mutineers fighting Jon. Entirely possible that Coldhands overran the place and Jon is fighting the recently wighted. It could make sense; this story gets entirely out or whack if Bran and Vargo meet. Unless Coldhands shows up thereafter and is Benjen and Jon lets Bran go with him.
Also, the baby POV while riding with the wight seemed odd, unless it was important later. Was somebody warging into that baby?
Also, I think ASOIAF is ultimately about dragons v others. That's what this is all winding down to.
Also, am I alone in thinking the Bran plot line in the books is disturbing? I sense evil lurking there, like innocent Bran is being led into something very very bad. But, then I wonder why Jojen doesn't know it?
