HBO’s Game of Thrones has now come and gone, and while most of the series was universally praised, the final season was a bit polarizing.

Now author George R.R. Martin, who wrote the “A Song of Ice and Fire” book series the show was based on, has shared his thoughts on the show ending. He also touched on whether or not the long-awaited next book in the series, The Winds of Winter, and the book after that, A Dream of Spring, would ultimately lead to the same ending as HBO’s adaptation. You can see what he had to say below.

Martin shared his thoughts in a lengthy post on his Not A Blog blog. Here’s what he had to say about Game of Thrones ending:

The last night, the last show. After eight epic seasons, HBO’s GAME OF THRONES series has come to an end.

It is hard to believe it is over, if truth be told. The years have gone past in the blink of an eye. Can it really have been more than a decade since my manager Vince Gerardis set up a meeting at the Palm in LA, and I sat down for the first time with David Benioff and D.B. Weiss for a lunch that lasted well past dinner? I asked them if they knew who Jon Snow’s mother was. Fortunately, they did.

That was how it started. It ended last night.

I had no clue, that afternoon at the Palm, that I was about to embark on a journey that would change my life. I had optioned books and stories for television and film before. Some had even been made There was no way to know that this one was going to be different, that this pilot would not only be shot, but would go on to become the most successful show in the history of HBO, win a record number of Emmy Awards, become the most popular (and most pirated) show in the world, and transform a group of talented but largely unknown actors into major celebrities and stars. Even less did I imagine that I would somehow become a celebrity as well”¦ and if truth be told, I’m still not sure how that happened.

It has been a wild ride, to say the least.

He went on to thank those who were involved in making the show, and talked about them moving on to various other projects.

He also offered an update on what he’s been up to lately, saying:

And me? I’m still here, and I’m still busy. As a producer, I’ve got five shows in development at HBO (some having nothing whatsoever to do with the world of Westeros), two at Hulu, one on the History Channel. I’m involved with a number of feature projects, some based upon my own stories and books, some on material created by others. There are these short films I am hoping to make, adaptations of classic stories by one of the most brilliant, quirky, and original writers our genre has ever produced. I’ve consulted on a video game out of Japan. And then there’s Meow Wolf”¦

And I’m writing. Winter is coming, I told you, long ago”¦ and so it is. THE WINDS OF WINTER is very late, I know, I know, but it will be done. I won’t say when, I’ve tried that before, only to burn you all and jinx myself”¦ but I will finish it, and then will come A DREAM OF SPRING.

That mention of him consulting on a video game out of Japan has got some folks talking, as it’s rumored that it may be a project from Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice developer FromSoftware. We should learn more about that soon.

Finally, Martin got to the big question. Will his books have the same ending as the show?

How will it all end? I hear people asking. The same ending as the show? Different?

Well”¦ yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes.

I am working in a very different medium than David and Dan, never forget. They had six hours for this final season. I expect these last two books of mine will fill 3000 manuscript pages between them before I’m done”¦ and if more pages and chapters and scenes are needed, I’ll add them. And of course the butterfly effect will be at work as well; those of you who follow this Not A Blog will know that I’ve been talking about that since season one. There are characters who never made it onto the screen at all, and others who died in the show but still live in the books”¦ so if nothing else, the readers will learn what happened to Jeyne Poole, Lady Stoneheart, Penny and her pig, Skahaz Shavepate, Arianne Martell, Darkstar, Victarion Greyjoy, Ser Garlan the Gallant, Aegon VI, and a myriad of other characters both great and small that viewers of the show never had the chance to meet. And yes, there will be unicorns”¦ of a sort”¦

Book or show, which will be the “real” ending? It’s a silly question. How many children did Scarlett O’Hara have?

How about this? I’ll write it. You read it. Then everyone can make up their own mind, and argue about it on the internet.

So, about as good an answer as you could hope for. Obviously he wasn’t going to come right out and tell everyone exactly what’s going to happen.

I’d be shocked if things in the books don’t play out at least a little differently from the show, especially considering the reaction the final season has received. But we’ve also known for a long time now that Martin himself told Game of Thrones creators and showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss how the story would end a long time ago. They weren’t just completely winging things after the show passed where the books currently are; they were working toward some form of Martin’s final vision.

Which creates another question: will George R.R. Martin stick with the ending he told Benioff and Weiss years ago, or will the way things have played out recently perhaps lead him to travel a different path than he originally intended?

Only time will tell.

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