The Winds of Winter is still in limbo, but the first five books of the Song of Ice and Fire series give readers some idea of where things are headed. So does Game of Thrones, as George R.R. Martin seems likely to follow several story beats featured in the HBO show’s final seasons. The foundation is laid for Jon Snow’s parentage reveal, as well as some version of Daenerys Targaryen’s descent into madness. Yet just how similar the final two books will be to the adaptation, both in substance and execution, remains to be seen.
Whatever the finished product looks like, it’s certain to be a far cry from Martin’s original ASOIAF plan. A 1993 outline for the series, which has been covered by outlets like Variety and Screen Rant, confirms the author initially intended the fantasy story to span three books, not seven. On top of that, he planned to take the characters in very different directions.
Had Martin gone with his original approach to Game of Thrones, the books and show would be unrecognizable. There would be a single silver lining, however: his original outline would either have fixed Game of Thrones‘s controversial King Bran twist or removed it altogether.
George R.R. Martin’s Original ‘Game of Thrones’ Plan Was Very Different
Martin’s early outline for what would become A Song of Ice and Fire envisioned his sprawling fantasy epic as a trilogy. Presumably, the world of Westeros wouldn’t be as detailed, and there wouldn’t be quite so many narratives intersecting with one another. However, his three biggest storylines were present even then, and per Screen Rant, he intended to cover one per book:
|
Original Book Title |
Original Plot |
|---|---|
|
A Game of Thrones |
The feud between House Stark and House Lannister |
|
A Dance With Dragons |
Daenerys Targaryen’s rise to power and conquest of Westeros |
|
The Winds of Winter |
The threat of the Others (White Walkers) beyond the Wall |
Martin ended up adding three full books between A Game of Thrones and A Dance With Dragons, suggesting the political scheming in Westeros proved more complicated than he realized. He also ended up taking his characters in totally new directions. His original plan included developments like Arya Stark and Jon Snow having romantic feelings for one another, Joffrey and Sansa actually getting married and having a son, and Tyrion Lannister being a far less sympathetic character who burnt down Winterfell.
It’s telling that there’s one turn even more shocking than those. The 1993 outline saw Jaime Lannister becoming king after Tyrion eliminated Joffrey, a massive shift from his final character arc:
“Jaime Lannister will follow Joffrey on the throne of the Seven Kingdoms, by the simple expedient of killing everyone ahead of him in the line of succession and blaming his brother Tyrion for the murders.”
This implies that Jaime would have killed Sansa, her son, and any other contenders for the Iron Throne. It would make his beloved Game of Thrones redemption arc impossible, pushing him into a role similar to Cersei’s. While the direction Martin ultimately decided on worked better for Jaime, this one did present an interesting vision — especially for the characters he’d wronged.
Jaime Lannister Taking the Iron Throne Would Either Eliminate or Fix the King Bran Twist
Jaime Lannister hacking his way to the Iron Throne wouldn’t leave much room to redeem him, but it would potentially solve Game of Thrones‘s King Bran issue. Looking at Martin’s trilogy plan, it’s likely Jaime would have claimed the Iron Throne in the first book, or the second at the latest. He wouldn’t have been the endgame, unless Martin was going for a fully bleak finale. Notably, he wasn’t among the five characters Martin wanted to survive in that initial blueprint either: Daenerys, Jon, Arya, Bran, and Tyrion.
That would have tasked another character with removing Jaime, and regardless of which one ended up on the Iron Throne, it would have been poetic. If Daenerys Targaryen or Jon Snow dispatched Jaime and became Westeros’s new ruler, it would have restored the dynasty that Jaime himself ended. In this scenario, there would be no King Bran reveal, much to the relief of its biggest critics.
But even if Martin did intend for Bran to become king in this outlined trilogy, the Jaime twist would have made it slightly more palatable. Bran replacing Jaime would have been satisfying after Game of Thrones‘s beginning, showing that the boy prevailed over the very person who sought to kill him. It would have brought Bran’s journey full circle, making it feel a little less jarring than it did on TV.
Future ‘Song of Ice and Fire’ Books Can Still Improve Bran Stark’s Storyline
Bran triumphing over Jaime Lannister would have made his rise to power more satisfying, but having Martin himself tackle that storyline would also be of help. After all, Martin has a knack for building gradually to major ASOIAF developments, then making them land emotionally. There’s little doubt he’d do King Bran justice better than a six-episode TV season that had too much to tie up.
And Martin’s talent offers hope that he can still improve Bran Stark’s storyline in future books, whether he becomes king or not. If Martin is planning to go that route after The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, he can lay the foundation earlier, drawing more connections between the Three-Eyed Raven arc and the power struggle in Westeros.
Bran’s visions are one way to do this, but with so many pages in each sequel, Martin can surely find others. With any luck, his version of the ending will smooth over some of Game of Thrones‘s biggest complaints, Bran’s twist among them.
