George R.R. Martin continued his belated travelogue this weekend, and he mentioned a meeting with Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams that has fans in an uproar. The author has been describing his summer of travel and events in a series of blog posts over the last few months, and on Sunday he got to the time he spent in London in early August. He teased a reunion with Williams, hinting that it was not just a social call.
“We also got together with Maisie Williams for pizza and pasta, and talked about… well, no, better not get into that, do not want to jinx it,” Martin wrote. “But it could be so much fun.” These two sentences have completely consumed every fan forum for Game of Thrones and Martin’s novels, A Song of Ice and Fire. Many commenters are speculating that Martin and Williams discussed a possible sequel series about Williams’ character Arya, and her journey after the series finale. That idea isn’t too popular – especially among those who want Martin to prioritize his books.
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Spoiler alert for Game of Thrones – for those that don’t recall, after Bran Stark was crowned king of Westeros, Arya took a ship and sailed west into the Sunset Sea as an explorer and adventurer. It was a callback to a brief conversation Arya had with Lady Crane – a friend she made in Braavos – but overall, many critics and fans thought this ending was a bit out of place for Arya. It would feel even more out of place in the books, where Arya has never expressed interest in sailing west and the analogous book character, Lady Stork, is very different.
Fans are also not so enamored with the “mystery” of what lies west of Westeros. While the characters in Martin’s work may be unsure of what lies that way, fans tend to agree that it’s an expanse of wide open ocean leading straight across to the far east – lands like Asshai and Yi Ti. Martin seemed to back up this theory in his 2018 history book Fire & Blood, which described an explorer named Elissa Farman who sailed west in search of adventure. A generation later, her ship was rumored to be seen in the port of Asshai.
Narrative considerations aside, fans have had increasingly mixed reactions to any news of Game of Thrones spinoffs on the screen. This is because Martin recently admitted in a blog post that work on House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight has distracted him from his progress on The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. Many would rather see the author finish his books than focus on more screen adaptations. The ending of the books will be very different from the ending of the show, and even the events that are the same will make more sense on the page, with more context and the strength of Martin’s prose.
Of course, this is all speculation so far, as Martin didn’t tell us anything concrete about his meeting with Williams. The author is still working on the final two novels in A Song of Ice and Fire, and on various screen adaptations as well. The Hedge Knight is expected to premiere next year on HBO, while House of the Dragon Season 3 will be out in 2026. Martin’s books are available now in print, digital and audio formats.
