Logically speaking, most stories are supposed to have an end – good and bad alike (or should it rather be exciting and dull)? When you come to think of it more closely, however, the copperplate letters, E-N-D, sprawling across the last page of a gripping book seem coy, at best. The storyteller finishes his yarn – but have the things truly finished for the characters on those pages?
I am not talking about cliff-hanger endings or the “time loop” trick enjoyed by many authors, most notably Alan Garner. I am talking about ordinary, solid narratives which have a proper beginning, middle, and a (supposed) end. Take the perennial favourite, “Lord of the Rings,” as an example – or, alternatively, “The Game of Thrones.”
A few days ago, Michael Lombardo (the executive chief behind the HBO franchise), stated that as far as he can see, the final endgame for the happenings and battles in the land of Westeros is not happening – at least, nowhere in the nearest future. Because, according to Mr Lombardo, the epic “continues as long as there are stories to tell.”
Some of us may moan at this statement – in this age of omnipresent advertising and intricate business strategies, it is slightly disturbing to suspect your favourite imaginary realm (and undoubtedly one of the best shows with a fantasy theme out there) of being turned into another milch cow ready for endless commercial exploiting. Others may chuckle at the parallel with the venerated TV soaps (my British side immediately responds by whistling the “Eastenders” theme tune). What next – a droll episode description, like: “Daenerys catches Tyrion kissing Sonya at the pub (hang on, who is Sonya supposed to be – oh, never mind, I lost track somewhere on Episode 9876).” And yet, I guess a lot of us are more or less delighted at the fact that there will be many more seasons to come, full of swordfights, escapes and intrigue. Remember the vacuous feeling that suddenly stole over you on Christmas, the first year after the final “Lord of the Rings” film came out?
The story continues for ever, in other words. Whatever we might think about watching the adventures of Arya’s children, or Tyrion’s great-grandchildren, one thing remains – whilst there are people (well, characters), there will be stories to tell. And the Road goes ever on.
See what Michael Lombardo said here.
He may be delighted but that is not good news to me. I just wrote an article for another site recently about this very issue but it was about when a TV or book series goes limping past its expiration date. There is nothing worse, in my opinion, than a great story that gets dragged out far past the time it should have ended. It becomes a shade of its former greatness.
I hope the original series does have an end. From what I know, A Dawn of Spring, which comes after The Winds of Winter, is supposed to be the last book in the series. Let’s hope Martin is allowed to actually end it.