George R. R. Martin was interviewed in the recent issue of SFX where he talks about A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones. Of most interest to Thrones fans was George’s comments on the episode he scripted, “Blackwater.” It’s a bit of a spoiler so I will hide the full quote after the break.

Martin also confirmed in the same interview that he has started work on The Winds of Winter and thinks he has about four years before HBO catches up with him. Can he finish the book in four years? I doubt it. And even if he does, HBO would be ready to film the final book just as George begins writing it. What then? It will be interesting to see what happens.

Here’s Martin’s quote about episode nine:

“It’s the Battle of the Blackwater, which I think was very cruel of David and Dan to give me. I have this reputation of always being too big and they gave me the biggest battle in the series. It’s got everything that will smash a budget to smithereens. It’s got castle walls, horses, ships, fire and a giant chain. We’ll have to see how much actually makes it to screen but I tried to do an episode of the show that was on one hand produceable, and on the other hand exciting and including as many of those elements as we could.” Martin also reveals it’s directed by Neil Marshall (The Descent) whom he admires greatly, and unlike the book will add the additional viewpoint of Stannis Baratheon’s command tent.

Winter Is Coming: Thanks to Adam Whitehead for the info. It looks like they are doing the battle pretty much exactly as it was in the books. Hopefully they can get it large scale enough to really do it justice. I also like that we will be able to see Stannis’ reaction to the battle. I wonder if they will make a change and have Melisandre be there with him?