

George R.R. Martin will soon watch his epic book series “Game of Thrones” become a new series on HBO. But first, the author decided to introduce himself to some of the biggest names in television … by insulting them?

That’s what Damon Lindelof is complaining about just days after Martin told The New Yorker that he feared having an ending to “Game of Thrones” similar to the popular ABC series “Lost.”

“I felt so cheated when we got to the conclusion” of “Lost,” Martin told the publication. “I want to give [his readers] something terrific. What if I fuck it up at the end? What if I do a ‘Lost’? Then they’ll come after me with pitchforks and torches.”

Martin is hardly the first person to slam the ending of “Lost,” even if that ending happened nearly a year ago. But it was enough to ruffle the feathers of Lindelof, fresh off completing a first draft of the “Star Trek” sequel script with colleagues Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Noting he doesn’t have The New Yorker as a platform like Martin did, Lindelof instead took his response almost instantly to Twitter.

“I don’t take issue with his opinion,” Lindelof tweeted. “I take issue with the fact that he coined ‘pulling a ‘Lost” as empirically ‘fucking up the ending.'”

Lindelof defended his decision to take his response to Twitter to Entertainment Weekly‘s James Hibberd, saying everyone has a right to their opinion, and everyone has a right to respond as well.

“For your prototypical fan of the show to say that, it’s sort of like someone throwing a pebble at you,” Lindelof said. “But when George R.R. Martin says it, it’s a boulder. Because he’s someone whose writing I admire, an the fact of the matter is, I’m going to watch ‘Game of Thrones,’ and I’m probably going to love ‘Game of Thrones,’ and these comments that he made have no effect whatsoever on my ability to process and love his stuff.”

But seriously, Damon? You don’t hope that Martin gets a taste of what it’s like to polarize a fanbase by creating an ending that many may not understand or enjoy?

“There not even a small part of me that wants him to screw up his ending, so he will understand my pain,” Lindelof said. “I want him to stick the landing.”

But that doesn’t mean further comments from Martin blasting the ending won’t go unanswered.

“We’re talking about TV shows, it’s not foreign policy,” Lindelof said. “But when [Martin] uses phrases like ‘fucking up the ending’ or ‘I felt like someone dropped a turd on my doorstep,’ you know: Look, ‘Lost’ is my baby, and you don’t put baby in a corner. I feel duty-bound, just for my own sense of integrity, to respond publicly.”

We’re talking about TV shows, it’s not foreign policy. But when he uses phrases like “f—ing up the ending” or “I felt like someone dropped a turd on my doorstep,” you know: Look, Lost is my baby, and you don’t put baby in a corner. I feel duty-bound, just for my own sense of integrity, to respond publicly.

HBO has released the opening scenes of “Game of Thrones,” by the way, which can be found by clicking here.

“Game of Thrones” premieres April 17 on HBO.