Game of Thrones is drawing to a dramatic close on TV but for the first time audiences and critics are not united in adulation. Season 8 Epsiode 3's Battle of Winterfell is one of the lowest rated in the show's history with many comments agreeing the show has lost its bite, daring and focus. There is also discussion the show may be suffering from no longer being able to draw directly on Martin's unfinished source novels, while the author himself is also much less involved with the television show than he was in the opening seasons. In an interview with 60 Minutes he explained his input in the final season was limited to "several days of story conferences taking place in my home in Santa Fe, New Mexico."

Some storylines and characters have continued to diverge from the books and Martin has been more vocal about the subject recently, telling Rolling Stone: "Of course you have an emotional reaction. I mean, would I prefer they do it exactly the way I did it? Sure." In another frank chat this week with Fast Company he revealed: "It can also be... traumatic. Because sometimes their creative vision and your creative vision don't match, and you get the famous creative differences thing — that leads to a lot of conflict." And what are the things that upset him? And how much will actually be changed by the TV show in the grand epic finale?

Game of Thrones George RR Martin on HBO ending

Game of Thrones author with his cast back when the show directly followed the books

Martin revealed one of his greatest frustrations: "You get totally extraneous things like the studio or the network weighing in, and they have some particular thing that has nothing to do with story, but relates to 'Well this character has a very high Q Rating so let's give him a lot more stuff to do.'" The author had previously said he would have liked the show to run across more series, to give all his complex storylines room. Instead, the HBO team entirely removed some characters or reassigned storylines.



Martin said: “The series has been... not completely faithful. Otherwise, it would have to run another five seasons.”

In the new interview he added: "You know, it’s complex. I’m a little sad, actually. I wish we had a few more seasons." GEORGE RR MARTIN IS UNHAPPY THIS CHARACTER HAS BECOME SO IMPORTANT

Game of Thrones Season 8 cast