Note: This article contains mild spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8, episode 5.



Update 13/5/19: The Winds of Winter aren't blowing quite yet, Game of Thrones fans — at least in book form.

There's been immense speculation about a surprise release of the final two entries in the Song of Ice and Fire series — The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring — recently thanks to some comments reportedly made at a Russian convention by Barristan Selmy actor Ian McElhinney.

McElhinney heard that author George RR Martin had the books ready and was only waiting for the telly series to finish up this month before publishing them. Martin has since ripped that theory to shreds on his blog.

Rich Polk Getty Images

"No, THE WINDS OF WINTER and A DREAM OF SPRING are not finished," the clearly-annoyed Martin clarified. "DREAM is not even begun; I am not going to start writing volume seven until I finish volume six. It seems absurd to me that I need to state this.

"The world is round, the Earth revolves around the sun, water is wet… do I need to say that too? It boggles me that anyone would believe this story, even for an instant. It makes not a whit of sense. Why would I sit for years on completed novels? Why would my publishers — not just here in the US, but all around the world — ever consent to this? They make millions and millions of dollars every time a new Ice & Fire book comes out, as do I. Delaying makes no sense.

"Why would HBO want the books delayed? The books help create interest in the show, just as the show creates interest in the books. So… no, the books are not done. HBO did not ask me to delay them. Nor did [showrunners] David & Dan. There is no ‘deal’ to hold back on the books. I assure you, HBO and David & Dan would both have been thrilled and delighted if THE WINDS OF WINTER had been delivered and published four or five years ago… and NO ONE would have been more delighted than me."

Well, the theory was fun while it lasted. It's back to expecting The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring at a quarter-past never, we guess.

Original article: Important: if you don't happen to like the ending that the final episode of Game of Thrones delivers (and it has been a pretty controversial season so far), there may be another ending for you to get involved in.

At an Epic Con panel in St Petersburg, Russia, Barristan Selmy actor Ian McElhinney suggested that Thrones author George RR Martin has already finished the last two books of the series, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.

And the reason they haven't seen the light of day yet – apparently – is because of a deal that's been struck with Thrones' showrunners.

Jamie McCarthy Getty Images

We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.

"I don't know if you know more than me about this, but what I've been told is that George has already written books six and seven," McElhinney said.

"And as far as he's concerned, there only are seven books. But he struck an agreement with David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss], the showrunners of the series, that he would not publish the final two books until the series has completed.

"So all goes well, in another month or two, we might get books six and seven." Just imagine.

Tension is building for the Game of Thrones finale, especially as events in the most recent episode caused uproar amongst fans, even causing bosses to step in and defend – or erm, explain – the actions of a certain Daenerys Targaryen.

Drama all around.

Game of Thrones season 8 airs on HBO in the US and Sky Atlantic and NOW TVin the UK. Tune in to Digital Spy's Game of Thrones livestreams on Monday evenings, straight after each episode, on Instagram and Facebook.

Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Instagram and Twitter account.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io