A leaked letter from George R. R. Martin's publisher reveals what the author originally intended for his Game of Thrones saga. Originally the Song of Ice and Fire saga was only meant to be a trilogy and only Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow and Arya and Bran Stark were meant to survive. Here are some other notable changes:
+Arya and Bran were originally meant to flee with their mother, Catelyn Stark when their father his killed by Joffrey.
+Robb Stark originally was meant to kill King Joffrey to avenge his father.
+Arya and her half-brother Jon Snow were meant to fall in love, though they would never act on their feeling. Later in the series, Tyrion Lannister was also meant to fall for Arya as opposed to her sister, Sansa.
+Sansa actually marries Joffrey in this bizarro version and they have a child together.
+In this earlier version, Daenerys Targaryen is actually upset that Khal Drogo kills her brother, Viserys and exacts her revenge before beginning a siege on the Seven Kingdoms.
In closing lines of the letter, Martin wrote, “I hope you will find some editors who are as excited about all of this as I am. Feel free to share this letter with anyone who wants to know how the story will go." Obviously, a lot of the original story has changed in the last 22 years. However, it should be interesting to note that all of the characters originally meant to survive by story's end are still alive in the current series. Perhaps that's the one element of the story that's remained constant?
If you want to read the letters for yourself, head over to Tumblr (but you should probably hurry). Game of Thrones kicks off its fifth season on April 12, 2015 on HBO.
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