George R.R. Martin, author of the "Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy series
IN PHOTO: George R.R. Martin, author of the "Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy series that is the basis of the television series "Game of Thrones", gestures during his masterclass at the Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) in Neuchatel July 10, 2014. Reuters/Denis Balibouse

The spoilers for the book “Winds of Winter” and future books in the book series will feature first in the TV show “Game of Thrones,” the producers of the show revealed in an interview. The upcoming season will be the first time that the TV series will move ahead in the story without the source material.

The producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss along with actors Kit Harington and John Bradley spoke about the TV series at an interactive session with the fans at Oxford Union. The video of the interaction has been uploaded on the YouTube channel of the debating society.

One of that fans asked the producers about what it was like to tell George R.R. Martin’s story before the author gets to, since the TV series has already exhausted all the source material for some of the characters and the book “Winds of Winter” has not been released yet. David said that they did not want to catch-up with the books, but added that they didn’t want to put pressure on the writer to complete the next book.

David emphasised the point that, according to him, the author was writing the “great fantasy epic of our time” and said that if it takes the author “20 years” to complete the book series then that is the time it should take. Meanwhile the producers couldn’t put the show on hold and had been having talks with George R.R. Martin, so the producers know where the story is headed.

“I kind of wish there were some things we didn’t have to spoil, you know... for the books, but we are kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place,” David said. He pointed out that there will be some deviation in the TV series from the books, but both the book series and the TV series are heading towards the same “destination.”

The producer did mention, however, that the book readers may find some surprises because of the differences between the books and TV show. The books will include more information about the characters and will include more characters than what the fans see in the TV series. John Bradley, the actor who plays Samwell Tarly in the TV show, said that next few books will be interesting because they will be written after the show aired.

The last book in “A Song of Ice and Fire” series was released in the year 2011, which was about the same time “Game of Thrones” TV show started. John was curious to know if the author made changes in “Winds of Winter” after seeing the cast members in the show play the characters from his books.

D.B. Weiss pointed out that there are characters who will die in the books, but the fans will find that they live on the TV series. So there may be shocking deaths in “Winds of Winter” for the fans even after watching the TV series. The producer also said that there are some characters who will die earlier in the TV series, compared to the book series.

For questions/comments regarding the article, you may email the writer at s.trivedi@ibtimes.com.au.