HBOIt may be a long wait for the next book in the series that Game of Thrones is adapted from, but we've got something new to ponder in the meantime.
Someone at the British bookstore Waterstones tweeted (and then deleted) some pictures of George R.R. Martin's original 1993 letter to Harper Collins outlining his then-trilogy, A Song of Ice and Fire, and let's just say a few things were originally going to be a little different. We're giggling up a storm over here just imagining some of these things playing out on screen.
Feel free to read the letter yourself here, though be warned – the letters are small and occasionally obscured by an obnoxious glare. In case you don't feel like squinting through three pages of grandiose prose, we've collected a list of the 8 biggest revelations the letter has to offer. Spoiler alert: #8 is amazing.
1. Five main characters were originally slated to last the entire series: Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Arya Stark, Bran Stark, and Jon Snow. So far, so good.
2. Sansa Stark marries Joffrey, has his child, and then chooses Joffrey and her child over the Starks when she has to. At least she comes to regret this, but she doesn't appear to survive the entire series.
3. Ned is still executed for treason, and Robb still goes to war for him, but then dies on the battlefield. He does manage to maim Joffrey though, so that's a plus.
4. Catelyn takes Bran and Arya to the Wall when they're forced to flee Winterfell, but she ends up being killed by the "others," aka the white walkers, when they try to find safety in a wildling camp.
5. Jon and Arya fall in love, despite the fact that they are theoretically half siblings. They never act on their love (partly because of Jon's duty to the Night's Watch), but it appears to frustrate them a great deal until Jon's true parentage is revealed in the last book. Unfortunately, Martin does not elaborate on this, because even back in 1993, he's a little bit evil.
6. The beautiful love story of Dany and Drogo is basically nonexistent. Daenerys discovers that Drogo doesn't want to attack the seven kingdoms, as her brother Viserys is so determined to do, and she gets especially mad when Drogo kills Viserys in frustration. She then kills Drogo and starts to plan the Dothraki attack on the seven kingdoms as a way to avenge her brother's death.
7. Joffrey ends up dying at the hands of Tyrion, and Jaime becomes the new king as after killing everyone else ahead of him in the line. He then blames Tyrion for the murders.
8. Tyrion switches sides…and falls "helplessly in love" with Arya, of course. It's unreciprocated, but "it will lead to a deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow," Martin writes, because he's a true genius. We didn't know it until now, but a love triangle between Jon Snow, Arya Stark, and Tyrion Lannister is precisely the thing that has always been missing from Game of Thrones.
The next paragraph of the letter is blacked out, but we're going to imagine that it details an ending where Queen Arya Stark and her two husbands rule happily over Westeros for the rest of their lives. If you need us, we'll be over here, patiently awaiting that fanfiction.
Game of Thrones returns to HBO on Sunday, April 12 at 9 p.m.