If I Stop Watching...

[Ser Daegon]

Alright... so I know there must be a lot of fans out there who have as tight a connection to the books as I feel I have. That being said, I have enjoyed the show so far(despite the blatant, ot subtle, differences) and I have looked forward each year to seeing what they could do with such a huge story.

However...

The past season started throwing things out there that may, or may not, have anything to do with the future, unpublished, story. My personal fear is that they're going to start eclipsing Martin completely, adding in their own story, or revealing events that happen in future books that are left as yet unwritten. I don't necessarily blame D&D for this... they have jobs to do, and this show got HUGE. So huge, that Martin himself at times seems to regret that the show started as soon as it did. HBO is full of executives that D&D have to please, and they'll ignore anything Martin has to say if it means pleasing their bosses. Even if it means revealing things before Martin's books do.

To the point of the title of my post.... If I stop watching the show, until after the release of the next two(maybe) books, I will also have to stop coming here to the forums if I want to truly avoid spoilers. I'll even have to stop going to Westeros.org....

Ugh! That sucks! Does anyone else feel this way?? I may not be a frequent poster, but I do frequently crawl across and read the forums.

Feeling: Slightly downtrodden.

[FalseKnight]

You'd basically need to become a hermit. GoT is everywhere, and you could go to buy groceries and accidentally overhear a big part of the ending.

[JonCon's Red Beard]

Considering all the people I've spoiled (not in purpose. Well, not always... ), I am quite sure that even if I stop watching the show, some of my friends will knock at my door to yell at me stuff like "Dany dies!" or "Jon Snow is not Rhaegar's son!!!" and such.

So, I don't mind spoilers.

I am mad at HBO for much different reasons :/

[Le Cygne]

It's going to be impossible to avoid spoilers. You'd have to stay off the internet, too.

Wait, what happened, Jon Con and Lyanna? :lol:

[JonCon's Red Beard]

Wait, what happened, Jon Con and Lyanna? :lol:

Lyanna didn't have purple eyes!

[Le Cygne]

Ashara Dayne!

[The Drunkard]

You're going to get spoiled. It'll infiltrate pop culture and be unavoidable, like Snape killing Dumbledore or everything from Breaking Bad.

[mediterraneo]

Wow. Snape is going to kill Dumbledore!

I really hope I will have forgotten these names when I'll read or see Harry Potter!!

But I agree with the point.

Better to be spoiled by the show than be spoiled by a fat ugly teenager on a bad mood. The show's author love the story, live of that and have some kind of respect for the fans too (not too much but...). The guy spoiling you on purpose when half drunk at that christmas party two years from now won't be. And the saturday night special you will zap on while avoiding advertising on others channel won't be either.
Let's not talk about "#nedisdead" hashtags...

[JonCon's Red Beard]

relevant

[Ser Pounce FTW]

relevant

JonCon, is there a website that has the entire movie that is playing out in in your avatar? It looks really good :P

OP, it will be hard to avoid spoilers if you choose to stop watching and even though this site will work diligently to keep them at bay, it will still be hard to avoid being spoiled. Quite frankly, I can't wait to be spoiled. There was a poster on another thread that said the show would push viewers to the books to read the story with more details and events. I'm in that boat. I'm very eager to see what happens regarding the story line by watching the show but will always return to the books for the full version. That's the best of both worlds, imho.

[HodoringHodor]

It's basically the same thing what the people who watch the show but hadn't read the books felt when plot points were spoiled absolutely everywhere. It's going to be the same thing now, the show will spoil the books and there really isn't a way to avoid that.

[sj4iy]

A reader of the books isn't going to like everything the show does...but that doesn't mean you can't still enjoy the show. It might help if you just look at the show as its own entity without worrying about what it may or may not be spoiling concerning the book story. GoT is too popular to be able to escape the 'big' revelations that will be blurted in every media and social media outlet around, so it's not really feasible to 'block it out'. But, if you watch the show, you can at least see it unspoiled and enjoy the shocks as they are revealed.

That's how I feel about it, anyway.

[JonSnowed]

I feel you will be OK for next season, this will largely be AFFC/ADWD material but probably already has some WOW material but I would hope no major spoilers. I would then hope Winds will be published soon after S5 is finished but certainly if S6 airs before that time it's going to put a lot of book readers in an awkward spot.

[Which Tyler]

OP - I feel the same, I also feel that the only person I really have to worry about spoilers from is my better half.

I've pretty much decided to stop watching the show, and haven't decided yet if I'm going to start this next season or not.

I'm not bothered about hearing things in daily life, as I don't listen to other people's conversations, and don't really talk about the show with anyone at work or my social circle, and those I do, I'd trust not to spoil me.

I don't use social media and it's a complete waste of time, and my various forums away from here are pretty good at compartmentalising that sort of thing. These boards should be ok with careful browsing, but a bit more awkward than usual.

Ali on the other hand..... I spoiled about Ned when she'd left her bookmark about 200 pages ahead of where she was at and hadn't put it back in the right place - she also explained horror about a major death that she was sure wasn't going to happen. She'll enjoy getting some revenge for that,

[Beric175]

I'd say the downside is you'll probably never get to review the show until the last 2 books have been published because you won't have seen it and the paths towards the end of the story will differ significantly (for instance so far there has been no mentioning of the Ironborn subplot on the show and so that may well have been left out of the show entirely) so there might not even be a real risk of spoilers actually.

I enjoy both the books and the show as their own entities with their own separate needs. I'll continue to watch the show and maybe I'll even get surprised by the turns of the story going forward but I know they won't have the time to go that much in depth with the story on the show so I'm not woried that the experience of reading the books will be ruined for me. Unless these books are only good as long as the twists are unknown I feel relatively safe with that choice.

[WinterRaven]

They actually have already unintentionally spoiled at least one thing in the show that hasn't been revealed yet in the books:

Night's King

It's a good point that you bring up. My own solution is going to be to watch/read whatever comes out first. I like both the books and the show so it's not a huge deal for me which one comes out first. I just want to get at the material quickly so no one spoils it for me.

[sj4iy]

They actually have already unintentionally spoiled at least one thing in the show that hasn't been revealed yet in the books:

Night's King

It's a good point that you bring up. My own solution is going to be to watch/read whatever comes out first. I like both the books and the show so it's not a huge deal for me which one comes out first. I just want to get at the material quickly so no one spoils it for me.

I feel the same way, actually. As long as I get the story, all of the story, and get some surprises along the way, I will be happy.

[Which Tyler]

I like the show well enough; but I love the books (I generally prefer reading to TV anyway TBH).

I don't really care how long it takes to get to them, but I want to experience the plot points... the journey of the story in the format that resonates best with me - and that's the books.

If I get spoiled on the occasional bit here and there, then so be it; that's for me to be on guard against, and I'm not going to go all unsullied on anyone that talks about it in front of me in the queue.

It's really not going to be hard (for me) to give up the show as and when I make that decision - I like it, but I no longer love it; it is not unmissable TV for me (mind you, there's no such thing anyway). I'm not going to get spoiled on facebook or twitter, because I don't use those. I'm not going to get spoiled in conversation with people because it's not ubiquitous - hell, it's only even available to about ~25% (and reducing) of people here. Conversations about the show tend to start with "do you watch GOT?" rather than "I can't believe they killed Ned!"

[thirtyfiver]

I really don't have a problem with the changes the show makes or it eclipsing Martin's own story. I truly see it as two separate pieces of work in the same universe. If a change is made, great, I get to see more of this awesome world. If they move past what is published, it doesn't matter because nothing can compare or do justice to the level of detail Martin will eventually give to us. It's a win-win in my eyes.

[BalerionTheCat]

I have been lurking on the forums for a long time, never posting. But these speculations about the books spoiled by the show make me want to expose what I believe. It is just my view, no proof of what I say, but...

I don't think HBO and DB&DW are allowed to disclose the secrets of ASOIAF before they are put into books. I know that GRRM sold his story "with an ending" to HBO. But if anything, GRRM is against spoilers. What GRRM said:

I do want to surprise my readers. I hate predictable fiction as a reader, I don’t want to write predictable fiction. I want to surprise and delight my reader and take them in directions they didn’t see coming.

I do not think he would say that if he was about to be spoiled by a big TV show. Again:

"At least one or two readers had put together the extremely subtle and obscure clues that I’d planted in the books and came to the right solution" ... "So what do I do then? Do I change it? I wrestled with that issue, and I came to the conclusion that changing it would be a disaster, because the clues were there" ...

He had already considered changing his story before because of spoiler. So I believe that whatever GRRM gave to HBO, he made sure he could change it and keep the book version as good or better.

I don't know what is in the contract between him and HBO. But I'm sure he planned for that. Anyway, very few of what we know (rumours) about season 5 are fitting exactly with the books now.

I know that GRRM is not good at planning his release date. But even in 2011 it was very likely that the last book would not be finished before the HBO series (unless the series would run a very very long time). And during maybe two years after ADWD, he hasn't worked seriously on the 6th book. He has been on many projects, including with HBO, he even bought a theater. He doesn't strike me as a guy rushing to finish his books before HBO spoil everything. And HBO is apparently not pressing him either.

So far the show didn't reveal or gave clues about the big secrets the book fans have found (I am totally convinced by some). I think that DB&DW do not have the real ASOIAF ending. They can change the story to adapt to a more casual public, but I don't think they could even use the fans theories (those that would be accurate). I think that GRRM question to DB&DW about Jon mother was there to make it clear that some plots will remain secret until he will reveal them in the appropriate context and time in the last books.

I am not concerned by the show spoiling the story. I see them as a separate entities now (more or less what GRRM says). I do not see the future seasons as the continuation of the books.

BTW, it will give GRRM the opportunity to surprise us again, the big way. What he delights the most.