A Spanish ASOIAF fansite has published a new interview with James Hibberd, EW journalist and author of the 'tell-all' behind-the-scenes book on Game of Thrones. In it he is careful to point out the differences between the show and the books, including the statement that "Martin's ending will be very different".

The highlights are as follows (shout out to u/weboury for the Spanish translation):

- George had a complex emotional journey with the show and he is very candid about it

- he has very different versions of certain events, specifically mentioning Hodor's death

- Jon and Dany's ending was an invention of the showrunners

- after speaking to George, Hibberd thinks the book ending will be very different from the show

- Hibberd is at pains to point out that he never spoiled anything about the show and has criticised it from the beginning

- he also emphasised that his book was written and edited independently from HBO, so it's not censored, and he deliberately did not include his own opinions but added other people's when it was relevant

- his favourite interview with George was in Santa Fe, and George has told him it's particularly hard to discuss the later seasons of the show, due to the differences

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In part 2 of the interview, which is here, Hibberd goes on to say that:

- he thinks George separated himself from the show to focus on his own books, but that it couldn't have been easy having two very different worlds to think about

- the show would have been different regardless of the number of books, because of all the characters and stories they felt like they couldn't fit in

- Hibberd wanted to be fair in his portrayal of the showrunners and chose quotes that might add something new, but they came from people who had worked with them for years

- the Dorne experiment could've worked better and the fans' reaction to it may have influenced how the show ended, because it showed producers that "less is more"

- when asked about the negative reception to season 8, Hibberd says that the showrunners wanted the fans to love the ending, and that it makes no sense to criticise all the negative aspects you see in your own work. However, if they had a time machine...

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This is the third official mention - of sorts - that the ending of the show does not match the ending in the books (whenever we are likely to read that ending, if at all). Although there is no mention of either Jaime or Brienne, it's comforting all the same to have one's belief in a better storyline for them confirmed.