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0:09 >> Welcome back to the Greece Goblins
0:10 YouTube channel. And in today's video,
0:13 we're going to discuss the year 2026,
0:15 everything we're going to get in it, and
0:17 should we expect another book from
0:19 George R. Martin. And I feel like this
0:20 conversation has to be had at some point
0:22 almost every single year. And so, let's
0:24 look to 2026. We know that we're going
0:26 to get the television show A Night of
0:28 the Seven Kingdoms very early on in
0:31 January. And then after that show
0:32 concludes, we're going to get House of
0:34 the Dragons season 3 only a couple of
0:36 months later. So, a lot of uh Game of
0:38 Thrones, a song of ice and fire type
0:41 content early on in the first half of
0:42 next year, which should be really
0:45 exciting for the channel. All of 2025,
0:47 we basically had nothing really to be
0:49 excited about in terms of the books. And
0:51 for the shows, you know, we got a night
0:52 of the seven kingdoms, which kind of in
0:54 my opinion took the A Song of Ice and
0:56 Fire community basically out of the
0:57 depths. I mean, there wasn't a lot to be
0:59 excited about, especially, I think, in
1:01 my community specifically where House of
1:03 the Dragon season 2 left many of us on
1:06 such a sour note. And Night of the Seven
1:07 Kingdoms is trying to propel us back
1:10 into, you know, happiness, I guess. And
1:12 so, as we look at both of those two
1:14 shows coming out, the question everyone
1:16 always asks is because of those two
1:18 shows, and I think especially because of
1:20 Night of the Seven Kingdoms, will that
1:21 prompt George to make more source
1:23 material? Especially for a night of the
1:25 Seven Kingdoms, those seasons are going
1:27 to be filmed back to back to back. So
1:29 like for instance, season three of A
1:30 Night of the Seven Kingdoms is probably
1:32 going to start being filmed in the early
1:35 months of 2027, if not even earlier than
1:36 that, because the thing you have to do
1:38 with A Night of the Seven Kingdoms is
1:40 the actors need to stay around the same
1:42 like age. And especially for the
1:45 character of Egg, who Egg is a child. he
1:47 can't all of a sudden magically become
1:49 like a teenager for instance because
1:50 that wouldn't add up with the source
1:52 material if you're trying to keep it
1:53 faithful to a night of the seven
1:56 kingdoms the novellas anyway and so that
1:58 begs the question we know George kind of
1:59 has had two different ideas for more
2:02 novellas but yet we have not seen them
2:04 and the real question lies with would he
2:06 be willing to put out a novella before
2:08 putting out the winds of winter
2:10 something that people would absolutely
2:12 hate even when we saw fire and blood
2:14 come out that was only a couple years
2:17 after dance came out and a lot of people
2:18 even then were like we want winds of
2:20 winter we want the story to be finished
2:22 before we start doing lore books about
2:24 house Targaryen and so that leads to the
2:26 question will we see anything from
2:28 George R Martin because of the
2:30 television shows specifically even if
2:32 you want to look at house of the dragon
2:34 season 3 we know that house the dragon's
2:37 going to conclude likely in a season 4
2:39 possibly a season 5 I know there have
2:41 been talks about wanting to do a season
2:43 five but as of right now it's been kind
2:44 of confirmed confirmed it's, you know,
2:47 four seasons as of right now. As of this
2:49 recording, would George want to start
2:51 making Fire and Blood part two or has he
2:53 already been doing that? Because future
2:55 television shows may want to make shows
2:57 about that time period. Now, I think the
2:59 more normal way we're going to see House
3:00 the Dragon and its legacy kind of
3:01 continue is going to be through like
3:04 other uh periods of time like like
3:06 possibly with Aegon the Conqueror as
3:08 we've already heard rumblings of that
3:09 being the next Game of Thrones like
3:12 spin-off for the Targaryenss. also I
3:13 think would be a great idea would be
3:16 Ames Magor in that time period. So
3:18 they've got a lot to work with with just
3:20 Fire and Blood as a whole right now, but
3:21 Fire and Blood part two could be really
3:23 important to if George wants them to
3:26 ever do more stuff on the Targaryen
3:28 history. Well, we haven't got that book.
3:30 Now, I've always thought it's much more
3:32 likely that we see Fire and Blood part
3:33 two before we saw the Winds of Winter.
3:35 Even when we go back to I believe it was
3:36 this year where we had the the
3:38 direwolves in real life, I should say
3:40 quote unquote direwolves coming back and
3:42 George R. Martin was teasing at this big
3:44 announcement and I was one of those
3:45 people that fell for it. I thought we
3:46 were actually going to get an actual
3:49 announcement from George R. Martin and
3:52 we did not. So, I very much was
3:53 predicting maybe we could have gotten an
3:55 announcement of Fire and Blood part two.
3:57 That didn't end up happening. Could I
4:00 see it happening in 2026? Not really. Uh
4:02 because it hasn't really been hinted at.
4:04 If it was going to happen, I think it
4:06 would probably be, you know, after the
4:08 end of House of the Dragon season 3, but
4:09 I don't necessarily think it's going to
4:11 happen. Do I see the Winds of Winter
4:15 coming out in 2026? Unfortunately, no.
4:17 Uh George R. Martin hasn't given us a
4:19 really a substantial update on the book
4:21 or given us any indication that he's
4:23 actually written any more of it for
4:24 years now. Like, every once in a while,
4:26 he'll mention it like he's still working
4:28 on it. He had a post this year that was
4:30 really depressing um talking about how
4:33 he believes people have given up on him.
4:35 Every indication has told me George R.
4:36 Martin's no closer to finishing The
4:38 Winds of Winter. Now, will we ever see
4:40 the Winds of Winter as a whole is a
4:42 whole different question. Uh I still
4:44 hold out some hope that we might see the
4:47 book completed. I think I hold out a lot
4:48 more hope that we're going to see
4:51 whatever George has. I think eventually
4:53 we'll come to a point where either his
4:56 publishers will just push him to put out
4:59 what he has or unfortunately hopefully
5:00 this doesn't happen for a very long time
5:02 when George passes I think we'll see the
5:04 rest of his work published. It would
5:06 kind of be like for instance how we see
5:08 Tolken's letters and so for the you know
5:09 lore of the Lord of the Rings and
5:12 Tolken's works we see a lot of that
5:14 through some of his older writing and
5:15 things that were never published that
5:17 eventually did get published later on.
5:20 So, the winds of winter in 2026, I
5:22 wouldn't hold your breath. I don't think
5:23 it's likely. If you want to give me a p
5:25 if I wanted to give you a percentage
5:27 chance that even it was announced in 2026,
5:28 2026,
5:31 I would say like 95%
5:32 95%
5:34 it won't be announced. Nothing around
5:36 it. Maybe we'll get some updates in the
5:38 next year. I just don't expect anything
5:40 from it. Now, the most likely the one
5:43 that I could see George doing is a night
5:45 of the seven kingdoms. We know that Ira
5:47 Parker has said it's almost like a love
5:49 letter to George R. Martin's work. He's
5:50 trying to keep it very faithful to
5:52 George R. Martin's work. And he said he
5:54 was doing it for George. A lot of
5:56 positive things coming out about a night
5:58 of the Seven Kingdoms. And I'll say
6:00 this, I don't want to get baited in
6:02 because this was almost the same tale
6:04 that we had with House of the Dragon.
6:06 Ryan Condell, huge Song of Ice and Fire
6:08 fan, always preaching, I want to keep
6:10 this close to Fire and Blood and I want
6:12 to, you know, do this for George. Kind
6:14 of the similar stuff. Now, I do believe
6:16 Ira Parker more than I do Ryan Condell,
6:18 especially at this point because of what
6:19 Ryan Connell's done with House of the
6:22 Dragon. But if A Night of the Seven
6:23 Kingdoms is great, if it's a great
6:25 adaptation, and George is really happy
6:27 with it, and I think he probably is
6:29 already happy with it. I guarantee you
6:32 he's probably seen it given a few months
6:34 ago, he talked about seeing rough drafts
6:36 of the episodes. So, I'm assuming that
6:39 George is probably very happy with it.
6:41 if that is the case and night of the
6:43 Seven Kingdoms does well. Uh the trailer
6:45 I noted really really well for HBO and A
6:47 Night of the Seven Kingdoms. So there
6:48 seems to be interest in the show. Of
6:50 course, I think the marketing for the
6:52 show has been fantastic so far. One
6:54 thing I always got to give credit to HBO
6:55 on is their marketing is usually really
6:57 good. House of the Dragon season 2 is
6:59 marketed perfectly in my opinion. A
7:01 Night of the Seven Kingdoms very
7:02 similar. Uh, one thing I'll say
7:04 criticism-wise with The Night of the
7:06 Seven Kingdoms is I think it waited a
7:08 little too long to start building up the
7:11 show. Um, we waited till almost like two
7:13 months before the show came out. Whereas
7:15 like House of the Dragon, for instance,
7:17 it gets built up like 6 months in
7:19 advance, it feels like. So, I'll say
7:22 that's not great. I could very easily
7:24 see George being inspired because of the
7:26 show coming out to write [clears throat]
7:28 more on a Night of the Seven Kingdoms.
7:30 The only thing that I don't know what
7:32 George will do because I know this is
7:34 going to be in his mind is if he
7:37 releases another novella. Yes. I would
7:39 be happy to get another novella. Would I
7:40 want the winds of winter to come out
7:42 first? Yes. But at this point,
7:44 especially of George's life, you know
7:46 what I've been told of his physical
7:48 condition, you know, what he what he's
7:50 like uh from people that have seen him
7:52 in person,
7:54 I would love to get anything that he's
7:55 willing to put out. I'm thankful for
7:57 anything that he wants to give us. And
7:59 so getting a novella for me would be
8:00 awesome. I'd love to get some more
8:02 George R. Martin work. But if you're
8:04 George, you have to know what the
8:06 response is going to be. The response is
8:08 going to be George R. Martin puts out
8:10 another project that isn't Winds of
8:12 Winter. George R. Martin's stuck. He
8:13 can't write the Winds of Winter. So he
8:16 gives us a Duncan egg novella. George,
8:18 you have to remember everything that
8:20 George sees online, every time he posts
8:23 anything, regardless of what it is, it's
8:25 where is the winds of winter? Why aren't
8:27 you working on the Winds of Winter? It's
8:30 all of that. And so that's one thing I
8:31 could see George sitting here going, you
8:33 know, why release this if it's not going
8:36 to be wellreceived? Even if he can't see
8:38 past the fact that most of his fans
8:40 actually would love that. So that's why
8:42 even with in 2026 the idea of getting a
8:45 novella, I just don't see it likely. I I
8:46 don't think we're going to see anything
8:49 from George R. Martin in 2026. Is that
8:51 to say it's impossible? No, of course
8:53 not. It's never impossible for George to
8:55 put something out. I mean, this is the
8:57 same writer that put out the first three
8:58 books of A Song Wise and Fire in the
9:01 span of only a couple years. With that
9:02 being said, George is a very different
9:05 writer now. He's a lot older. He's got a
9:08 lot more money and fame. But it's like
9:10 when George does set his mind to
9:12 something and he does really work on it
9:14 and spend a lot of time on it, he's
9:16 motivated to do so, he is a very
9:19 efficient writer when he can. Think
9:21 about during the COVID times when we
9:23 think a lot of his writing got done
9:24 during that point. I mean, he got a lot
9:26 of progress done on the winds of winter
9:28 from what we can tell. It's been
9:30 everything else when it seems like he
9:31 hasn't been as motivated to write the
9:34 book or when he hasn't been forced to
9:36 write it or really, you know, dive into
9:37 the characters and the world that he's
9:40 built. It's when he was forced to do
9:41 that. And so, when you think about the
9:43 first three books, that's when he was
9:45 forced to do it. He was trying to make a
9:46 livelihood. That was his, you know,
9:48 money to pay for his life. you know, he
9:51 wasn't some big rich author at that
9:52 point. He wasn't, you know, that
9:54 well-known at that point. And so, when
9:57 you have that like thought process, that
9:59 is what's probably going to be needed
10:00 for anything to come out from George.
10:02 Like that hunger and drive to put
10:05 something out, not as a chore, not as
10:06 something that he just needs to do
10:08 because of his publishers. It's got to
10:10 be that George wants to do it himself.
10:11 It's a whole thing that George is going
10:13 through where it's like, yeah, it would
10:14 be great to have all these things done,
10:16 but does George really want to sit down
10:18 and especially his age and where he's at
10:21 right now and just iron out everything
10:23 and just get this stuff done and spend a
10:25 lot of hard work. I just don't know if
10:26 we're going to see that. And so that
10:28 leaves me with the question to you guys.
10:30 Do you think we'll see anything from
10:32 George R. Martin in 2026? I very much
10:34 think we're going to see the shows and
10:36 that's probably about it from A Song
10:37 Wise and Fire, which is already great.
10:39 This last year, and I'm probably going
10:41 to talk about this on my live stream at
10:43 the end of the year, has been a really
10:45 bad year for a song wise and fire. I I
10:47 did a video a few months ago, you know,
10:49 just kind of documenting how low a song
10:51 wise and fire viewership has gotten even
10:54 on big channels.
10:55 The interest of A Song Wise and Fire has
10:58 definitely declined this year. And part
11:00 of that could possibly be because House
11:02 of the Dragon disappointed a lot of
11:03 people and so they're not going to look
11:05 at Song of Wise and Fire related stuff.
11:07 And then you add on to the fact as every
11:09 year goes by, the winds of winter seems
11:12 more like a dream. And I I think a lot
11:13 of people really felt that this year,
11:16 myself included. Uh I know one of my
11:17 friends that I collab with a lot on this
11:19 channel, JC, I I remember some of our
11:22 early collabs. And you know, it doesn't
11:23 it didn't feel as negative when talking
11:25 about the Winds of Winter of it coming
11:27 out and now it kind of feels like, yeah,
11:29 I mean, the winds of winter's probably
11:30 not going to come out. You know, it's
11:31 kind of where we've gotten to. It's been
11:34 that steady decline of realization and
11:37 for the community it's just been a rough
11:40 year I think. So hopefully the shows can
11:41 be really good this year. I I have
11:42 really high standards for A Night of the
11:44 Seven Kingdoms and for House of the
11:46 Dragon season 3. I think my hope can
11:49 just be that it can improve off of House
11:50 of the Dragon season 2. Don't think
11:53 it'll ever recapture the love I had for
11:56 the show, especially after season 1, but
11:58 it can try. I mean, it can try and do
12:00 its best and hopefully it's a better
12:02 product for for you guys and for me as
12:05 well so that we can have more uh awesome
12:07 discussions about the show. But let me
12:08 know what you guys think and I'll see
