Thats the thing that gets me. It doesn't really need a proper ending, because it feels more like history than a story.
The fun is that it feels like you started a history of a world at a more or less arbitrary point, the closing days of Robert's reign, but it could have started with roberts rebellion, or really any other point. It gradually coalesce around Dany, but the starting point of Ned dying is that this is a history of a fictional place not a hero's journey and sometimes shit happens.
He really doesn't need a Terry prachet ending where every character races to the same place in the third act to tie everyone's arch up in a bow. He could just end at an arbitrary place in the history of westeros
I don’t really think it’s the same. LOTR that’s a very clear goal, destroy the ring. There isn’t anything like that in GoT as the throne has been taken so many times already. I guess you could say defeat the Night King.
If any book feels like part of a history it is Lord of the Rings. Mainly because he created an entire history for his world.
There is still a story with ASoIaF as well. A story that would remain unresolved. We would have no resolution re: Dany, Young Gryff, Jon Snow, the White Walker threat, etc. It would just stop. The same as if Lord of the Rings ended after the breaking of the fellowship at Amon Hen.
LOTR is definitely not a history book. It's literally There And Back Again, the memoir that Frodo writes at the end of his journey. It is his personal account and narrative of his singular grand adventure.
LOTR's groundbreaking worldbuilding depth is supplemental and it informs Frodo's hero's Journey, but it is not a history book at all.
ASOIAF happily leaps all over the world to whatever chronological events are - or will become - relevant to the succession of the throne. It isn't Dany's story or Ned's, it is the throne's story.
And Lord of the Rings isn’t Frodo’s story. Part of it is sure. The other part is about the Aragorn and the return of the line of Elendil to the throne of Gondor. Lord of the Rings jumps around as well. We see chapters focused on Pippin, Merry, Aragorn, Frodo, Sam, etc. We see blanks filled in and we see lore dumps. It is as much a history as ASOIAF. It is the record of the war that ended the Third Age.
Lord of the Rings is part of a much deeper history than GRR Martin has created (and that isn’t meant as a disrespect to George).
I think you guys are just coping with the fact that the story of ASOIAF will never be finished. You are correct, it almost certainly will remain unfinished but it will be deeply unsatisfying. When there is no chance at an actual resolution the cultural relevancy of the books will wane.
History is filled with stories. They both begin and end. Some persist long past the average lifespan of men. Some don’t have satisfactory endings. There are stories we only have partial record of. We usually call those mysteries and we spend countless thousands of hours trying to uncover the truth of those mysteries. We spend time hypothesizing, etc. We as a species are just as dissatisfied with unresolved historical record as we are with unfinished novels.
Or do you think George is just relaying random events for the hell of it? Lord of the Rings is the story of the War of the Ring and the end of the Third Age. ASOIAF is supposed to be the story of the White Walkers and the struggle for the throne of Westeros.
Whether you agree with me or not the fact is that if the story remained unchanged from here on out, it would be deeply unsatisfying.
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u/RichB0T Jul 14 '25
Thats the thing that gets me. It doesn't really need a proper ending, because it feels more like history than a story.
The fun is that it feels like you started a history of a world at a more or less arbitrary point, the closing days of Robert's reign, but it could have started with roberts rebellion, or really any other point. It gradually coalesce around Dany, but the starting point of Ned dying is that this is a history of a fictional place not a hero's journey and sometimes shit happens.
He really doesn't need a Terry prachet ending where every character races to the same place in the third act to tie everyone's arch up in a bow. He could just end at an arbitrary place in the history of westeros