Outlander's Final Season Is Heading Straight Into A Game Of Thrones Situation [ATX]

Fans of "Outlander" know the end is coming for both the show and the series of novels that inspired it — but Starz may be running into a "Game of Thrones" situation, here as the final season of the popular series will be concluding without Diana Gabaldon's final book to guide the way. Fortunately, it does sound like there is confidence on both sides that disaster will be averted.

During a panel about series endings at the ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas, "Outlander" executive producer Maril Davis spoke about season 8 bringing the show to a close – and how the show's ending will differ from Gabaldon's as-of-yet untitled tenth and final book. Here's what Davis had to say about it:

"We won't do what she's done, just because I think we feel that would be slightly disrespectful. Obviously, she has the last book coming out, and we want her to have that ending for herself. So we will not step on her ending. Myself and one of the actors are the only two people who have read [the book's ending]. I have not shared that with anyone else, so our showrunner couldn't come up with something that he thinks is similar to that. Then, maybe we have a conversation with [Diana] about it. I think we kind of tried to stay away from that just to give her a respectful ending."

So it sounds very much like the differing ending is a conscious, by-design choice. With "Game of Thrones," the final season concluded years before George R.R. Martin finished "The Winds of Winter," which still has yet to be published. Diverting from what Martin was able to tell David Benioff and D.B. Weiss was somewhat disastrous, given the reaction from fans to the final episodes.