Kit Harington attends the 'Game of Thrones' Season 8 screening at the Waterfront Hall on April 12, 2019 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - "Game of Thrones" fans who have watched all seven seasons of the show and read all five of the books by George R.R. Martin will finally get an ending when the eighth and final season starts Sunday.
But will it be the "real" ending?
Martin still has two books planned for the series, and fans have been waiting eight years for the next one.
In the meantime, the HBO show's plotlines have shot past those in the books. They're partly based on Martin's outlines of the major characters, but the show's creators are now doing the actual storytelling.
Some fans say they'll be happy to experience the saga's conclusion twice, once in the excitement of the show and again with the depth and detail of the books.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.