‘The Winds of Winter’ Release Date, Spoilers: Missing Character in HBO’s ‘GoT’ Is ‘Important’ in 6th Book

The HBO series “Game of Thrones,” created for TV by David Benioff and Dan Weiss, has surpassed its original source, the saga “A Song of Ice and Fire” by author George R.R. Martin. And there have been major alterations in the plots between the two franchises. For one, Martin confirmed that one character missing in the TV series is still playing an important role in “The Winds of Winter.”

That character is Lady Stoneheart or the zombified Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley). Both the books and the TV show feature the Red Wedding arc where Catelyn is brutally killed by the Freys and the Boltons. That is the end of Lady Stark on the show, whereas, in the books, she is resurrected as Lady Stoneheart and lives until the timeline in “The Winds of Winter.”

In an earlier interview with Esquire, Martin said, “In [‘The Winds of Winter’], I still continue to write her. She is an important character in the set of books. [Keeping her character] is the change I most wish I could make in the [show].”

In the books, the enemies threw Catelyn’s dead body in the river. It was later salvaged by Nymeria and was resurrected by the Brotherhood without Banners. In the previous books, Lady Stoneheart was fixated on killing the Freys and those that caused the Starks their sufferings. It is unclear if this is still her sole objective in “The Winds of Winter” but Martin insisted that she remains “important” in the books.

Before confirming Lady Stoneheart’s continuing story in “The Winds of Winter,” Martin revealed that he insisted on also keeping the character in the TV series, but showrunners Benioff and Weiss decided otherwise. Meanwhile, there are also theories that Arya's (Maisie Williams) path of revenge in the latest season of “Game of Thrones” is somewhat a nod to the real Lady Stoneheart in the books.

Unfortunately, it is still unknown when can fans read more about Lady Stoneheart in “The Winds of Winter.” There have been great anticipations that the sixth book could be released this year, but it has already been debunked by Martin. Last month, Martin was asked at an event about the book's launch. The best-selling author only told fans that he was still “working on it.”