George R.R.Martin’s Original Game Of Thrones Outline Reveals A Much Different Series

British bookseller Waterstones has somehow come into the possession of George R.R. Martin’s original outline for Game of Thrones and the subsequent A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, on which HBO’s Game of Thrones is based. Images of the outline, which was confirmed as authentic by Harper Collins UK, appeared on Waterstones’ Twitter, but have since been removed. Luckily, they survived in the initial report by WinterIsComing.net.

Reading through the outline reveals a somewhat simpler take on Westeros, something that’s more of a straightforward fantasy tale and more transparently based on the historical War of the Roses. You can read through the thing yourself if you’re interested, we’ve included the images in the gallery at the bottom of the page, but we’ll highlight some of the most interesting changes for you.

As this is such an early draft, there’s not much to worry about here as far as concrete spoilers go, but it does touch on some fan theory, so be warned.

• According to the outline, Sansa Stark was originally going to marry King Joffrey and betray her family, ultimately paying for her betrayal with her life. Martin seemed to be sticking to this plan in the first book of the series, but clearly changed his mind before pulling the trigger, setting Sansa on a different path instead.
• In perhaps the best decision Martin has ever made, he decided to scrap plans for a love triangle between Tyrion Lannister, Arya Stark, and Jon Snow. Because ick.
• The outline seems to clearly point to Jon Snow not actually being Eddard Stark’s son. More fuel for the R+L=J folks?
• Many of the series’ most antagonistic characters and houses are left out of the proposal. Instead, Jaime Lannister is depicted as a much less complicated, much more brutal and unsympathetic villain.
• Similarly, Drogo is much more of a villain in the initial proposal. This might explain why he seems so harsh in the books’ earliest pages, and softens over time. Also, Dany invades Westeros in book 2. BOOK 2!

The next book in the series, The Winds of Winter is not on Harper Collins’ schedule for 2015, so it looks like fans will be waiting until at least 2016, if they’re lucky, to continue the Song of Ice and Fire.

Meanwhile, Game of Thrones will return to HBO for Season 5 on April 12.