'The Winds of Winter' release date, spoilers: 'Game of Thrones' season 6 to spoil various major plot points in upcoming novel

George R.R. Martin has a big twist cooked up for "The Winds of Winter." Reuters

With "Game of Thrones" season 6 premiering way before George R.R. Martin's book "The Winds of Winter," on which the new season of the HBO juggernaut should be based, fans will have to prepare for inevitable spoilers.

The much-awaited season of the hit fantasy drama will provide new details about plotlines left dangling in the fifth book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire." Fans know by now that Jon Snow's fate will ultimately be revealed in "Game of Thrones" season 6.

Unless readers shy away from show and wait for "The Winds of Winter" to come out, they will also likely learn more about Bran Stark's visions of the past, present and even the future. In fact, it is one of the major focuses of the upcoming season.

Daenerys's situation will also be further unveiled in the series, as well as Cersei's fate after being stripped of her power by the High Septon (her situation will involve the possible resurrection of The Hound) and how far Tommen still has before the prophecy of his death comes to pass.

While "Game of Thrones" will likely spoil "The Winds of Winter" for fans of the books, Martin has something up his sleeve for loyalists of the novels.

"It involves a dead character, one of whom is dead in the show but not dead in the books," Martin told IGN. "So the show can't do this unfortunately, because they have killed a character that I have not killed," he added.

This revelation proves that "The Winds of Winter" will have tons of exciting things fans can look forward to. It also shows that Martin, despite having been overtaken by "Game of Thrones," still has the power over his stories.

"The Winds of Winter" is expected to be released later this year at the earliest, although rumors say that an early 2017 is more likely.

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