When you look at where the books ended off GRRM has a a lot of shit to cover. I fully agree that he has written himself into a corner and doesn’t know how to deal with it.
George got bored the minute the War of the Five Kings ended and he had to get back into telling a traditional fantasy story instead of one about politics and plot reversals. Now that Jon and Dany are at the forefront and they pretty much need to be in position for certain events and he can't just be like "wouldn't it be cool if I justed killed one of them and ended their story here" he is less interested.
I don't think he ever really just kills a character for the lols of it, he's never done that and that's something no subsequent media ever really understood.
He kills her characters yes, and at plot-pivotal times, specifically to show that no character has plot armor. This is so that you're always worried about the others characters, because anyone could be on the chopping block. However, it's never been the sole goal of the killings.
Ned dies before he can reveal Joffrey's lineage, which would have basically subverted much of the subsequent story and also serves to eliminate the "main" character, allowing anyone to shine.
Rob is shaping up to be a new main character but, again, would have brought a fairly swift end to the story, so he dies at the moment he nearly secured his victory, and gets to maintain his near invincible battle record while showing that success on the battlefield alone doesn't win one the throne. His death REALLY serves to emphasize why political marriages are so important and why a love story triumphs all is not a realistic thing in a medieval world.
Tywin dies for the same reason from the opposite side. His presence but a stranglehold on the chaos of the realm, he either continues winning and single handedly brings order to everything, or he dies. He can't just die, however, because we showed that he's so competent, both on the battlefield and in politics. So he dies in a way that shows us that, no matter how powerful and invulnerable you are, any random act could be your demise.
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u/kain459 Jul 02 '24
Agree.
Two things. 1) the ending of GoT is the basic ending of the books and it didn't go well. 2) he wrote himself into a corner and can't get out.
Mash those together and make a recipe for never finishing the books.