Years before Game of Thrones, George R.R.

Martin wrote five episodes for the ’80s revival of The Twilight Zone.

But good things come in strange ways.

Oddly enough, the same book that essentially crippled my career as a novelist started my career in Hollywood.

This made him an absolute shoo-in forThe Twilight Zonewriters room.

The writer penned five stories for the revivals first and second seasons, all of which aired in 1986.

Not all of the episodes are great, although I found only one to be particularly hard to watch.

And that really is the firstTwilight Zonerevivals legacy, isnt it?

A couple of absolute gems among many forgettable stories that led to the shows cancellation after three seasons.

The Last Defender of Camelot was his second and last episode for 80sTwilight Zone.

That last bit is actually from the Zelazny story.

Martin changed the ending of the story, too.

Best of all, the episode is a great precursor to Martins later writing.

The Once and Future King is an exercise in cruelty.

All that, plus the time paradox.

It was a touching, dangerous concept, but Maritano didnt seem to know where to go with it.

One of the basic problems of this script is that Maritano doesnt have the feel for rock n roll.

Hes even got Elvis playing an electric guitar, and everybodyknowsPresley played only acousticals.

Give the story to George.

Hes perfect for it.

Hes got the smarts for this one if anybody has!

And Ellison was right.

The episode sees down-on-his-luck Elvis impersonator Gary Pitkin travel back in time after getting into a car accident.

Forced to hitchhike, Gary suddenly finds himself in Elvis Presleys old pickup truck in 1954.

The two get into a fight that ends with Elvis being impaled by his broken guitar.

In a panic, Gary buries real Elvis and decides to assume the Kings identity.

Gary-Elvis shows up at Mr. Phillips studio and plays Thats All Right.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Gary-Elvis ponders whether the real Elvis would have been a better King.

The Once and Future King is really a lovely episode about desire and fame.

Its grim, beautiful ending is more than enough reason to revisit this one during your nextTwilight Zonemarathon.

He later dedicated the third novel in the series,A Storm of Swords, to Eisenstein.)

After the time travelers bid her farewell, Jenny decides she wont cut her political science class anymore.

Youll get a headache thinking about it.

(Martins teleplay and Matzs short storywere published alongside each otherin Subterranean Press Magazines inaugural issue in 2005.)

Thomas J. Wright sat in the directors chair for The Toys of Caliban.

Another scene, where Toby summons and eats too many doughnuts, is more mundane.

This ones best watched with a tissue or two.

The episode is less horroralthough there are definitely horror elements in the earlier scenesand more a tale of redemption.

Craven and Martin do a great job of building up the tension in the episode.

Id say this is Martins most creative and experimental episode out of the five.

This other Jeff is from a different reality where he went to Vietnam and was crippled during the conflict.

There isnt any final conflict, a battle between both Jeffs for the better reality, though.

Vietnam Jeff hasnt come to replace regular Jeff.

The episode really serves as a mirror for regular Jeff, though.

Through Vietnam Jeff, Martin shows us the scars regular Jeff has had to live with all his life.

The Road Less Traveled is by far Martins most sentimental episode.

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek US.

Find more of his work onhis website.

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