Anderson Cooper asked the actors of "Game of Thrones" how the series ended. This is how they responded

Just before the last Game of Thrones season is about to be aired, reporter Anderson Cooper of "60 Minutes" was always busy trying to shed light on what's really going on at the end of the series.

No spoiler alert is needed here: Cooper did not have many answers about how producers David Beioff and D.B. Weiss concluded his epic cinematic series for HBO.

Cooper's quest for answers – aired Sunday night on CBS with additional clips online – brought him from Los Angeles to interview producers and travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland, to visit Castle's backdrop. Black with Kit Harington, who plays one of the numbered surviving characters in the series, Jon Snow.

Cooper even met George R. R. Martin, the author of the books on which the series is based.

Martin had originally planned to finish his series before the show, but missed several deadlines, said Cooper. That meant that at the end of last season, the series eclipsed the books, leaving the fans – even the most ferocious ones who read all the books – in the dark.

"It was a blow when the series caught up," Martin told Cooper in a clip broadcast online. "I did not think it would happen."

In the interview with Cooper, even Martin did not seem to know exactly how the show would end.

While preparing for the final season, Martin spent several days explaining the global themes of the last two books to the audience.

The series has been "extremely faithful" to books, Martin said. Still, there was no way to get all the details.

"I do not think the end of Dan and Dave will be so different from mine because of the conversations we've had, but they may involve some of the minor characters," Martin said.

Martin says he's fine if fans end up preferring the end of the series to the final conclusion of the book, or vice versa.

In the end, he said: "The worst thing for a work of art, be it a film or a book, is to be ignored."

"Game of Thrones" was certainly far from ignored and the actors were constantly looking for details about the last season.

John Bradley, who plays Samwell Tarly, hinted to Cooper in an online clip that fans might not be thrilled with the end.

"We have never given people what they think they want, because we know that people really like to be challenged and that they do not like to be spoon-fed." Bradley said, noting the infamous "Red Wedding" where several characters were killed. .

But Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister, gave another clue about at least the tone of the end.

"It really makes you question yourself," he said, adding, "and not in a sneaky way, but in a wonderful way."

The show became infamous for its graphic depiction of violence – especially against women. But Gwendoline Christie, who plays Brienne from Tarth, told Cooper that audiences can learn a lot about violence.

"This story is vaguely based on the war of roses," Christie said. "And I would say, learn. Learn that this is what has happened in history and that it is not what should happen in the future. "

But when the last credits have been broadcast, where do the endless props, costumes and dummy bodies end? In fact, for the moment at least, the bulk of these operations resulted in a warehouse in Belfast.

Harington gave Cooper a tour of the warehouse, highlighting everything from Bran Stark's chair to his father's head.

That's right, Ned Stark's head is kept in a plastic container.

In the "60-minute" segment, Cooper looked at his white walker character (with his piercing blue eyes and white hair), and was transformed into one of the mythical beings after undergoing a four-hour process involving prostheses and heavy suits.

Even with all this, it still needs a bit of post-production computer image brilliance to get that iconic look from the white stroller.

Maddie Kilgannon can be contacted at [email protected].