'The Winds of Winter' release updates, plot news: Title expected to launch by end of 2017

"A Song of Ice and Fire" author George R.R. Martin has made much progress in the next installment, which is anticipated to be released by the end of this year. Meanwhile, Arya is expected to cause more trouble for the Lannisters in "The Winds of Winter."

It is still not confirmed when Martin's "The Winds of Winter" novel will be released, but the author shared in his blog that although he still hasn't finished writing, he's made progress.

"But not as much as I hoped a year ago, when I thought to be done by now. I think it will be out this year. (But hey, I thought the same thing last year)," Martin's post read.

The author added that there are already "dozens of chapters" that entail "hundreds of pages" already made for "The Winds of Winter," but he explains that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done before they launch the novel.

With no definite date for "The Winds of Winter," it appears that season 7 of "Game of Thrones" will be released first before the novel, even though HBO is already behind its usual April release. This also happened last year in season 6, when Martin was not able to meet his launch date for "The Winds of Winter."

Series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss shared in an interview with UFC Unfiltered that they had to push production to catch the "grim, grey weather" since they ended season 6 with "winter is here," E! News confirmed.

Meanwhile, it appears that Arya has caused more trouble for the Lannisters involving the Iron Bank in "The Winds of Winter."

Martin previously shared a chapter titled "Mercy" which follows Arya taking the name of Mercy while working as an actor in Braavos. Arya staged her murder, implicating a Lannister guard. According to a Reddit user, this will show how the small murder could impact the Lannisters' relations with the Iron Bank.

According to the post, the Iron Bank will use this murder to cut their support to the Iron Throne, leaving the Lannisters out to dry. It was also indicated that Arya will be training with a character named Bellegere Otherys, otherwise known as the Black Pearl, to set her next phase in taking revenge on the Lannisters.

"The Winds of Winter" is expected to be released by the end of 2017.