18 Game Of Thrones fans who totally freaked out about the death of 'Fifth Beatle' George Martin

The world lost something of a legend yesterday when Sir George Martin, the Beatles' favourite producer and a man who shaped modern music, died at the age of 90.

What made a lot of people freak out, though, was that the world of Game Of Thrones was created by a man who shares most of his name, and whose "divorced railwayman" body type regularly gives fans cause for concern about his health. 

George R. R. Martin's A Song Of Ice And Fire series of books has suffered loads of delays, and fans get genuinely worried that he'll shuffle off this mortal coil before the series reaches an end: his Santaesque physique and tendency to miss deadlines mean fans have genuine concerns about him seeing the saga through to its end - he has supposedly told the producers of the TV show several secrets about the series' conclusion in case the unthinkable happens.

Naturally, when news broke of Martin the producer's death, people more familiar with Rhaegar Targaeryen than Ringo Starr thought Martin the writer had died, and they'd never get to know who Jon Snow's father was. Awkward.

So much so that the author was led to confirm his continued existence in a blog post, also taking the time to pay tribute to his namesake.

It all seems to have been cleared up now, but an awful lot of fans jumped to a wrongful, sad conclusion. Or, you know, made the same crap joke.