As of today, we are but a mere three episodes away from the final episode of Game of Thrones, ever. The Night King is dead, Daenerys Targaryen has her eyes set on Cersei Lannister, Bran is still…Bran, and the very end of the story looms just over the horizon. But that doesn’t mean we’re leaving Westeros behind, necessarily. A Song of Ice and Fire creator George R.R. Martin took to his blog to offer a few life updates (Avengers: Endgame – loved it!), a few conspicuously absent non-updates (Winds of Winter – no word!), and a rumor-killer toward the idea that HBO is scaling back its plans for a host of Thrones spinoffs. (That rumor started when Bryan Cogman told Variety his off-shoot was not moving forward.)
According to Martin, three of the originally-mentioned five series are still “moving forward nicely”, with plans to shoot the pilot for one still set for this year.
Oh, and speaking of television, don’t believe everything you read. Internet reports are notoriously unreliable. We have had five different GAME OF THRONES successor shows in development (I mislike the term “spinoffs”) at HBO, and three of them are still moving forward nicely. The one I am not supposed to call THE LONG NIGHT will be shooting later this year, and two other shows remain in the script stage, but are edging closer. What are they about? I cannot say. But maybe some of you should pick up a copy of FIRE & BLOOD and come up with your own theories.
The series that Martin is “not supposed to call THE LONG NIGHT” is a prequel set thousands of years before Game of Thrones starring Naomi Watts. Here’s the logline, per HBO:
“The series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know.”
But it’s that last little bit of Martin’s quote that’s really interesting, specifically the mention of his recently-released history book, Fire & Blood. The text chronicles the family history of House Targaryen, Daenerys’ distant relatives who arrived from Valyria and conquered all of Westeros through measured diplomacy burning the shit out of everyone with their big badass dragons. Could one, if not more of the planned spinoff series center around the Targaryens?
Or maybe George just wants you to buy his new book. Either way, get ready for a whole ton more Thrones in your immediate future, including the series finale on May 19.
For more on Game of Thrones, check out the links below: