Last week it was widely reported that a Game of Thrones spinoff is not currently in the works. Though, it’s not out of the question. Creator of Westeros and author of the Ice and Fire novels upon which the HBO fantasy series is based, George R.R. Martin has his own idea about how his works can continue on the small screen. EW reached out to Martin, and he revealed that he is quite open to the idea of a second Game of Thrones TV show.
Interest in a Game of Thrones spinoff began to heat up after it was revealed the drama might only have 13 episodes left before the series comes to an end. Both HBO executives and the showrunners are too busy with telling this current tale to even consider moving forward on another show set in this same realm. But it’s impossible to think that that there will never be another visual medium that does not use the world of Westeros as its backdrop. And George R.R. Martin agrees. In fact, the author believes there are many different spinoffs that could happen. He says this.
“There is certainly no lack of material. Every episode of The Naked City, one of the television shows I watched as a kid, ended with a voice-over: ‘There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.’ There are eight million stories in Westeros as well … and even more in Essos and the lands beyond. A whole world full of stories, waiting to be told…If indeed HBO is interested.”
The question is, which of the millions of stories is the one that will draw in the most viewers? Some believe that a prequel might happen, set before Robert’s Rebellion. Some are also hoping for a sequel that takes place after the events seen in the current Game of Thrones, which is most likely only going to run 8 seasons. But George R.R. Martin knows what he wants to see. And he’s hinted at this before.
“The most natural follow-up would be an adaptation of my Dunk & Egg stories. Each of the novellas could easily be done as a two-hour stand-alone movie for television; that would probably be the ideal way to do them, rather than as an ongoing weekly series. The Hedge Knight& and its sequels are lighter [in tone] than A Song of Ice and Fire, more in the realm of action/adventure.”
The author is referring to a series of novellas that are set in the same world as his A Song of Ice and Fire. Though, they take place roughly 90 years earlier, before the rise of characters like Tyrion, Daenerys, and Arya. The main narrative revolves around a non-land owning ‘hedge knight’ named Ser Duncan the Tall. He later becomes a Kingsguard, who works alongside his squire Egg. Egg is interesting in that he eventually becomes King Aegon V Targaryen of Westeros. There are currently three of these novellas published, and the plan is for quite a few more.
If HBO wanted to do a show that was more in tone with the current incarnation of Game of Thrones, the network would have to go back further in Westeros history. George R.R. Martin believes the drama narrative would have to revolve around the Targaryen civil war, known as ‘The Dance of Dragons’. Or the spinoff could revolve around the events depicted in his ‘history’ collection ‘A World of Ice and Fire’. None of these are planned at this time. And George R.R. Martin confirms that no spinoff is currently in the works. Though, one is certainly open for discussion.