Around the timeGame of Thronescame to an end on HBO Max there were several prequel ideas in the works, but over time most of these faded away or are currently sitting dormant. One prequel that was mentioned wasDunk & Egg, a potential prequel based on George R. R. Martin’s series of fantasy novellas, which now appears to haveSteve Conradtapped to write the series and executive produce it according to sources. While there has been no official word from HBO on the subject, this will be exciting news for Thrones fans who were quite disappointed as one by one the proposed prequels dropped off radar.
Working them around hisA Song of Ice and Firenovels, Martin has written three “tales of” novellas featuring the duo, which are all set almost a century before the events ofA Game of Thrones. Starting with 1998’sThe Hedge Knightand being followed byThe Sworn Swordin 2003 andThe Mystery Knightin 2010, like his novels Martin has been teasing more stories to come in the series for many years but without a single additional story being put into print.
The stories featured the characters ofSer Duncan the Tall(Dunk) and the future king Aegon V. Targaryen (Egg) and were originally published in the anthologiesLegends, Legends IIandWarriors. Later the books were illustrated by Gary Gianni and published in the Martin bookA Knight of the Seven Kingdomsin 2015. A year prior to the release of that book, Martin spoke about a TV adaptation being in development but that was pretty much the only mention given to the project until a report in January suggested that the show was once again on HBO’s agenda.
While many fans ofA Song of Ice and Firehave wanting nothing more than to hear the words “George R. R. Martin is releasing a new book”, the same could be said for those expecting new installments of theDunk & Egghave been now waiting, with a sense of déjà vu, eleven years. In 2011, Martin revealed that he was working on new novellas and over the next five years would reveal plans forThe She-Wolves of Winterfell, The Village Hero, The Sellsword, The Champion, The KingsguardandThe Lord Commanderwhich he said in 2015 would complete a planned series of nine novellas. Considering we are still waiting on the fourth of these, which he said had been postponed while he worked onThe Winds of Winter.This could well become another case of a TV show very quickly passing its available source material if the show gets the go ahead.
While we wait of developments on this latest series to pitched in theGame of Thronesuniverse,House of The Dragonwill be heading to HBO next year as the first prequel series to make it to screens since the flagship series ended in May 2019. While critics, fans and Martin himself seemed to be hugely disappointed with the finale ofGame of Thrones, it will be interesting to see if the prequels can go some way to vanquish the memory of how the show ended. This news comes to us fromDeadline.
