George R.R. Martinhas provided news that’s bound to reassure fans who’ve been worrying about the extent of his involvement inthe severalGame of Thronesprequels and spinoffs currently in development. Martin, who’s best known for writingA Song of Ice and Firenovel series, was creatively involved in its television adaptation,Game of Thrones, for the first four seasons.
After exhausting the source material,Game of Thronesshowrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff began diverging from Martin’s template. The pair took significant creative liberties, sometimes against Martin’s advice, and ultimately decided to end the show prematurely. While there were some incredible moments in the sixth and seventh seasons, the eighth and final season ofGame of Thronesended on an extremely unsatisfying note. What followed were some of the most critical and toxic fan reactions ever, with many vehemently demanding a complete do-over of the final season. While that’s unlikely to happen, HBO has instead greenlit a prequel show,House of the Dragon.
George R.R. Martin is credited as a co-creator of the show alongside Ryan J. Condal.Martin has already givenHouse of the Dragonhis seal of approval and promised that it’ll exceed fans expectations. There is still no word onHouse of the Dragon’srelease date, butMartin revealed on his blogthat the show is in post-production now and will arrive soon. He also revealed the extent of his involvement in the otherGame of Thronessuccessor shows currently in development.
“Those have taken a ton of my time and attention this year. I have seen some comments out there questioning how much I am involved in these new series. The answer is: a lot. Deeply, heavily involved in every one of the new shows. It’s my world, and while I have been working closely with some fantastic writers and showrunners, ultimately it is up to me to try to keep the canon… well, canonical… and to do all I can to help make the new shows great. (And I love these stories too).”
Martin also gave an update on the status of the long-anticipatedThe Winds of Winter.“Yes, of course, I am still working on THE WINDS OF WINTER. I have stated that a hundred times in a hundred venues, having to restate it endlessly is just wearisome. I made a lot of progress on WINDS in 2020, and less in 2021… but ‘less’ is not ‘none.’”
It sounds likeThe Winds of Winteris not hitting the bookstores anytime soon, but fans have waited this long, what’s another couple of years.
HBO is Committed To Expand The Game of Thrones Franchise
The upcoming series,House of the Dragon,is just one of manyGame of Thronesspinoffs happening at HBO. An untitled prequel set 10,000 years beforeGame of Thronesand based on the origins of the white walkers was scrapped even though the studio spent $30 million on the pilot episode.
Steve Conrad (Amazon’s Patriot) has signed on to write a prequel show(previously titled Dunk & Egg) featuring the characters Ser Duncan the Tall and Aegon V Targaryen. As per Martin, the show will now be calledA Knight of the Seven KingdomsorThe Hedge Knight.Another live-action series,Ten Thousand Ships,is also moving ahead with showrunner Amanda Segel.
The Mentalistcreator Bruno Heller is developingThe Sea Snake(previously titledNine Voyages),andtwo animated shows are also in development. Will all these shows be enough to fill the void left byGame of Thrones, or will the contentious finale continue to haunt the fans? It remains to be seen, but it’s a relief that George Martin will be actively involved. Hopefully, he will finish the final two books soon.
