There are a few TV series that are basically television royalty. After garnering Emmys, loyal fans, and crazy viewership, the team behind these series will often try to find a way to cash in on the fandom and continue the stories. Thus, we’ve seen spinoffs created for shows such as The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, and Arrow. Now that Game of Thrones is the process of finishing its stories through the final few seasons, the big question is: will HBO be producing a spinoff series?
HBO programming president Michael Lombardo spoke to the possibility of a Game of Thrones spinoff saying:
No. If that were to happen it would have to come from [Benioff and Weiss] really feeling something, or [author George R.R. Martin] really feeling that it was the right thing to do. Not knowing how this particular story ends, I don’t know. There are plenty of characters, secondary characters, [that] you could build a world around. We’re always going to be drawn to a strong creative vision. But we are not going to do that unless we feel their passion.
This statement, which comes to us from EW, seems to rather definitely shut down the idea of a Game of Thrones spinoff. At least for now.
Michael Lombardo’s comment is actually a bit refreshing, even if Game of Thrones fans aren’t ready to be separated from the citizens of Westeros. Often times spinoffs are only conceptualized and produced as a way of making more cash. Rather than exploring an important storyline, a character will get to have their own adventures because the audience and money are guaranteed.
In the case of Game of Thrones, it appears that a spinoff hasn’t been even remotely discussed amongst the team behind the show. Furthermore, Michael Lombardo has confirmed that a spinoff won’t even be a possibility until after Game of Thrones has ended, and if a story is compelling enough to produce a new series around. It doesn’t seem to be money that would drive a new TV show forward.
Considering how large the world and lore of Game of Thrones is, there are a bevy of stories which could be explored in their own series.
A prequel series might make the most sense of all. When Game of Thrones begins in Season 1, they’re forced to give us a ton of exposition about the events of the previous few decades. This mostly goes over viewer’s heads, as we’re still trying to piece together the main characters, who is related to who, and why certain characters are mad at each other. It’s not until you read the novels or get deep into the series that you understand what went down before the pilot episode.
While we’ve heard about the rule of Daenarys’ father aka The Mad King, it would definitely be great to see him in action, as well as Robert Baratheon's rebellion. This would bring back dead characters Robert, Dany’s brother Viserys Targaryen, and Ned and Catelyn Stark. Additionally, a two handed Jaime Lannister would be a big character, as he served in The Mad King’s Guard, eventually assassinating him to save the Kingdom.
Only time will tell if HBO ever ends up producing a Game of Thrones spinoff. For now, we’ll just have to enjoy the original series when it returns to HBO on April 24th.
