Dragons, betrayal, and a little bit of magic - these are the ingredients for the recipe to a show in the A Song of Ice and Fire universe. Game of Thrones was one of the biggest shows on HBO and possibly the biggest of all time. The stellar Game of Thrones cast turned in incredible performances, combined with a story that was incomparable... until you get to Season 8, but that’s beside the point.
Either way, the universe of A Song of Ice and Fire is expanding. It started with House of the Dragon, and now, more and more projects are coming up for fans of the lore to get excited about. Author George R.R. Martin confirmed in early 2023 that several of the GoT successor shows are developing despite the HBO Max changes, with some "moving faster than others" but none greenlit. He doesn't consider any of those potential spinoffs to be "dead," however, so read on for what you should about what's in the works!
House Of The Dragon Season 2
The fact that House of the Dragon got a Season 2 in the first place isn’t that big of a surprise. Its premiere was one of the biggest in the network’s history and it only continued to grow in popularity as more episodes released weekly, through cast changes and everything else. Season 2 of House of the Dragon was all but guaranteed from day one.
Now that Season 1 had ended, the wait has begun for Season 2, and HBO boss Casey Bloys has indicated that fans are in for a long hiatus. Speaking with Vulture, Bloys said not to "expect it in ’23," but he thinks "sometime in ’24." That's not altogether shocking, considering all of the postproduction that is undoubtedly required for a show with as many special effects as House of the Dragon, but still disappointing in the wake of how Season 1 ended. At least those effects prevent the show's dragons from resembling the ones George R.R. Martin hates in other shows!
As for when it could premiere in 2024, Casey Bloys also told Vulture that the August premiere date for Season 1 was chosen because it was "the soonest we believed we could get it on the air" and they "just wanted to get it on the platform as soon as possible, since there was no real reason to hold it." While that doesn't give any clues for a date for Season 2, it does suggest that HBO won't needlessly delay debuting the new episodes and instead premiere them as soon as possible once they're ready. The network announced that production had begun on Season 2 on April 11, with a list of returning cast members.
There's more that we already know about Season 2, including that the original co-showrunner, Miguel Sapochnik, left the show after the first season, leaving Ryan Condal (also the co-creator of the series) as the sole showrunner. Rumors abounded about whether Sapochnik left for personal reasons, but whatever the case, the show is moving forward without him.
Plus, reports (via Deadline) indicate that the second season will run for just eight episodes, as opposed to the ten of Season 1. This is said to be due to story rather than budget reasons as the House of the Dragon team plans ahead for the full adaptation of the relevant section of George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood. On the one hand, it could mean HOTD avoiding the same pitfalls that made the final season of Game of Thrones so divisive; on the other hand, it may mean continued complications with the show's pace.
If the second season is as exciting as the first, I can only imagine what’s going to happen next as we watch the Dance of Dragons occur. It’s about to get even crazier, my friends, especially if certain moments from Fire & Blood make it into the second season. The show made the Greens look better than the book; Season 2 could change that. The first season garnered some awards attention for the cast, including a surprise Golden Globe win for Best Television Drama Series. Emma D'Arcy was nominated at the Globes for Best Actress, and found it "beautifully ironic."
Filming is currently taking place for Season 2 as of June 2023, so it won't be long before we see the Targaryen's again.
Sequel Series Centered On Jon Snow
When Game of Thrones came to an end, the idea of there ever being a sequel was like something from my wildest dreams. I felt as if the cast had moved on and were accomplishing many new things – several even ended up joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, like Kit Harington in the Eternals cast.
But it seems that world never truly dies, as it was reported in June 2022 that a sequel series, centered on Jon Snow, is in development at HBO, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Obviously, Harington is attached to reprise his role if the series moves forward, and this series was actually originally his idea, which he ran by A Song of Ice and Fire's creator, George R.R. Martin. Speaking at the Game of Thrones convention, Harington opened up about the trauma that Jon was left with at the end of the original series, and that should be addressed in the sequel.
While I should be surprised, I’m not entirely. The show was incredibly popular and broke records worldwide, and the idea of a Jon Snow-centered show might open doors for previous characters to return, like Arya, Sansa, or anyone else. Based on comments from one actor, there's at least one surviving character whose involvement can probably be ruled out! All I know is that if Snow is still North of the Wall, I demand to see Tormund again, please and thank you.
Prequel Series - Dunk & Egg
House of the Dragon is currently the only prequel airing, but Dunk & Egg (a title that readers of George R.R. Martin's works will recognize) is one of the multiple spinoffs in development.
If you’ve never heard of Dunk & Egg, or, better known as The Tales of Dunk & Egg, it's a series of novellas by George R.R. Martin that detail the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall, known as Dunk, and the future King Aegon V, known as Egg, and their adventures that take place almost one hundred years before the events of GOT.
Deadline confirmed that Steve Conrad was signed on as a writer for the prequel, and that the idea has been in the works for some time at HBO. So far, Martin has only written three of these novellas, but as Deadline reported, he has teased there are more entries, so who knows what might happen. And in April 2023, it was officially ordered by HBO, according to Variety, so it's a-go.
Prequel Series - Nine Voyages/Sea Snake
Another prequel series that is in the works, according to Deadline, is 9 Voyages, which is also being called Sea Snake. If that name sounds familiar to House of the Dragon fans, that’s because the Sea Snake is also known as Corlys Velaryon.
As revealed in HOTD, the Velaryons were never known as dragon riders like the Targaryens before the fall of Valyria, but they were renowned for their brilliant nautical skills. This series would detail the famous nine voyages that Corlys took around the worlds of Westeros, Essos, and beyond.
It would give fans who have never read the books a look into life outside of Westeros, including places like Yi-Ti, Leng, and more.
Prequel Series - 10,000 Ships
Another prequel in development, according to the aforementioned Deadline article, is a show called 10,000 Ships. In The World of Ice and Fire, this story follows the warrior queen, Princess Nymeria, who was one of the remaining survivors of the Rhoynars and took her people across the world, where she would land in modern-day Dorne, and is an ancestor of Oberyn Martell (played by Pedro Pascal).
If the name Nymeria sounds familiar, it's because Arya Stark named her direwolf after the famed princess. If Arya names something after someone, you know that they were worthy of praise.
Prequel Series - Aegon's Conquest
Another prequel spinoff is reportedly in the works that would go even further back in time with the Targaryens than House of the Dragon, with a project about Aegon's Conquest that resulted in the formation of the Seven Kingdoms. Although it hasn't been officially ordered, Variety reports that it's in the early stages of development with the possibility of starting as a feature film before being expanded with a TV show.
That would be a first for the larger Game of Thrones franchise, but no representative for HBO has yet commented at the time of writing.
Animated Prequel Series - The Golden Empire
Okay, there have been several announcements about possible animated shows in development at HBO, but this has been steadily talked about, and it's one that I really think many A Song of Ice and Fire fans would enjoy.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, it’s been confirmed that an animated series about the world of Yi-Ti – otherwise known as The Golden Empire – was being worked on. The fabled land is based off of Imperial China and is known to be a land full of riches and more. As mentioned before, Corlys Velaryon sailed there on his nine voyages.
There were also two other animated projects that were supposedly being worked on, but for now, the only project we really know anything about focuses on Yi-Ti, and to be honest, what a story to bring to the screen. I have a feeling that it will be amazing if it scores the series order.
George R.R. Martin even commented on the potential show on his blog in March 2022, saying that he thinks the art and animation is going to be “beautiful.” He wrote:
Our working title is THE GOLDEN EMPIRE, and we have a great young writer on that one too, and I think the art and animation is just going to be beautiful. I would tell you more if I could. I don’t think I can say a word about the other animated shows. Not yet.
Also announced originally with Sea Snake and 10,000 Ships was a prequel about Flea Bottom, the district that surrounds King’s Landing which was featured in GOT. In The Hollywood Reporter article above, HBO confirmed that was no longer in development.
Something else that was also announced – but isn’t going to be a movie or TV series – is a stage play, according to THR. The play will be yet another prequel to the events of GOT, and will bring back fan-favorite characters such as Ned Stark and Jamie Lannister.
The world of ice and fire is expanding to lengths we never could have guessed – and I am here for the ride. Bring on the dragons, betrayals, and new fantasy worlds! The real question is: are all of these spinoffs going to be done before George R.R. Martin finishes The Winds of Winter? More dragons may be on screen before Winds is on bookshelves, but the world of Westeros and beyond isn't going anywhere if HBO continues moving forward on these projects.
