Game of Thrones left a distinct handprint in the proverbial pop culture cement, and, notwithstanding the divisive nature of its 2019 conclusion, the HBO global television juggernaut’s ongoing franchise prospects were always inevitable. Of course, this idea will first materialize with the arrival of HBO prequel spinoff series House of the Dragon. However, the small screen universe, which adapts the literary works of George R.R. Martin, has placed several more spinoff projects on the premium cable channel’s docket, as the author himself confirms.
Contextually, the growing television backlog of GoT projects is attributed to the fact that Martin reportedly signed a five-year overall deal with HBO back in March 2021, yielding the author an undisclosed amount purportedly residing in the mid-eight-figure range. Thus, Martin, who has famously left his show-inspiring A Song of Ice and Fire novels in an incomplete stasis since 2011, will be quite busy with non-novel endeavors as an executive producer for several shows. Indeed, he has disclosed the development of at least four spinoff shows in addition to House of the Dragon. While the author continues his perpetual insistence that the decade-belated sixth-and-penultimate novel, The Winds of Winter, is still coming, he has even more irons in the multi-medium fires, as exemplified by his curious writing credit for the recently released hit open-world video game, Elden Ring.
With that set, let’s go over the Game of Thrones offerings that HBO has on tap, based on Martin’s confirmations.
House of the Dragon
While Game of Thrones focused significantly on the ultimately wild character arc of Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen, a daughter of an ancient dynastic royal family who were being violently deposed during the time of her birth, House of the Dragon will precede the timeline of the main series by around 200 years. Thus, viewers will get to witness quasi-medieval continent Westeros during a time in which it was still firmly under the dragon-riding royal reign of House Targaryen. There’s already a teaser trailer for this one, which you can check out just above.
The prequel series, which adapts literary concepts that Martin codified in his 2018 publication, Fire & Blood, chronicles intra-Targaryen drama that serves as the catalyst for a generational conflict called “The Dance of the Dragons.” The conflict commences when a vacancy left in the aftermath of the reigning Targaryen king’s death creates a chasm after his lawful firstborn heir, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), is challenged by forces united behind the late king’s wife, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), who looks to eventually install her son to the throne. The disagreements escalate to a full-blown civil war, delineating a destructive dichotomy in which Targaryen forces representing the “Blacks” fight for Rhaenyra and those representing the “Greens” fight for Alicent.
House of the Dragon is slated to commence its 10-episode inaugural season on HBO and streamer HBO Max on Sunday, August 21.
The Sea Snake
Corlys Velaryon, a key character we will soon meet on House of the Dragon, as played by Steve Toussaint (Before We Die, It’s a Sin), already has an HBO spinoff show in the works bearing his nickname, The Sea Snake. While the would-be series—among other spinoff projects—was the center of reports in early 2021, subsequent reports suggested an uncertain status. However, Martin’s update, delivered on March 9, 2022, not only shows signs of life, but even confirms the previously reported attachment of a prominent showrunner in Bruno Heller (Rome, Gotham, The Mentalist), who is first tasked with writing a pilot script.
An enigmatic sea-faring scallywag hailing from one of Westeros’ most prominent noble families, Corlys Velaryon built his reputation from adventures on the decks of ships. It’s a state apropos to the traditions of his maritime-minded family, who hail from the Driftmark, a prominent island in the Blackwater Bay located slightly southwest of the Targaryen’s traditional home, Dragonstone. Indeed, the closeness of the Valaryons and the royal Targaryens would be cemented when Corlys marries Rhaenys Targaryen, daughter of Rhaenyra and husband Daemon Targaryen. The connection would eventually lead to Corlys becoming Hand of the Queen to self-declared regent Rhaenyra during the Dance of the Dragons.
For now, no significant details have been revealed about The Sea Snake, specifically regarding its setting. This is notable since Corlys plays a prominent part in Martin’s lore regarding the Dance of the Dragons, which, as mentioned, is the conflict towards which House of the Dragon will build. Indeed, Martin says that this particular spinoff was originally titled Nine Voyages, hinting that the show is a prequel to a prequel, perhaps showcasing the exploits of a younger Corlys during nine voyages across the continent Essos, which had been his initial claim to fame across the land. Thus, Corlys could be played by a different, appropriately younger actor than Toussaint, who turns 57 this month.
Nymeria
The word Nymeria will sound familiar to even casual Game of Thrones fans, seeing as it’s best known as the name of Arya Stark’s tragically abandoned direwolf. However, there is a deeper, Martin-spun story attached to the creature’s nomenclature, which is centered on an ancient warrior queen from Essos whose deeds would prove consequential for Westeros. Now, her legendary exploits are slated to manifest on this HBO spinoff series.
Indeed, around a full millennia before the main novels, a conflict called the Second Spice War would force princess Nymeria of Ny Sar to flee her kingdom in Rhoynar, flanked by a fleet of ships—purportedly consisting of 10,000—carrying the remnants of her people. After enduring years of hardships, she ends up in the southern Westeros kingdom of Dorne, eventually marrying into the royal Martell family, creating the arguably more-liberated hybrid culture we saw of the Dornish on the TV series. Word of Nymeria’s exploits would spread across Westeros, making her a frequently cited role model for women, as exemplified on GoT by the aforementioned direwolf tribute and one of the Martell family’s “Sand Snakes” bastard daughters, Nymeria Sand, who was played by Jessica Henwick.
According to Martin, Amanda Segel (Helstrom, Shooter, Person of Interest) has been appointed showrunner for Nymeria. He says that Segel has already submitted “a couple” of early drafts, and the project is “forging ahead.”
Dunk & Egg
Perhaps the most prominent example of Martin’s written work for the Ice & Fire mythos outside of the main novels is Dunk & Egg. Set nearly a century before the first novel A Game of Thrones, the tales—which have taken shape as novellas and graphic novels—depict the adventures of a lowborn, unassuming, no-nonsense hedge knight (a knight without a master) named Ser Duncan the Tall, a.k.a. “Dunk,” and his young squire, called “Egg.” The catch, however, is that, unbeknownst to the public, Egg is actually a shortened phonetic nickname for Westeros’ royal heir prince and eventual king, Aegon V. The titular duo will be defined by what would become their lifelong friendship, which would even remain during Aegon’s royal reign, during which Duncan became the most famous Lord Commander of the Kingsguard; an idea referenced in passing exposition multiple times across Game of Thrones’ television run.
Steve Conrad (Ultra City Smiths, Perpetual Grace LTD, Patriot) has been appointed showrunner for Dunk & Egg. Martin explains that the first season of the series will directly adapt his introductory story, the 1998 novella The Hedge Knight, which depicts a series of circumstances leading to this most unlikely of unlikely partnerships. The ordeal will see newly minted hedge knight Dunk forced to fight for his caste-forbidden friendship with the secret prince, Egg, with odd politicking and even a trial by combat. “My team and I have had some great sessions with Steve and his team, and we really hit it off,” explains Martin of the development process. “He’s determined to do a faithful adaptation of the stories, which is exactly what I want; these characters and stories are very precious to me.”
Interestingly, Dunk & Egg is only a working title, and Martin says that the creative forces seem to be going back and forth between final titles such as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and the more novella-evocative The Hedge Knight. For now, this particular project seems to reside farther back on HBO’s docket.
The Golden Empire
Lastly (at least for now,) we have this spinoff project, an HBO Max animated series bearing the working title, The Golden Empire. This one will showcase characters residing in Yi Ti, a region of “the Known World” that has yet to be covered substantially in Martin’s mythos. Essentially an ethnic, aesthetic, cultural and economic equivalent of China (or maybe Asia in general), Yi Ti is located east of Essos and the sandy Dothraki Sea, and rests above a body of water called the Jade Sea.
Of all the Game of Thrones-related projects on HBO’s backlog, the developing animated series is undoubtedly the most malleable for creative interpretation since Martin has not published anything of significance to adapt on this front, save for the occasional offhand exposition about Yi Ti’s Golden Empire. Yet, generations of ruthless emperors ruled over the eastern land with an elaborately ornate style, going back to around 8,000 years before the main novels, in which a more-primitive Westeros was still mired in “The Long Night,” a period defined by perennial darkness and attacks from undead wights. Moreover, the Yi Ti was already training and weaponizing dragons well before the Targaryens dared to try. While the Golden Empire’s ancient splendor would eventually diminish, it was still around during the time of House of the Dragon and was even a destination of Corlys Velaryon’s famed Nine Voyages.
While Martin has no details to offer regarding The Golden Empire, he does tease the hiring of creative personnel, stating, “[W]e 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.”
On an additional note, Game of Thrones Season 5, Episode 3 “The High Sparrow,” saw (as pictured just above,) Japanese actress Rila Fukushima (The Wolverine, Arrow) play a street-preaching Red priestess in the southern Essos city, Volantis. It was a rare appearance in this TV universe by a person of oriental descent, one that seems obliquely attributed to the character being a Yi Ti immigrant who, upon reaching Essos, converted to the widely practiced religion of R’hllor, the Lord of Light. It’s a racial representation that will be boosted on House of the Dragon by the casting of Tokyo-hailing actress Sonoya Mizuno (Devs, Ex Machina) as Mysaria, a mysterious maker of machinations.
Regardless, Game of Thrones fans will soon see a three-year content drought come to a dramatic end starting with House of the Dragon, which is expected to hit HBO in 2022, presumably in the last quarter. Indeed, while viewers are still reconciling the events of the main show’s controversial final season, they will soon find themselves back in the overwhelmingly unforgiving, yet somehow fun world many times over with this slate of spinoffs… with presumably more set to follow.
*NOTE: This article, originally published on March 11, was updated on March. 30 with House of the Dragon’s announced premiere date.
