We know that HBO have been working on more Game of Thrones content ever since the original show finished with a whimper. Now there’s word the network are about to give the thumbs up to a new prequel series focusing on the Targaryens.
According to Deadline, HBO are “close” to giving a green light to a TV series based on George R.R. Martin’s book, Fire & Blood, which is set 300 years before Game of Thrones and tells the history of House Targaryen up to the point where they were nearly wiped out.
So in short, we’re going to see a lot of Targeryen squabbling, incest and dragons alongside another Game of Thrones prequel show starring Naomi Watts.
It may seem like HBO are overdoing it with all this Game of Thrones content but this prequel series has a number of things going for it that should wipe the bitter taste of the original show’s final season from everyone’s mouth.
First off, David Benioff and Dan Weiss are not involved – Martin and Ryan Condal are reportedly taking the reins on this one – which should immediately appease fans everywhere who pinned the blame on season eight on their shoulders (even if the backlash they got was blown way out of proportion).
Secondly, by focusing on just House Targaryen and not the 536 Houses scattered across Westeros and the Narrow Sea, the narrative will be far more streamlined, have fewer characters and be easier to keep track of than the wildly sprawling storylines in Game of Thrones, which will make life much easier for the writers and fans.
And lastly, the prequel is based on Fire & Blood, which is not only a shorter book but is also finished, unlike the main A Song of Ice and Fire novels.
This means the show’s writers won’t run into the adaptation problems Game of Thrones did when it overtook the source material and were forced to make crap up in order to get to the finish line. It also sounds like Martin is deeply involved with this show and it’s quite reassuring to have him onboard to make sure it doesn’t go off the rails.
Beyond the report from Deadline, there’s no word on when this hypothetical Targaryen show will hit the airwaves so we could be waiting for a while. But hey, it just means more time for the writers and Martin to get everything just right before pulling back the curtain.
Winter isn’t coming to Westeros but it seems like redemption (and a lot of Targaryen incest) is.